<It's been five years since I've worked in a library. In that time I have had one contract position and then four regular positions at the same company I was a librarian for 20 years. I also have moved seven times in five years as they've tried to get the right mix of office layout. For three floors, it's pretty mobile.
I was laid off for six weeks before they asked me to come back. My library gig was always part-time, first at 35 hours a week, then 20, and I eventually got a data entry position entering medical charges that made $10 less an hour, but I was finally able to stop taking extra jobs such as working at the gas station (I did that for five years, standing for hours through tendinitis and plantar fasciitis issues and worrying about being robbed). I was finally full-time for the first time in my life anywhere. I'd worked for 10 years in a 'real' job to finally get that. All because we started taking insurance to reduce the draw on our endowment.
But those charges weren't going to be needed once we were an outpatient medical centre rather than an inpatient hospital, and the library wasn't going. So I was laid off.
Six weeks later the manager of patient access called me asking if I'd come back as a consultant as their numbers were through the roof now that we were getting paediatric fractures follow-ups from the University of Kentucky and other referrals for orthopaedic issues in numbers we hadn't had before. When I'd been a data entry clerk, I'd helped out with patient access when three women went on maternity leave at once. So I didn't have to be trained as much as a temporary worker, and they'd have more faith in giving me access to the electronic medical record system (at that time it was Cerner; we recently went to Epic). I did contract work from May 2017 to October and was hired on again in the job I was performing, check out. The next spring I was hired as a specialist to do insurance authorisations of office visits and schedule offsite imaging such as ultrasounds and MRIs. Two weeks later the lady training me's husband got the best job offer he'd ever had, one tailored and created for him in a very small niche area, and they had two weeks to go to another state. So I wound up getting her job, which was basically the same, although authorising surgeries, as we have an ambulatory surgical centre as well as medical and rehabilitation clinics, although it was a higher grade. Eventually, we wound up changing the positions so the coordinator (me) did all the pre-authorisations, and the specialist did both offsite scheduling and their authorisation. That will become important, as this summer HQ took over all inside authorisations, i.e., what I was doing, but my boss (who is great) argued that they keep me on in another position that had opened up, back in checkout. Although it is technically a lower grade, they kept it a lateral move so I wasn't demoted or taking a pay cut. For which I'm grateful. HR and my boss really went to bat for me.
I had a panic attack shortly before transitioning to the new position, because when I'd done it before I was largely alone, handling up to 200 patients some days, as well as the phones and e-mails. We have a second person in checkout now and a scheduler who handles most of the rest, letting us focus on checking out and scheduling new appointments, getting calls when we can and acting as a backup when she's out. So it's much better, and despite being an introvert, I've discovered I enjoy making a difference directly with patients and their families rather than doing it on the back end by wrestling with insurance companies.
But that isn't the point of this post. It's that I have been doing other things outside of librarianship. Am I still a librarian? Yes, I'm trained, I have a piece of paper that says I am, and I worked 20 years in a professional position beyond work-study and graduate-assistant jobs. I am still very interested in the library world and books, censorship, publishing, and other library-related topics. Have I tried to get another library job lately? No. I did when I was laid off, and I did during my return at first, but I discovered three things (in addition to the long-known issue that I live in a city with a school of library and information science that puts out scores of new librarians three times a year, and you almost have to wait for someone to retire or die to get a library job).
It is shameful here to admit to troubles at home, and mental illness often goes undiagnosed or untreated. Ms. Zada, the hospital staff said, probably suffered from depression. The choices for Afghan women are extraordinarily restricted: Their family is their fate. There is little chance for education, little choice about whom a woman marries, no choice at all about her role in her own house. Her primary job is to serve her husband’s family. Outside that world, she is an outcast.The women often mistakenly think that immolating themselves will be quick. Instead, it can lead to burns, infections, lingering deaths, or horrible scars. The fact that they feel so desperate that they do this is so sad and terrible.
“If you run away from home, you may be raped or put in jail and then sent home and then what will happen to you?” asked Rachel Reid, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who tracks violence against women.
Returned runaways are often shot or stabbed in honor killings because the families fear they have spent time unchaperoned with a man. Women and girls are still stoned to death. Those who burn themselves but survive are often relegated to grinding Cinderella existences while their husbands marry other, untainted women.
| You Are a Blue Flower |
 A blue flower tends to represent peace, openness, and balance. At times, you are very delicate like a cornflower. And at other times, you are wise like an iris. And more than you wish, you're a little cold, like a blue hydrangea. |
| Your Career Type: Social |
 You are helpful, friendly, and trustworthy. Your talents lie in teaching, nursing, giving information, and solving social problems. You would make an excellent: Counselor - Dental Hygienist - Librarian Nurse - Parole Officer - Personal Trainer Physical Therapist - Social Worker - Teacher The worst career options for your are realistic careers, like truck driver or farmer. |