Work Stuffs

A post NOT baby related? Wow!! Haha...

Sooo...June 24th is quickly approaching, and with that my 1 year anniversary of being an official RN. I seriously can't believe it's been a year already, holy moly! Granted I've only been "on my own" for coming up on 10 months, but still...in this regard, the past year as simply flown by.

And apparently my direct supervisor thinks I'm doing well, because last week she asked me to train one of the new grads they just hired. Strike that, she really didn't ask...she told me...which was probably smart on her part, because I am scared to death!! Okay, maybe not that bad...but still, I feel totally inadequate to be the one asked to train someone! Of all my co-workers, I have the LEAST nursing experience...I mean, besides the two new-grads they just hired, I AM the new grad. I guess I don't qualify for that title anymore. Which I suppose is a good thing...but I still feel like one!! There are so many things I have not experienced or done yet myself, and I am constantly running questions or specific scenarios past the other nurses just to verify that I'm on the right track. I do not feel ready for this! But apparently my supervisor thinks I am. :::Gulp:::

The good thing is that this girl has been an extern on our unit for the past year, just like I was prior to graduating. Actually I was only an extern for 6 months, but same idea...she at least has some experience, knows our routines and the basics. I just have to orient her to the night shift and specific RN responsibilities once she is licensed. The nurse she was training with on day shift for the past year is EXCELLENT. She is very thorough, a wonderful patient advocate, and extremely detailed. This is a good thing, because I know this girl will be better prapared because of that...but it also makes me nervous to follow someone like that! I not saying I'm not thorough and detailed and advocate for my patients...I am all of those things...but I'm not nearly as anal-retentive as this other nurse...and I mean that in a good way and with all respect! I know we all have our own ways of doing things, and there are many right ways to accomplish the same goal...I'm just nervous to be compared to her.

(Yeep! Monkey just kicked my bladder!! Haha...I knew she'd get in this post somehow...)

I guess I just need to take a deep breath, and do exactly what I've been doing for the past 12 months: take good care of my patients, putting safety first...and looking up/asking questions of anything I'm unsure of. I'm just scared of running accross something I have not encountered yet and not knowing what to do...because there are many things I have not encountered yet! I guess the best way to learn is to teach. I will be stretched...and it will be uncomfortable...but it will also be good for me.

So for the next approximately 12 weeks this is what I'll be doing at work. This will bring us to September...and almost time for Monkey! Hey, at least I'll have an extra set of hands to help me out at the end of my pregnancy when things may get a little harder for me to do (such as bending down to clean up messes or helping moms in the bathroom, to name a few...).

I also mentioned to my supervisor that I would be interested in training to work in the nursery whenever the opportunity arises. She seemed open to the idea, but didn't specifically say anything one way or the other. I anticipate (especially now) that it wouldn't be until sometime after I get back from maternity leave, so mid-December at the earliest...and probably later. Although, since they are hiring 2 new grads and our schedule may be a bit over staffed now I may have a good shot of going straight to nursery training when I go back in December. Who knows. Then again, there are 3 of us having babies this Fall/Winter in my department on night shift, and 2 of us will overlap at a time so they may need me back on our schedule! I'm September, another is November and the 3rd is January. At least we won't all be out at the same time!! I guess we'll just have to see. I didn't mention that specifically to her (going straight to training after maternity leave), but I may just to see what she thinks.

I decided that I absolutely do NOT want to do Labor and Delivery. That's what I had wanted to do since I was a little girl...in fact, I wanted to be a midwife. But I've realized that I really don't want to deal with pregnancy issues or labor/birth issues having to do with the mom. I LOVE the babies. And I love caring for the moms AFTER delivery. But before and during? No desire whatsoever. Plus, "outside" babies are a lot easier to take care of. If they're crapping out on you BEFORE birth it becomes a big emergency and you have to either get them out quick or try and fix it without being able to access your patient (the baby). Once they are "outside" instead of "inside" babies, it may still be a big emergency, but at least you can actually get to your patient at that point and do what you need to do.

Also, I need to grow and expand my nursing experience. I want to be able to do more than just Postpartum...I want to be able use more of my skills, that I feel like I'm quickly losing. Postpartum is not challenging, and although it can still be scary (I had a scary patient last week who was very sick...luckily nothing went wrong, but it was still scary!), my skills and knowledge are not constantly used and refined. I AM constantly learning new things and filing new information away, but it's not the same. Maybe that doesn't make any sense, but it does to me. To sound cliche, I need to "broaden my horizens." Hehe. :-)

I think that's all for now!