The last time I mentioned my job search I told you that my dream job in the Neonatal ICU had "all but fallen through". I was getting super frustrated that with a nursing license I was not getting called back for jobs, or getting disappointing calls letting me know that I should apply again "after I got some experience under my belt". How are new nurses supposed to get experience if every job requires it!? My roommates are currently job searching, so keep them in your prayers. As for me, I'm a lucky one! One day about a month ago when I was feeling particularly hopeless I e-mailed the director of the Neonatal ICU at which I had applied and interviewed with back in March. I asked what the chances were of another job opening up anywhere in the near future. She wrote back that she actually just happened to have a few positions open up since a couple of nurses had decided not to return from their maternity leave, and another was moving out of the state. She said she had no reservations to hire me, but wanted me to come in and meet with some of the other nurses to make sure it was still what I wanted. I went in for a team interview, decided it was definitely still what I wanted, and got a job offer the next day! Since then I've been super busy with orientation and school starting back this week. For example, my schedule for next week beginning tomorrow:
Sunday - Work 7A-3P, church at 5, fit in homework that's due Thursday
Monday - Work 7A-7P
Tuesday - Work 7A-7P
Wednesday - NRP (newborn resuscitation) class at the hospital 8A-4:30P
Thursday - Chapel @ 10:30, Marriage and the Family class @ 11:30, Physical Assessment class from 4-7
Friday - Pack and leave for Family Labor day Weekend at Doublehead
Saturday - Catch up with the family!
Sunday - Church, leave Doublehead, sleep all the way home, work 7P-7A
Sometime in all this I'd like to see my fiance, and maybe go out to eat for our 3 1/2 year anniversary, which was last week!
The good news is - so far I absolutely LOVE my job! It's easy to get up at 5AM and head out for a 12 hour shift when you enjoy what you do. Even after a rough experience yesterday when a baby that was doing well suddenly went VERY bad (two collapsed lungs at the same time) and ended up on a ventilator and with a chest tube (which I watched being inserted), I still love what I do. If anything I've realized what amazing people I work with, and how lucky these little babies are. If this baby had been at home or had any circumstances been different he wouldn't have had a chance. It just so happened that a nurse was standing at his bed at the time baby quit breathing, and all of the doctors had just returned from a meeting and were all there to work on him (and it took all of them!). I just love seeing all these little babies who, if they had been born just a few years ago, wouldn't have a chance of survival go home healthy babies. Knowing that I have some little part in helping that baby get well enough to go home makes my job so much better! Plus, when I come home from a long hard shift I smell like baby!
The only downside is... now I have to be an adult! I have benefits, a paycheck, and big responsibility! I don't know how many times I've called Mom and said "Help! I don't know how to do all this adult stuff!" I'm also trying to get everything done wedding-wise so I can know that's done and focus on school and work. I think we've gotten almost everything booked and I'm so excited about how everything is working out! Just a little over 9 months to go!
