Working while Joint Commision is Expected

Well..... I have been in this field for approximately 8 years or so, and I have never had the pleasure of directly dealing with Joint Commission. Now the hospital I work at is due for an inspection and the last time they did not come see me in MRI department because we were just opening up. They have been at several hospitals in our area, so we are assuming they are coming are way in the immediate future. I am not sure why, but it seems as if everyone just walks a little more straight..lol. So my job has been a little more stressful then usual fine tuning our policies and procedures and preparing for questions that may be asked. I do believe it is necessary for the checks and balances but will be glad to put this inspection behind me.

Work in these economic difficulties

I can say volume has picked up lately which is great since our hospital has been looking at staff hours with all the economy difficulty. I have been at this this facility for 4 years now and have been fortunate enough to have an increase in the amount of exams being completed since the start. However; the last 3 months have been considerably slower than in the past. Our hospital has cut all 40 hr work week employees to 37.5 hours and have cut out all annual raises for the time being. I have been doing MRI for about 10 years and never seen this. In fact even the job market has got really tough for all radiology staff in my area. It must have something to do with everyone jumping into healthcare with alot of other job markets getting tougher. Do any of you see any changes in your area due to the econmic difficulties? Still would not change a thing about going into healthcare. I love it and enjoy helping patients! I would just like to see this recovery soon in my neck of the woods I keep hearing on the news.....not sure if economy is quite on track yet.