Lessons from my First Week on the Job

I've learned a few key things in my first week on the job:

• I don't have a crew, I have a team/staff
• The SICU and Trauma/SICU aren't on Decks 5 & 6, but on the 5th and 6th Floors.
• That big wall of glass in my office isn't a porthole, it's a window.
• No one uses military time, so I need to use AM/PM again.
• I'm back in the US, so dates are written month/day/year and not day/month/year.
  
• The entrance to my workplace is not a gangway, but the main entrance.
• That person near the entrance is not security, but the valet parking attendant.
  
• Magnets do not hold things on the bulkheads...I mean walls.
• I do not have to use sticky-tack to hold items on shelves. And sail preparation was probably NOT the most likely explanation for all the equipment the staff found on the floor in a storeroom this morning, but it was the first thing I thought of!
  
• No one pages me to tell me that mail is available for pickup. I have to wait until I get home to see if any mail awaits me on the stairs and I have no idea who else might have received a care package this week. Of course, most people don't rely on care packages. If they need something, they go to a store to buy it!
  
• I can't just wander over the the ward or down to post-ops to get a baby fix! Maybe I need to volunteer for that 'baby cuddling' program they mentioned at orientation.
  

On the other hand, some things are no different:

• I need to wear my ID all the time.
• There are still lots of stairs to go up and down.
• I'm still not excited about going to the dining room/cafeteria for dinner. I'd rather cook my own meals.
• I walk about 4 miles/day and am going to have to figure out a way to add that extra mile at the end of the workday.
• My office is just as cold as my office on the ship and I don't think I can control the temp either.
• Patients speak at least as many different languages here as they do on the ship. The difference is that the translator is available via the telephone.