Going to Work for Pediatrix Medical, Changes Part Five

Day Eleven -- NaBloPoMo

So moving on, as 2017 was closing out, at some point in December it hit me that the day after Eler Beth's wedding I just MIGHT be hit with a bit of a let-down. I mean, these next few months were going to be super busy, and to go from that wedding planning frenzy, to the wedding and reception, then to back home while the kids were on their honeymoon was going to hit me hard. I know myself, and I saw the possibility of my anxiety getting bad, perhaps battling some bad panic attacks. I don't deal well with change.

So it occurred to me that a part-time job might be the ticket for more than one reason. After all, something was going to be happening with Thomas' job, so we might need me to go back to work. I brushed up my resume and went on Indeed.com to see what was out there.  

My education and experience are in journalism and business administration. I've worked for a newspaper -- don't want to do that again. I loved it, and it was what my education and interest was in, but things are different now than they were when I worked for a small-town, family-owned, weekly newspaper. Larger and/or more modern papers would stress me out way too much. It would not be fun.

I've been an office manager, a bookkeeper, a comptroller, an administrative assistant, an accounting clerk, and a data entry clerk over the years, and I enjoy office work. I like deadlines, I love filing, I'm good and I'm fast on a computer, and I'm good with people. I've also put out company newsletters and written procedures manuals. So I looked for something part-time in office/clerical/administration to see if anything looked good, and glanced at anything having to do with editing, writing, or proofreading just for good measure.  

I think I applied to about five things one evening and then thought no more about it. I got a couple of calls in January but didn't want to do an interview after getting more information on those positions over the phone. I'd honestly put job hunting on the back burner.

Then around the first of February I got a call from someone named Miranda with Mednax, INC. She said she would like to set up an in-person interview if I was still interested in the position for which I had applied online. I couldn't even remember what it was! She laughed and said it was for a Newborn Hearing Screener at Clark Memorial Health, our local hospital. I remembered then and said yes, I was still very much interested.  So we had a brief conversation where she laid out their needs and what the job entailed, and we set up an interview in person at the hospital. 

When the day came for the interview I actually met with HER boss, Amy, because Miranda was out of state providing coverage for another hospital. Amy told me that the reason they really hoped I would be interested in the job was that they not only needed another hearing screener, but someone with administration experience who would be the backup Site Coordinator. Miranda oversees several hospitals, including three in Indiana, but she lives in South Central Kentucky and needed someone she could have onsite to perform the Coordinator duties.  The job description sounded good to me, the pay and the hours were acceptable, and I really began looking forward to going back to work.  

So in March, the day after Eler Beth's bridal shower, I started my orientation and training as a Newborn Hearing Screener for Pediatrix Medical Group, a division of Mednax. I will definitely write more about newborn hearing screens and how much I really, really love this job in the future. I have done all the things I was expecting to do, and I have also hired other screeners, performed quality assessments of my screeners, and helped with site coverage for Baptist Health Louisville in Kentucky.  I love working with babies and their parents, doing state reporting, and performing follow-up with parents whose children have referred on to an audiologist. Babies that I have screened have had hearing loss detected early enough to get intervention in time to make a real difference in their language, social, and scholastic skills. It is a very rewarding job. 

To be continued.  

~~ Lori