Identity confusion.
I know lots about "Identity Fraud" You read about it in the paper every week. I've put a shredder by the paper re-cycling bin so I feel protected from anything like that happening to me.
What I have been conned by though is "Identity Confusion" I thought I was female. I thought I was a nurse. I thought I was looking for a job in that area to bring a bit of money into the house. I was soooo wrong.
I am trying to get my Nursing Registration here in Australia so I can start working as a Registered nurse. In the meantime I started working as a nursing assistant in a local hospital 3 months ago. This was to bring in some money to help out since Byron's job in the US went belly up. I work as a casual, this means I get a random number of hours of work in each fortnights roster. It is hard to budget as every week brings different shifts and I often get last minute phone calls to fill in the gaps when people ring in sick. I have been getting quite frustrated with how few hours I get given at the beginning of each two week roster(even though by the end of the two weeks I have usually notched up plenty of shifts) I got a phone call from the hospital last week asking if I wanted to be trained up as a Physio Assistant. Same hourly rate, just doubling my chances of being offered shifts in either the Physio gym or the ward. I said yes and last week was a Physio Assistant on Monday and Wednesday and a Nursing Assistant on Thursday and again this afternoon.
I only have one uniform which was from my Reflexology course in the UK and is different to the rest of the staff. It is a bit confusing for the patients who don't know whether to ask me for pills or a walk. Having got used to these two roles I then had another phone call from the hospital offering me another job. This time in theatre. Same hourly rate and regular shifts every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. How could I say no?
But now the confusion starts. What exactly is my new job? On Monday I become the new Theatre Wardsman. No, not wardsperson, wardsman! I will be joining the ranks of the blue shirted, moustached, tattooed wardsmen who push beds and trolleys from the wards to Theatre and Theatre to the wards. I will be lifting and carrying and generally doing all the jobs that the other porters do. I start tomorrow morning at 7am. I am a little nervous. Maybe I should change my name to something more manly, something that sounds strong and rugged? Perhaps a big tattoe on my forearm will make me fit in better.
I'm sure it will be fine. I shouldn't waste time worrying about it. I'm sure the Theatre sister was only joking when she looked me up and down and with a look of disbelief....
"You better be stronger than you look" .....
