Tuesday, January 15, 2008
licensure
In class today we filled out applications for the college for graduation, got the contact info for the state nursing commission so we can start sending them information about ourselves, got the contact info for the testing company so we can go ahead and send them a pile of money for faster test authorization now, and got the order forms for our pins. I think we all started to hyperventilate a little.
My biggest issue right now is that I don't know what kind of job I want to look for. One reason I wanted to go into nursing is because of the flexibility, but now that I'm getting ready to step into the work world again, I feel like there are too many choices. Most nurses & teachers have told me that getting a year of general med-surg experience is smart because it allows greater adaptability going forward, but I've also heard people say that if you're interested in critical care, go ahead and take an ICU job as a new graduate. I have ruled out some things - I don't want to work in labor & delivery, I don't want to work in the ER, I'm not very interested in working in ortho (although it would be a decent new grad job). But I don't have a burning passion for one particular area of practice. Some of the nursing students I know have a thing that they want to do, like oncology or trauma or NICU or psych or whatever. I don't have a thing like that.
Additionally, I am trying to balance the whole finding a new job thing with the whole spawning a smolt thing. We're not trying to have a baby just yet, but neither of us are getting any younger. So I feel kind of pressured to get work ASAP, so I can get a good chunk of work experience under my belt before I take time off for having a kid. And I would like to be able to go back to work part-time in a per-diem position or on a "traveler" contract, so we wouldn't have to put our baby in day care. I don't know how to balance all the variables.
My biggest issue right now is that I don't know what kind of job I want to look for. One reason I wanted to go into nursing is because of the flexibility, but now that I'm getting ready to step into the work world again, I feel like there are too many choices. Most nurses & teachers have told me that getting a year of general med-surg experience is smart because it allows greater adaptability going forward, but I've also heard people say that if you're interested in critical care, go ahead and take an ICU job as a new graduate. I have ruled out some things - I don't want to work in labor & delivery, I don't want to work in the ER, I'm not very interested in working in ortho (although it would be a decent new grad job). But I don't have a burning passion for one particular area of practice. Some of the nursing students I know have a thing that they want to do, like oncology or trauma or NICU or psych or whatever. I don't have a thing like that.
Additionally, I am trying to balance the whole finding a new job thing with the whole spawning a smolt thing. We're not trying to have a baby just yet, but neither of us are getting any younger. So I feel kind of pressured to get work ASAP, so I can get a good chunk of work experience under my belt before I take time off for having a kid. And I would like to be able to go back to work part-time in a per-diem position or on a "traveler" contract, so we wouldn't have to put our baby in day care. I don't know how to balance all the variables.
Labels: nursing school
Comments:
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I'm so excited for you, seeing the light at the end of the nursing school tunnel!! Since you're not sure about exactly what area to go in to yet, I suggest paying really really close attention to other important things on the units you interview at: scheduling process, orientation, and intangibles like staff morale on the unit, how management/nursing interacts. Good luck!!!
You seemed like you really enjoyed hospice care, have you thought about that? My instructors said the exact same thing about med/surg and then I heard the same about diving right into ICU. I'm still leaning towards the ER.
Even if you don't want to put the baby in daycare, if you are planning on using a daycare or preschool later on, start looking and getting on waitlists as soon as the baby is born. I wish someone had told me that with Zara. We had to wait a year to get her into the preschool we wanted. I went back to work part-time when she was 3 mos and was lucky enough to have her great-grandmother watch her 4 hours a day until she was one. Anyway, sorry I didn't mean to write a book in your blog! Take care, Z
Even if you don't want to put the baby in daycare, if you are planning on using a daycare or preschool later on, start looking and getting on waitlists as soon as the baby is born. I wish someone had told me that with Zara. We had to wait a year to get her into the preschool we wanted. I went back to work part-time when she was 3 mos and was lucky enough to have her great-grandmother watch her 4 hours a day until she was one. Anyway, sorry I didn't mean to write a book in your blog! Take care, Z
# posted by 
: January 17, 2008 2:05 PM
: January 17, 2008 2:05 PM
Sounds like things are getting a little overwhelming... Maybe you should talk to nurses you know about what they like about their jobs. That really helped me when I was deciding what I wanted to do.
I knew that with my personality, I would like the intensity of the OR or the ER. I volunteered in an ER for about 8 months and did my leadership clinical in an OR. I felt like I belonged in either setting. Weird, eh?
Long term patient care isn't for me since I get very attached to people in 10 seconds. Peds? Forget it. I would be crying every day. Hospice? Even worse.
What I'm trying to say is that you might be able to figure out your path when you know yourself.
Good luck!!! :0)
I knew that with my personality, I would like the intensity of the OR or the ER. I volunteered in an ER for about 8 months and did my leadership clinical in an OR. I felt like I belonged in either setting. Weird, eh?
Long term patient care isn't for me since I get very attached to people in 10 seconds. Peds? Forget it. I would be crying every day. Hospice? Even worse.
What I'm trying to say is that you might be able to figure out your path when you know yourself.
Good luck!!! :0)
I remember feeling exactly like you do. Too many choices, too many reasons to care about making the wrong choice, and too many feelings of being overwhelmed. Remember to take time for you. When I'm more relaxed is when I make my best decisions and do my clearest thinking.
You're so close to finishing. Smell the barn yet? ;-)
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You're so close to finishing. Smell the barn yet? ;-)
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