Jobs and Dreams!

I GOT THE JOB!!!

I found out that most of the residencies at MultiCare come with the job as long as you pass the residency. What does that mean? That means that I have a job passed the residency!!! I am technically hired for the floor. The residency essentially becomes a great version of on the job training!

To say I am excited is an understatement! It is a good thing that the HR person on the phone could not see me as she told me the details of my new position as a nurse! I am not so sure she would have continued with the conversation! LOL! I was in a fit of random, excited, flailing movements that should only be done in private, if at all!

I count my lucky stars and do not take for granted that I am one of the lucky few. There are still so many of my classmates who have not found job yet, or the jobs they found are less than good. It isn’t all luck that I have a job either. I have done things to try to place myself in the best possible position to get one. I am no more deserving of this job than my cohorts, but I do realize the awesomeness of getting a job less than two weeks after passing the NCLEX.  I could not have dreamed that things would go this well once school was out!

I started this year out with many plans and the big ones are coming into fruition! I do realize that I was overly ambitious with thinking I could accomplish all my plans, which is something I tend to do. I am working on being more realistic with my time, goals, and resources. My list of 34 is going to have to wait. I am going to have many of the things on that list done, but not everything. Not only have some circumstances changed, but I was really unrealistic with what I thought I could accomplish while in school and this summer. It’s ok. I am going to get there. In the end, my intentions are being realized. I am reaching those flying dreams! 

Stress, residency, and Alan's coming home!!!

I am pretty sure that I am now addicted to stress! Seriously, I am not happy if I am not stressing about something. I had 2 days of no stress before I started in about financial planning, remodeling, getting a residency/job, and reorganizing my whole life post school. I have made spread sheets, watched financial videos, and started inquiring about financial advisers from some trusted individuals. That is just for the finance obsession. It doesn’t even cover the other activities I am engaged in with my other stressful obsessions!

I think that nursing school has crossed some wires in my brain. Being under constant stress has become the normal place my body and mind like to be at. It is so unhealthy. The analyzer in me is orgasmic though! All the data collection and trying to organize thoughts and planning! The problem comes in the unknowns and being in a place in which I am unable to follow through with plans at the moment. It causes tension in my shoulders and kind of makes me irritable! The great news is I will be able to start taking steps very soon, so hopefully the stress will start to subside.

I am doing a little better in the last couple of days with my food. I went shopping so I have good things at home to eat. I planned on baking some chicken to add to salads and quinoa bowls last night, so I preheated the oven. Well, I preheated the oven all night! LOL! I got sidetracked by one of my obsessions last night and forgot to bake the chicken. Luckily it was in the refrigerator. When I came to the realization that the oven was still on…I just tossed the chicken in. Waste of energy, but what can a girl do about it after the fact?

Tomorrow I find out about a residency position I have applied for. I am so nervous! It would be such an amazing opportunity. I would have to cancel most of my plans for the rest of summer, but I would be more than happy to do so!

So a nurse residency is usually 12 weeks long. The one I am up for is at MultiCare on the medical/surgical unit. All residencies are a little different, but I will tell you how MultiCare runs their program. My shift will be the night shift (3-11 pm) and I will work throughout the week and every other weekend. I will have classroom training as well as on the job training. I will have a preceptor, very much like my senior practicum at Children’s Hospital. I will start off by shadowing the preceptor and gradually start taking on his/her patients. The goal for both MultiCare and myself is for me to be hired at the end of the 12 week residency. If for some reason they choose not to hire me on the floor my residency was on or I choose not to take the job, I owe them $2,000 for the training. They “loan” me $2,000 for the training. If I get hired, then I have to work on the floor for a year or I have to pay them back at a prorated cost if I leave before the year is up. That is the way it goes! I do not anticipate too much trouble here. If I get the residency, I am sure I will do well and be offered the job. I have to trust that I learned what I needed to for a good foundation and I have always done well in clincials.

Alan comes home today. I can’t wait! He has been gone since Wednesday. He went to Montana with his dad, one of his brothers, and his friend for their annual fishing trip. I am sure Alan will smell wonderful when he gets home! I love when he gets home after his fishing trip. He is so relaxed and really just has a wonderful time. He always has a few funny stories to share. It will be sad when his dad is not able to take that trip anymore. These are cherished memories they are making!

I AM A NURSE!!!!!

I can’t believe I am a nurse! The last few days have been agony.  I had convinced myself that I had failed the NCLEX.  Here is why…

When I took the Kaplan class they told us about the test and how it works. The NCLEX is a computer adaptive test. It looks for a pattern in the way you answer questions to find your competency level. The computer will give you your next question based on how you answer the current one. If you answer correct your next question will be harder or the same level as the one you just answered. If you get it wrong you will be given an easier question. Passing level questions are analysis and critical thinking questions and general pathophysiology questions are not passing level. At about question 45 or 50 I had gotten multiple questions that were “below” the passing level questions. That led me to believe that although I was getting above the passing level questions, that I was not establishing a pattern of competency. I was all over the place; I told myself that it was ok. I had more questions to prove that I was going to be a competent nurse. I settled in for a longer than 75 question test, so when the screen shut off at 75 my heart sank. I thought that I had done bad enough that I didn’t have more than 75 questions to prove I am competent. I checked out of the test center, went to my car, and then I cried. I felt with every cell in my body that I failed that test!

Needless to say, the next 32 hours were just full of stress and anguish. I just wanted to have the results so I could move on. There are “tricks” to knowing if you passed or not and according to those I did pass. I didn’t trust them though. I continued to check the WA Department of Health website to see if my status would change from pending to something else. Imagine my shock when I just errantly checked while stopped at a traffic light to see the word “active” next to my license title and number!!!

Pinning and graduation was wonderful. I almost wish all that happened after NCLEX, but that isn’t realistic anyway. I was so nice to have so many friends and family around to support me. My wonderful in-laws had a BBQ for me. There was even a cake with a red-headed nurse on it! I was truly a wonderful week of celebration. Now that I have passed the NCLEX, there will be a big BBQ in which I plan to invite everyone! 

The last two and a half years…well much longer if you count my prerequisites…have been the biggest roller coaster of my life. I have had some of the highest highs and for sure the lowest lows I have ever had. I sacrificed, toiled, been pushed to my limits more than once and continued to push on to become the person I am today and the nurse I will be tomorrow…but that is the beauty of speed!