The Cost of Doing (This) Business

My retirement account is hurting badly this week with the market, so let’s talk instead about the investment in yourself.  What does it cost to do this job?

What you need to do well in infection control:

Part of being good at your job is staying informed.  You can do a lot of reading (from expensive reference books or free online publications), you can go to meetings (near or far), and you can take classes (online or in person).

I see questions on the IC community page from people who have clearly never opened any publication related to infection control or hospital epidemiology.  C’mon folks, put some effort in! My 2nd-grader was taught at school “Use your resources.”  This means before raising their hand to ask, they need to use their tools--a dictionary, a worksheet from yesterday, etc--to find the answer.   Also, one lunchtime teacher tells them “Ask 3, then me.”  This means if you can’t get the screw top off your water bottle, ask 3 classmates for help before the teacher.   Anywho, I heard somewhere once, “If you’re going to be in the profession, be IN the profession.”  Any profession.  You can’t half-a$$ this job.  People’s lives depend on your knowledge.   If you’re going to do this, make the commitment and do it.  Learn what you need to know.

So what does it cost to do this?

This can be cheap and easy, or not.  Here’s what I spent last year:

• Second nursing license for a job in a facility that covers more than one state (although there is no reason on earth why you need to be a nurse (even in one state) to do this job): $120 for license, $50 for fingerprinting
• The new APIC guide to construction: $126 plus TWENTY TWO DOLLARS for shipping.  No, the author did not personally deliver a signed copy to my home, as I expected for such an exorbitant shipping fee.  [What the heck, APIC?  US Postal Service ships anywhere for 5 bucks.]
• Regional APIC conference, (which I rarely attend because it is hosted at the same place, twice a year, in the most western part of my region where hardly anyone lives.  So everyone is driving almost 3 hours to get there. 6 hours of driving is a lot for one day. I think.): $125. Nice lunch, though.
• National conference: $699 +airfare + hotel +car +meals [$266+$780+$50] (no car last time).  My employer paid for half.  Benefits include almost all the continuing ed credits I need for the year.  My share: $897.50
• Professional memberships (4), which give you a discount off conferences, texts, journals, some free education, and meetings: $456
• APIC text (online version): $169
• Nursing license, renewal fee: None this year, but every other year, 2 licenses ($80 + $120), so yearly average of $100.
• Online course: $25

Grand Total: not an insignificant percent of my income. $2552.50

I consider my memberships and the APIC text to be the bare minimum necessities for this job.

What’s wrong with Omaha? 

The problem with conferences for me is the distance:

I’ve attended a national conference for one of my professional organizations each of the last three years.  The average distance from my house to one of these events was 2004.6 miles, and I live in the continental US.  Does nobody who plans a conference ever look at the population distribution of our country?  I looked back at past conferences (from several organizations) to see that none had been within 500 miles of my house, and I live in a very populous part of the country.  The most populous part, in fact.

If you live on the east coast, a west coast conference is especially brutal because you lose a day coming back.  Conference ends at 12noon on Sunday, and if you can’t get on a 2pm flight, you take the 11pm (there’s nothing in between), putting you back east at 7am the next morning on practically no sleep.  Then try to get out of that airport city during morning rush traffic.  Are you going into work?  I’m not. This is a feeling that reminds me of college: nauseous, dehydrated, and exhausted. Day lost.

Organizers put these things sometimes in a “fun” city, and your brochure will tell you all the things you probably won’t see.  If I’m spending my boss’s money and my time, I’m going to every session I can.  In the past, that’s been from 7am to 7pm.  Would I like to venture out into a strange city after dark by myself?  Nope, thanks.  Heading back to my hotel room to catch up on email and call my kids to say goodnight.   So don’t bother with Orlando or San Francisco.  Put the next one in Omaha, which is equidistant for most people, mild weather most of the time (unlike San Antonio in June. Seriously.), and not packed with activities, landmarks, and events that I’ll never see. Or Missouri, which is the population center of the country.

I value the information at conferences, but in this day, when you can Skype, GoTo, FaceTime, and stream everything, why do I physically need to sit in Anaheim to watch a powerpoint presentation?  I am a sole practitioner at my facility.  This kind of travel, while it’s paid work time, is lost work time.  I really cannot give up 5 days of work time.  There is no way to make that up.  I’ve got kids that are still in school, and it’s an inconvenience to ask for favors from the grandparents for a week of drop-off and pick-up.  So, this is the type of investment I’ve decided not to make in myself this year.  I can’t do another one.  

I would gladly pay half the conference fee for access to the presentations, which I can watch at my leisure, either at my desk, or on my couch. And my employer would gladly not pay hotel, airfare, rental car, and meals.  Talk about wasting our healthcare dollars. I think we might need to rethink the conferences.  Can we move them back and forth along the 39th parallel, or just make Omaha the conference capital of the country? I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

What do you think is reasonable expense for your job? If your employer pays for a resource book, will you leave it behind when you go to your next job, or take it with you?