What is happening at work?

[genevieve]

We have temporary sublet office space that was only guaranteed until January, with a probably extension for 2 more months - just got unofficial word that we can count on all of 2021. This is a huge relief. I'm the only one who goes in there regularly, but having SOME office means that my tiny apartment does not become the de facto office (my boss mentioned buying a copy/scanner for me to use at home and I said NO). It a PITA to go in, but I like working in my tiny office with no one else around.

 

[Kasey]

You aren't talking, like hospitals in ND have done, healthcare professionals work with C-19 if asymptotic?

I certainly hope not. No, I'm talking mandated overtime, like everyone has to do an extra shift a week, or every other week, some such thing as that. Which goes against our nursing contract, but I think our union contract is out the window in times of global pand##mic.

 

[once_upon]

I certainly hope not. No, I'm talking mandated overtime, like everyone has to do an extra shift a week, or every other week, some such thing as that. Which goes against our nursing contract, but I think our union contract is out the window in times of global pand##mic.

Yeah they are doing mandatory overtime here for a month i think. It is not good. But the ND thing really scares me.

 

[Aceon6]

Yeah they are doing mandatory overtime here for a month i think. It is not good. But the ND thing really scares me.

No health system around me (Boston area) is authorizing any nurses or respiratory staff to travel to help out. We’re not at surge levels yet, but it‘s expected soon and no one wants to take a chance on losing any staff. In normal times, our health systems release up to 25% when there’s a critical need.

 

[canbelto]

All NYC schools shut down tomorrow.

 

[once_upon]

No health system around me (Boston area) is authorizing any nurses or respiratory staff to travel to help out. We’re not at surge levels yet, but it‘s expected soon and no one wants to take a chance on losing any staff. In normal times, our health systems release up to 25% when there’s a critical need.

I dont think my husband understands the dire state of healthcare personnel shortage. I tell him there are not even healthcare people.

He says the military staff are going to hard hit areas. I said you can only activate so many, because they are already serving in other areas. Then I said there aren't enough traveling nurses or respiratory therapists, etc. He answered, you might have to pay $200/hrs, but you can find them.

I mean no disrespect to IT people, but he is thinking about this as an IT consultant. Even after all the years we been married, all the years I worked as a nurse, all the years I have said there is a shortage of heathcare providers- its not sinking in. There are no personnel to provide all the needed care.

 

[allezfred]

Turns out working from home benefits businesses even more than it does employees.

From home working to leaving the city: how the pandemic is changing how we live

Europe Letter: *********-19 will see a huge societal shift, but it will have to be carefully managed

tinyurl.com

The experiment has upended assumptions about remote work, which was largely seen as a work-life balance benefit for employees prior to the *********. But it actually benefits businesses. According to the US-based Global Workplace Analytics, each employer can save approximately $11,000 (€9,300) a year for each employee who works from home half the time, while employees save between $2,500 and $4,000.
Remote working has been found to reduce absenteeism, while the hours employees work actually increased during the *********, by some three hours per day in the US and by two hours in UK, France, Canada, and Spain. This is partly due to employees starting earlier, as they do not need to commute, but also may be down to multitasking such as managing childcare.

 

[Aceon6]

I dont think my husband understands the dire state of healthcare personnel shortage. I tell him there are not even healthcare people.

He says the military staff are going to hard hit areas. I said you can only activate so many, because they are already serving in other areas. Then I said there aren't enough traveling nurses or respiratory therapists, etc. He answered, you might have to pay $200/hrs, but you can find them.

I mean no disrespect to IT people, but he is thinking about this as an IT consultant. Even after all the years we been married, all the years I worked as a nurse, all the years I have said there is a shortage of heathcare providers- its not sinking in. There are no personnel to provide all the needed care.

Usually, no one dies when you hire an incompetent database administrator.

He’s probably old enough to remember when Reagan fired air traffic controllers to break a strike. No prob, the Reagan administration said, we can backfill from the military. Until they couldn’t because even the military didn’t have enough certified ones. And the training/certification process took 18 months. And only 40% of the new ones stayed longer than a year.

 

[Louis]

Turns out working from home benefits businesses even more than it does employees.

From home working to leaving the city: how the pandemic is changing how we live

Europe Letter: *********-19 will see a huge societal shift, but it will have to be carefully managed

tinyurl.com

Yeah, a lot of CFOs like it....

I agree with the article, but also think we don't understand the long-term effects: e.g., how to onboard and train new employees, foster company culture and connection, etc. I think what we've proven is that we can take a largely in-person workforce and largely virtualize it. Whether we can sustain it is still an open question for me.

There's also a new study -- that frankly I wouldn't have read if it weren't in the BBC -- that says work from home leads to more prejudice.

Working from home could lead to more prejudice, report warns

Offices and workplace friendships are key to breaking down misconceptions, a study suggests.

www.bbc.co.uk

Widespread working from home could lead to an increase in racism and prejudice, a new report warns.

Workplace friendships are key to breaking down misconceptions, the England and Wales study for the Woolf Institute suggests.
Institute founder Ed Kessler said as more people work from home they risk going "back into isolated silos".
He called on ministers to focus on offices and workplaces as a "vital" area for improving community relations.

A few interesting nuggets:

"Muslims were both the primary target for 'uncomfortable' responses, but also the primary source," the report said.
[...]
As well as being the most common target of negative attitudes by other faith groups, the report indicates Muslims are the group most likely to hold negative attitudes towards people of other religions.

And more evidence that snoopy may have been on to something:

The report says any apparent prejudice toward religion could be due to people feeling it is more acceptable to express negative sentiment towards religion than ethnicity.

Religion remains "a place where individuals are willing to express negative attitudes," the report says.

 

[Kasey]

We are getting pulled out of our unit on a daily basis, almost to the point where our unit is being staffed by one RN most days. Which means we can't turn over patients from beds fast enough. There are frequently 12-13 holds in the ED at any given point in time. We are doing "team nursing", where an experienced specialty nurse is being teamed with another staff nurse from another area of the hospital to do meds and tasks. I was primary nurse in CCU yesterday, with a NICU nurse as secondary. Who was very sweet, but didn't feel comfortable with most of the medications we were giving, especially in "adult doses". I felt like I was doing primary care for 4 ventilated patients on my own. But yeah, Trump, the makeshift parking garage hospital here in Reno is "fake news". Go f*ck yourself.

 

[myhoneyhoney]

I had to merchandise in a Walgreens and the line to the pharmacy stretched to my area. I was surrounded with people coughing, sneezing, and who knows what else. I had to leave, I felt so unsafe.