Calleo had a most confusing day starting with a botched “virtual” meeting for orientation and followed by many bureaucratic hurdles and mistakes that made the “first day” not very smooth. If you would like a complete list of the technical difficulties and nursing related gripes please see the category on the menu “For my Nurse/Doc/Tech Friends.” This post will be mostly concerned with personal feelings that occurred to Calleo during the day.

April 13, 2020: Dreary day, I was excited and optimistic nonetheless, but the weather was grey, windy, and rainy. On the bright side, I slept well and felt ready.

So I had to go to New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Hospital Medical Campus only two miles away from my apartment so naturally I walked. I had to go to the campus to get my Registered Nurse (RN) badge, FIT testing, and POCT testing. These are medical terms, but they are all standard categories that a RN needs to check off to start at a new facility. Naturally, I decided to walk there!

The walk was actually pretty nice, the air was warm, it was just wet and windy. Compared to some of the other gales and storms I’ve been in, it was pretty pleasant! There were still some people out walking doing errands and folks making deliveries and running essential services. A few pizza places were open for take out etc.

Didn’t take me long to get to the medical campus and well, it was comprised of a lot of dour looking buildings, very stern looking and slightly Gotham-like.

On my adventures on the campus I met a bunch of very confused, giddy, nervous, and excited travel nurses who were all trying to navigate the first day of orientation the same as me. I made a few friends, walked to some departments, checked off some minor bureaucratic tasks and then headed back to my apartment. The day of orientation lasted from 0800-1500 (8:00AM to 3:00PM).

I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a place called “The Armory Track”

Yup, as the caption reads, my friend from college currently holds the Guinness Book of World Records record for the fastest indoor marathon! https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=238281  Malcolm . . . just wow!

Right so that kind of concludes the recap of a dull, dreary day. There was a tent outside the medical center, but it didn’t seem to be in use or let’s just say I didn’t poke my head in. The campus was labyrinthine to begin with, it was made worse because many of the doors and access points on the streets were closed and locked off so as to control the traffic of people coming in and out. Anyway, that’s it for today! Take care my friends!