How many people can say this...
I love my job!
I was in nursing school when I started this blog. It was a long road getting to that point, and it was also the first significant life change I'd ever sat up in the morning, decided to make and then followed through with. It took four years from that moment to graduate and become an RN.
I had my two year review yesterday and it went very well. There was a point in my life when I never went into an annual review without a box of kleenex on hand. It's nice for things to be different.
There's such a push for nurses right now and it's a profession that's portrayed as a sacrificing and helping. Yes it can be that way at moments. It's also a hard job with a high rate of workplace violence. It will chew you up, spit you out, and then chew you up again. It's a changing profession where patient care is constantly being pushed aside and they are heaping more and more responsibilty (aka CRAP) onto the people at the beside.
And I still love it.
Because if you want to work hard, be challenged and to find a place where you can truly advocate for people, it's perfect. I also work at a generally good hospital with a generally good doctor/nurse relationship and have wonderful supportive coworkers. Makes all the difference.
The best part is that I can love my job and still be a parent the majority of the week while supporting my family. How awesome is that.
So, people out there considering it, BE A NURSE. We rock.
Finn TV will return shortly.
posted by Sacha @ 10:05 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Sasha, can I ask what you did before you became a nurse? What lead you down the path? I am seriously considering going back to school (again) to become a certified nurse midwife, but the thought of more school, now with three kiddos in tow, at the age of 33 just seems a little overwhelming. But, then again, I don't think I'm so old and worn out that it is time to say, "it's too late", either, YKWIM?
Em
My mom is a nurse and most nurse's kids don't become nurses. I'm glad your experience is great so far. Sounds like it's a great job for you.
Im a nurse - Kits ITU.. well until i had an accident .. sucks!.. so doign research now.. which i also love but not started doing a few extra shifts back on PICU to keep my skills u p& have some much need ed extra cash!!..
i ALWYA wanted to be a nurse.. form when i was 2.... there are photos to prove it.. lol... eek!
oops that was me up above, not angele. i didn't realize i was signed in as her. my mom's a nurse, not angele's. ;)
I feel the same way about being a teacher. I think the professions have some characteristics in common. It's good to love your work, isn't it?? I LOVE being home with Jo and that is definitely what I want to be doing right now, but I miss work a teensy bit. that's a good feeling.
I decided to become a nurse when I fell down some stairs at work and broke my ankle then ended up in the hospital with a blood clot. I was so inspired by the nurses there. At the time I was deeply unhappy at my work and watching my company make deeper and deeper cuts into the small things that made employees happy for the bottom line.
I was doing IT administrative support and supported people inside my company. I advocated to put them first over and over again and was ignored over and over again. I didn't see that it would be different anywhere else and felt really stuck.
I'd always looked at nursing as a kind of blue collar job (yes, I'm a SNOB, big time) and suddenly I realized it was a job where your primary focus was helping people, at least it was supposed to be. That's what I had been missing working corporate.
Here's the best part. I decided I wanted to volunteer in the hospital. Then I woke up one day between Christmas and New Year's (2001-2002) and thought "I don't have to volunteer, I could become a nurse!". I was enrolled in my first prereq the next week.
I did one class per quarter for two years. I had a previous degree so I just had to do my prereqs. Then I applied to just ONE nursing school and was waitlisted. I ended up being #2 on the list but didn't get in. Then someone dropped out of the program a week into the first quarter. I quit my job at 4:30 on a Friday and started school full-time on Monday.
And here I am. I'm still amazed I got in because I was such a long-shot with no medical background and UW is the best program in the country.
I think you have to be the right personality to like nursing. It can be very satisfying but is challenging at the same time. There's high burnout. Advance practice (CNM) could be different.
I'd always thought I wanted to do something different but didn't want to take the time - four years - to change careers. Then it took me four years but I barely noticed. I say start with one class and see how things go. It's extra hard with kids. Email me if you want to chat more. sacha at drizzle dot com.
Maybe Finn will become a Male Nurse but I personally hope he becomes a chef. :) Whatever he choses is fine with me.
http://nauticalnurses.blogspot.com/
have a look at these 2 women!... amazing ... Elin was my old boss...
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