Bravo

For the purposes of this blog you must understand what a Bravo is from Hospice. A Bravo is something one employee can give another at any time they feel the other employee went beyond the normal day to day job to help a patient. At the end of the month all the Bravos are entered in for a gift card drawing. It's a great way to boost morale. I've thought it was a neat program all along.

With this said, my little pilot team ended today. I cannot communicate how difficult this pilot team has been, how many hours I have worked, or how much stress it has created. All seven of us pilot members said all day yesterday, we'll be done today. It was a really long meeting yesterday. At the end of the day yesterday they told us our meeting time today was changed to 12 instead of 1. All of us balked a little having to change patient visits yet AGAIN. But the executive people assured us this would be "fun" for us as we wrap things up for the pilot. I thought, okay, fun. Fun sounds good right now. I like fun. Six weeks ago I was a fun person. Cool. They reminded us again to come for our "surprise."

Last night I got yet another voice mail telling us to attend at 12 for a surprise. Then again, this morning a text message reminder. I was beginning to believe this might actually be fun.

Silly, silly, me.

Arrive at noon-Difficult due to clients

A lunch ticket to the cafeteria for free lunch- fine, it is noon.

Joined by "Big wigs" to come and eat with us pilot people- alright.

A thank you card- standard.

A Bravo for each us- priceless (no really priceless, it is worth no value).

And to think I worked 12-16 hours a day for the last six weeks to come in one hour early for a cafe meal, a card, and a bravo. If only they had told me to come in at one today. It would have stung a little less.

I did not expect anything. I'm a salary employee, I understand that I'll work for free most of my life when I'm salary. But, yesterday, they told us to come for a surprise. They said it would be worth my time. I sat and ate a cafeteria lunch while typing on my computer, listening to voice mails amidst the other pilot team members doing the same. Not fun. Then right before one they pass out said thank you cards and bravos. Although I am laughing inside, again, not fun. I'm still a bit shocked by it all. I'm tempted to complete a psychosocial bereavement assessment on myself after the let down from no fun.

My bravo says, "Allison committed extra time to help move the organization forward."

Wow. Extra time? That's how they define me putting my child to bed for nights on end and typing until midnight. That's what they call talking to my RN's and other staff attempting to calm all of us before yet another meeting? Extra time is what they call all the time my patients were not seen because I could not get there? Extra time is what they call changing how they want us to input care plans EVERY WEEK so I had to redo them again? Extra time? Extra?

How about a Bravo that says, "Allison committed all of her time, sacrificing time with her daughter and family, along with her sanity, only to realize that we really don't care about her input but for the purposes of PR we needed a pilot team so we could pretend to care."

Now that my friends, would be a Bravo worthy of being written in a employee file.

:-)