The Fidelity On Call team went all to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Grab some hot chocolate (and plenty of Christmas cookies), and gather ’round for some fun short stories. Some you may have heard before, some not. But we’re sure you’ll think they are all classic!
Featuring:
Carla reading “Dear, Santa”
Sara reading “Christmas Crafts”
Jaclyn reading “Snowman”
Kellie reading “Fruitcake”
Santa reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas”
Santa Claus visited the Fidelity On Call Office. He checked his list, and checked it twice, to see who made the nice list…and who made the naughty list!
Santa visited with: Jaclyn, Wendy, Carla, Sara, Jill, Pat, and Kellie.
(🤣Be sure to see the lineup starting at 4:30…the looks on their faces are priceless!🤣)
And remember, , it’s never too early to start working towards getting on next year’s NICE list!
I am willing to bet that you think like me on at least one thing. And, that thing is “life should be fair.” I remember being a child and thinking for the first time “that’s not fair.” For some reason, the idea that everything in life should be fair was planted in me at a very, very early age. What about you?
Fast forward to where we are today and there are still things that, we believe, can be determined in the spirit of fairness.
Major ones for our company are how we treat our customers and how we treat our team members. We want to treat everybody fairly; but, over the past two years, there are aspects of our business that have not been fair.
One very major area for our customers came with the advent of “crisis rates.” Many articles have been written about crisis rates. Recently, a group of U.S. Senators and Representatives asked for an investigation into allegations of overpricing by nurse staffing agencies during the pandemic. Hospitals nationwide have spoken out about the “unfairness” of the rates charged, the inability to compete with pay packages and the loss of their staff over the past two years.
Yet another example of what has happened involves a lawsuit between a hospital chain and a staffing agency as they sued one another over staffing issues. The hospital refused to pay their $40 million bill (wow!) because the rates were illegally inflated and asked the judge to keep the agency from pulling staff from its hospitals. The agency contended it couldn’t pay its bills until the hospital paid them.
As Fidelity On Call has watched what has happened with billing rates and pay rates, we have spoken many times about the word “fair.” We have counseled several of our customers to not increase their rates. They thought if they increased their rates, they would attract more nurses to work in their hospitals. But, when rates increase in one place, the next one just follows and we are on a wheel that never stops turning. Recently, while on a call with a vendor management company and their contracted hospital, we advised the same thing. The hospital thanked us.
We have been deeply concerned with what we have seen regarding rate increases in our industry. We have also alerted our nurses that what went up will come down. Or, at least, that is what we perceive will happen. And, we want our team members prepared.
Our recruiters are the best. They have never deviated from our mission for the best of patient care; however, hospitals are reporting that nurses (not from us – but other companies) don’t care about their patients. They are there only for the money. Once again, everybody needs to be fairly compensated, but when we reach a point where it is all about the money, something has gone terribly wrong.
As we move forward we will continue to work hard to make sure the scale of fairness is even on both sides. That means we will provide the best of care and be fair to both our hospitals and our great team of nurses.
For several years I worked with a young lady who had a very interesting habit. At least once a day, she would throw her papers on her desk, hop up and shout, “Life sucks and then you die!” Needless to say, she always got the attention of the team that surrounded her, but never in a good way.
Now, decades later and I still remember exactly how she looked and what she said. Did she make an impression? Yes. Was it a good one? No! And, what could have been so earth shattering? She was doing routine paperwork.
And, reflecting back, life was sure a lot easier then than now. Every day there is something new that impacts our lives – so much so that it can seem out of control. During the past two years we have had more than our fair share of challenges in life and in the medical field.
We know and appreciate the fact that our ultimate goal – taking the best care of our patients – is a very important job. Sometimes we see things that are not pleasant, to say the least. Sometimes we take care of patients that are less than kind – shoot, some of them can be downright mean. Sometimes on-site nurses respond in inappropriate ways or try to tear us down. Sometimes the supervisor is a downer. And, never once, have we heard one of our elite team members express such a negative comment.
Yes, attitude is everything. But, we also realize that sometimes it is very, very difficult to motivate yourself to have a good attitude each and every day of the year.
We have shared many things with you on how to be upbeat – our daily habits, what we choose to think about and meditate on and many more. But, one of the things we haven’t done is share the importance of the people you surround yourself with.
If you are hanging out with Debbie Downers they will bring you down. Now, there are seasons in life when someone you know may need encouragement and lifting up. But, there are individuals who NEVER find the positive (remember – life sucks and then you die?). These are the people that you want to distance yourself from.
And, we know that this is not always entirely feasible as that person might be your mother or your spouse. But, you can choose to step back, not accept the negative comments, and find those other friends and family members that you can laugh, share, and have fun with. It is vital to keep your positive energy level up! It not only affects your outlook on life but it gives you that overall sense of well-being that we all need to have.
So, before another negative comment is heard, take an inventory of those family members and friends you can depend on to always be there with a kind comment, words of encouragement or a hug when it is needed. Those are the people you want to spend more time with. Start scheduling time for good vibes now.
It’s the time of year when we count our blessings. In the past, we’ve taken time during the month of November to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for, like this list from 2017, and this list in 2020.
Here is this year’s list…
1. We are thankful for everyone who joined our team in 2021.
2. We are grateful for the challenges we have faced because they have made us grow.
3. We are grateful that during the stress of the last two years, we have made progress and did not lose site of our goals.
4. We are thankful for all of our team members – both elite team and office team – who have stayed with Fidelity On Call for so many years (some over 20 years!)
5. We are thankful for our elite team who give the best of patient care every day and love nursing!
6. We are grateful for a solid office team that rises to the daily challenges.
7. We are thankful for our family and friends who support and encourage us.
8. We are grateful for those hospital nurses and supervisors who welcome us into their team.
9. We are so very thankful for co-workers who make us laugh even in the most stressful of circumstances.
10. We are grateful for our team members who are committed to the same goal (the best of patient care). It makes our jobs so much easier.
11. We are thankful that we have a special holiday where we can gather with our loved ones and give thanks for all the blessings we enjoy. And, for our awesome team members who work over Thanksgiving – we are especially grateful for your dedication.
Fidelity On Call is a medical staffing company whose reputation and commitment to quality have caused it to grow rapidly.
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