Heigh ho, Heigh ho, it's off to work i go...

    I feel totally amazed how many messages, comments, text messages, and voice mails I have gotten asking how the new job is going. I want to say thank you! I also decided to write a little blurb about how it is going rather than try and get to you all. Yes, I am lazy.

    It sucks to be a new registered nurse. There is nothing fun about it. I have never been this “deer in the headlights” before and you all know how I hate deer. ;) This is not to say I am unsafe. If anything I have an issue of being too cautious. So far I have spent an entire 4 shifts on the actual unit doing nurse things. (A week was spent orienting to the company and learning to play nice with others so that is why it seems like it should be more.) 4 days isn’t a lot of time to be anywhere let alone a busy cardiac unit and I am trying to cut myself some slack. I didn’t get this far by being kind to myself, so it is a new skill I am trying to learn on top of everything else.

    I was told nursing school doesn’t and can’t prepare you for the real world. It is truth! I didn’t realize how much as students you hide behind your RN, but you do. When are granted the initials RN behind your name, suddenly you are supposed to magically be more knowledgeable from when you were a student. Yeah….no.I am thankful for the unit I am working on. There is an assortment of cranky people just like anywhere else, but I have found others that are ready and willing to help me.

    Learning to step into more responsibility is hard. Change is hard. Employment is hard. I have never had “real” employment before. I have always been the nanny or the summer camp counselor. Never have I had to clock in on time or face real consequences. I am looking forward to finally seeing my first paycheck. Payday is this Friday, and I am excited to see why exactly it is I get out of bed at 4:30am.

    Overall, it is change overload. It is new experience overload. I am trying to roll with it as best I can, but I have had my moments. I am learning to accept that this time in my life is just inherently tough. That being a new nurse just…sucks.

Say a prayer for me…

Post-Thanksgiving Ramblings

    Tis Thanksgiving weekend. I suppose this is when I should regale you with the many things I am thankful for. I presume I should also remind you how awesome it is to live in the United States vs. most other places in the world. I don’t really feel like doing that, however, because as a fairly intelligent person reading this post I think you can figure it out. The big things in life are easy to be thankful for (i.e. jobs, houses, food, family, etc), but what about the small things?

    As a nurse, I am thankful for an electronic medication administration program with bar codes that keeps me from messing up so easy. As a hiker, I am thankful for water purifiers. As a runner, I am thankful for synthetic “dri-fit” T-shirts.  As a fanatic reader, I am thankful for LED book lights. As a woman, I am thankful for Bradley Cooper.

    The actual Thanksgiving day was fabulous, and I ran/walked the “Run to Feed the Hungry” in Sacramento with 27,000 of my best friends. I did eat myself into a food coma that afternoon, but I think that is partly the point of the holiday. Instead of shopping on black Friday or even sleeping off said food coma, I made money.  It was not a workday I ever want to repeat. I earned every penny.

    Christmas season is here and that makes me crazy happy. I will one day be that neighbor that has their house so decked out in Christmas lights you can see it from space. Oh, and it will be synced to various tunes from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This year, however, my current residence is more modestly decorated. This year...

    Finally, as I sit here with a full stomach of Thanksgiving leftovers, I am thankful for the fact I ran today…

Who is this Felicia person who rambles?

The Many Ramblings of Felicia

I am Felicia. I am Irish. This alone should explain why I ramble. I am also a registered nurse. I am proud of this fact and constantly humbled by this fact. I have just started a job as a telemetry (cardiac) nurse at a very posh hospital in the Sacramento Region. I am dealing with moments of sheer terror on a regular basis at the moment and getting paid for it. Good times.

I love to write. Be an author? Not something on high on my priority list. I think it is more important for me to focus on studying what to do for 3^rd degree heart block right now. I am at a time in my life, however, when I want an outlet to write about the random things that happen to me. I find it relaxing. That is what this blog will be used for. Welcome to the many ramblings of Felicia….