Fifteen months in being a float nurse in a Level 1 Trauma Center. Fifteen months floating to 8 different units. INCLUDING the emergency department. Fifteen months of adapting to different unit cultures. Fifteen months of adjusting to different nurse personalities. Fifteen months of figuring out where they keep the darn leads, dale ace connectors, tube feeding bags, and other random supplies that I really wish would be uniformed on every unit. I could so easily stay on my very favorite unit (which I have debated about almost every week for about a year), but I wanted to show loyalty to the people who gave me a chance to even be in this position. I didn’t want to leave a department that invested in me and gave me a chance when everyone else was saying, “I’m sorry, there were a large group of very qualified people in your group, but unfortunately, we could not hire them all.” Fifteen months later, I’m kind of glad I didn’t give up on being a float nurse. I’ve had a more colorful start to my career than most new grad nurses and definitely a much more vivid clinical experience. I feel more prepared to handle…
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>__<
Sometimes, I feel really out of place. I don’t feel like I think the same way as everyone or act the same. My priorities are different. My goals are different. My outlook on life are different. I often struggle and it’s made me feel extremely isolated. Case in point, my friends. Err… I mean friend. Isn’t that crazy? I only have one friend. Lot of acquaintances and a lot of co-workers. Lots of family. But only one person that I feel like I can trust and rely on when it comes to figuring out this sometimes complicated thing called life. Point number 2. I struggle with the label of being quiet. In the beginning I was a bit arrogant about it. So what if I’m quiet? That’s just me. How can I change me?? But now I think, gosh, do you really need to be so quiet? Don’t be so scared. Trust a little. Change a little. Now, I’m 25. 25. Official quarter life crisis in motion. I’ve never been in a serious relationship. I can blame a lot of things for that. But they’re really all just excuses. And for the first time, I feel really scared to be…
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Growing
I have this tendency to, how should I put it… back down? I’ve been reflecting again on how I work at work and how I can be a little better. I feel like I still struggle when it comes to time management, prioritization and delegation. I want to do everything by myself because I know I’m gonna do it right and that messes with my time management. Overall, I run all over the unit like there’s a fire under my ass. So I’ve been being a bit more conscious about delegating. Ultimately, this translates to me assessing the whole situation. When I ask for help, I’m also assessing the work load of who I’m asking and unfortunately, if they’re busy, I back down. What does this mean then? I get a little more busy, a little more pressured, and definitely pressed for time. This concerns me because it takes away from the patient’s experience when I deliver care. I hate hate hate it when I rush. It’s not that I’m more prone to making mistakes, although that’s true too, but it’s because I feel like I’m not taking time to be there for my patient. I don’t want to be…
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Life as an INFJ
As one of the most misunderstood and rarest of the Myer Briggs personality traits, nothing else describes how I feel better than the phrase, “Well that sucks, doesn’t it?” I’ve known for a while that I am an INFJ. When I read the descriptions of my personality, I can say that 75% of what I read is true. That in itself is pretty crazy because I can’t even describe my own self. To be able to read what kind of person you are and the rationale behind why you are who you are is pretty mind blowing and even today I’m in somewhat of a denial because I don’t want to believe what I’ve read about myself. My life as a so called INFJ is literally a living paradox. I am caught up between the feeling of doing too much or not doing enough, whether it’s with relationships or work. I often feel like I am alone or lonely, but when it gets down to it, I rarely if ever want to venture out to meet new people, or even meet the people I already know. And then of course, there’s that feeling of wanting to change the world and…
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#nurselife
I’m a month shy of my first year as a full fledged RN. I can’t believe it’s gone by so fast! Even though I still feel like there’s still so much for me to do, I’m really happy with how my career is turning out so far. Excitement doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel about the next few years that are in store for me. I really, really love my job. Don’t get me wrong, the days are tough. And by tough I mean there are moments where I totally question whether or not I should still be doing bedside nursing. I question whether I deserve to put up with certain things, like being disrespected or undermined by healthcare team members or family members. But you know what? It only takes one thank you to turn a horrible day into a really good day. It only takes my co-workers to acknowledge and commend me to make all the bad go away in one go. The other thing I like about being a nurse is that whenever I work, I feel most like myself. Like, the person my patients and my co-workers see, is 100% the true blue me.…