Time flies and change is inevitable.

Why are my posts so often about time or the lack thereof? Are you ever amazed at how fast time really does fly? I know it is early for a “year-end wrap-up,” but I just seem to be in the mood for reflection on this gloomy day after Thanksgiving.

There is enough research out there about adjustment after a move (and even more about how long it takes to feel “normal” after a divorce) that I shouldn’t be surprised at how much difference a year makes. Most experts agree that it takes a year to feel settled after a move, to see the “new” place as your place and for that feeling of being a stranger to go away. And the good news is, it has!

I no longer say things at work such as “You guys do things strange here,” and I have accepted many of the quirks as normal. I have also taken a more active role in bringing about change for the better and not just to make things more like where I came from. I do, however, continue to fight silliness and am the first to speak up when wacky decisions are made that don’t really seem to be for the good of the group.

One battle I recently lost was a decision to rearrange our primary-care teams. It seems my MD “partner” and I are too efficient and need to be split up to balance another team. We have access within a few days. In fact, I saw people last week for follow-up the day after an emergency room visit, something unheard of at many military clinics. We even have days where we have appointments that go unbooked, and we receive very few patient complaints.

How do you reward that kind of access? You split us up, of course! So, as of the first of the year, I will be switched to a different MD partner, one who is very meticulous, kind and thorough, but tends to have less convenient access. I fear that, for me, it will translate to more crossbooking and more difficulty for my enrollees to get in to see me as easily as they do now. Only time will tell! The good news? I’m able to keep working with the same technician. She does a great job of keeping me on schedule and has taken over some of the paperwork the nurse used to do.

A battle still to be waged is improving communication between public health and primary care with respect to deploying members, something that is a bit convoluted right now. We will also be moving our whole clinic this winter, which will tax the patience of staff members and patients alike. The move also puts us back on the list for a visit from the national accreditation agency, which always creates extra “spin” in an organization. It’s all part of the life lesson that life never settles down and change is inevitable!

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.