333 DAYS

I feel like this is me.. working , and yet, moving into my retirement.. sort of a picture of where I am in my life.
Almost there.. 333 days to go.. One part of me is workforce, one part of me longs to retire and relax and enjoy the remainder of the days I am allotted. 333 days till the picture changes and the left side is gone...well, sort of.
This weekend was a reminder of why I want to be retired. Slammed every night, no help available.. do your best with what you have and don't grumble. The full moon hit us hard.. last night it stopped abruptly for a few hours and there was nothing left to do at work. We had filled all but one bed, and that patient would have to be male and have MRSA to occupy it.. So, in spite of the fact that we were full, the ER had patients to place- and my unit was where they were to be. At 11pm we started playing 'musical beds' again.. 3 patients got transferred out to another unit to make room for 3 new admissions + one who came as a direct admission from another hospital up north. 4 admissions at 11pm. This is really aggravating to me. If I were a patient, I would have refused to be moved at that hour and would encourage others to refuse also.
In the midst of this, I am instructed to NOT use the intercom after 9:30pm to reach any staff, and if the nurse doesn't have her phone on her, or has it turned off, I'm sunk. I have to go room to room- all 23 of them and the conference room, locker room, etc to find that person who likely has gone off the department on a break, leaving my desk and my work for 5 minutes to do so.
When I come back to my desk, I usually find that someone needed the chart I was working on, and has removed it and gone elsewhere. So I will pick up another chart and open it only to have the phone ring again and have to go on another wild goose chase. It becomes so frustrating and tiring before the night is done and I can go home.
This happens every night. I really need to retire.. did I mention just 333 days to go?
We now have a wonderful program where I work.. it celebrates 'Random acts of kindness'. There are awards for these RAKs.. but I'm wondering if that is necessary. I thought about it a lot and decided that I am paid to do what I do.. the last awards were given for someone showing a family where their loved one was moved.
Now, I do this nightly.. seriously.. at least 20 times I point folks in the direction of a family member- I don't expect to be praised or awarded for this- it's my job. And it's the job of every person who works there- so why are we giving these 'prizes' to just certain people who do their jobs? It's an enigma to me.
I don't remember what #2 prize was for, but something similar.. doing one's job. We push 'quality care' at my place of employment, and that is just a part of the quality of care we give. I suppose next we'll see an award for the escorts wheeling someone to their car at discharge. ... it's their job.
If I seem disgruntled, I'm not.. I simply fail to see the necessity to award staff for something mundane.. everything we do is an act of kindness.. how about something 'above and beyond the call of duty'?
Can anyone explain why we have this program? Is it really necessary? Perhaps I need to retire.. did I mention I have just 333 days to go?

It's 28 degrees...snow is on the ground, but not SERIOUS snow..just enough to remind me that winter is not completely gone.. but is going. It's to be cold most of the week..in the 20s. I didn't think the roads were bad last night on the way home.. they were dry for the most part.. but when I got to the back roads, I realized the wind had drifted the snow deeply in some areas- and the backroads were all covered. No anti-skid materials on them, never saw a plow or salt truck.. but they got worse as I got closer to home. That's one of the things I look forward to when I retire.. no more driving at night on slick roads or roads nearly drifted shut with snow. Maybe I'll get a new perspective on winter.. who knows? But I am looking forward to retiring- did I mention that before? Just 333 days.
On to the day!!! I am gainfully employed again- and pray things will have calmed down.