I am the chosen one. It has fallen to me to lead my people into the promised land - bummer!
To save money, the management have decided to close the Eye Pavilion at the weekends. Patients will be transferred to the Royal Infirmary on Friday afternoon, and return on Monday morning. Only one Ophthalmic nurse will be required for the day and night shifts, as the beds assigned to us are part of the orthopaedic ward, and there are other staff nurses there to cover meal breaks. The starting date for this was 11th December 2006...only...nothing was ready. So the date had to be postponed until today...only...we still weren't ready. So the new start date is 26th January. And guess who's been assigned the first shift in the weekend ward? (See the top of this post for the answer.)
We went over on Monday for orientation. We got a smart new RIE ID which allows you electronic access. We got a guided tour round the ward, so I've got a rough idea where things are. The orthopaedic staff are looking forward to us coming. They were decanted here many moons ago when the PMR* closed, so they know what we're about to go through.
For the first month though, there's going to be two of us on duty, just to get everything settled in. Although some plans have been made, it's going to be very much a make it up as you go along affair. We won't know the problems until they hit us, and then we'll have to solve them.
What's worse, is that we're in the middle of renovations, this month, so everything's upside down as it is, and now we're adding this move on top!
Change is good. Change is good. Change is... if I say it often enough I might start to believe it. More of this anon. I'm on annual leave now for a week, and it's my birthday on Wednesday. I shall gather my strength before the approaching storm.

*PMR - Princess Margaret Rose Hospital. A now closed orthopaedic hospital in South Edinburgh.