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Working & waiting...

So what has 2 months as a brand new RN taught me?  Well here goes:

1. Doctor's REALLY can be serious jerks
2. When doctor's are being serious jerks it's usually not personal, so try not to take it that way
3. Patients really do die & even though it's not your fault, you still feel like it is in some way
4. Errors CAN happen, be VERY vigilant
5. SLOW DOWN
6. If you're doing something that you're unsure of and your nursing sense starts tingling, STOP what you're doing and ask someone about it
7. It's hard to remember your patient's names when you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off
8. Once you're off orientation it's full steam ahead so if  you feel like you need more training/orienting time then say so!
9. Nurses are a cool group of people
10. TED hose really do make your legs feel SO much better after a 12 hour shift (and they sell some really cute ones too)
11. Working 3 shifts a week ROCKS!!
12. This is DEFINITELY not something I could see myself doing for 20 + years, even though I work with several dedicated nurses who have been doing just that!
13. I need to get back into school ASAP

As you can see from my list I have encountered quite a bit in my short 2 month stint as a new nurse. Some of it has been good and some of it not so good, but all of it has culminated in me applying to graduate school for the Spring 2015 semester. I was going to wait for a year to "get some experience" but since I have decided to only go part time to grad school, I figure the 2 1/2 years it's going to take me to get through will be plenty enough experience for me as a new Nurse Practitioner.  I mean obviously I'm never going to know everything no matter how long I work as a nurse, so I'm just going to continue to do my thing on the floor while I trudge through school. There is a very young nurse that I work with that graduated last year and she decided to go straight through.  I have to admit she kind of lit the spark for me to go back sooner as well.

As far as working on Med/Surg, I have to admit that is NOT my niche in any way, shape or form, but with only 2 1/2 years to work I don't really see myself moving around very much.  Luckily I can work down in Geri Psych & float to other departments so when I want to pick up extra shifts I don't feel stuck in M/S.  But as of right now I'm just working and waiting to hear from grad school.  I don't know why I'm nervous about getting in, I meet all the requirements. I guess that's just my nature. But, I will update as soon as I hear, which will hopefully be soon!




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