Ker-ching!

OMG!

I've just had a meeting with the finance guy for my new ward... I can tell you, it's going to be a far less bumpy ride than last time I did this!!

When I was sister before, on another ward, I walked in to a budget overspend that never went away! No matter what cost-saving techniques we employed, when the figures came out every month, the spending remained out of control. It was the biggest, worst issue of my six months in that job - causing no end of stress and tears!

Well, it would seem that this time the gods & godesses are smiling down on me! The budget up until Dec 2007 at least (Jan's figures are due any day now!) shows an underspend!!

WooHoo *does happy dance*

OK, they've not been paying a ward Sister since last Sept when the other one left and they've got some other staffing vacancies but there's also been bank & agency nurse costs to cover (yeah - they've been letting wards cover staffing gaps again!) so it's all balancing out...

With some semblance of good luck, I should be able to relax a little when that report drops into my inbox each month! What an amazingly releiving thought!

Otherwise, the job is going swimmingly too! The staff 're all great, the ward is nice and calm, the inner workings seem stable... There's a slight murmouring row about masks going on but that's hardly a tirade of complications to try and solve! Oh yes, for now at least, I've landed on my feet...

Gonna do a clinical shift tomorrow and see how things really work on the ground (got my new uniforms dead quick too!) so I'll get to spot first hand anything that might need tweaking in the working day but I doubt there'll be much if anything! Oh, how glad am I to be here right now? Very! Jxx