First RN job!

As indicated in my last post, I passed NCLEX, I'm now a licensed RN. Which means I can legally work as an RN. And as of January 21st, that's what I'm doing! :-)

So backstory...

I started applying for RN jobs back in late October, just kind of finding a position that I thought I would be interested in and applying - Medical floor, Telemetry floor, Labor and Delivery unit... Fast forward to early December, and I get a phone call from the nurse manager on Labor and Delivery for an interview! WOOHOO! Interview scheduled for December 21st.

Fast forward through graduation...interview time! I was pretty nervous, but I knew I could handle an interview fairly well, plus I had armed myself with some questions that would look good for me to ask as well as give me an idea of the overall feel of the unit. It was a panel interview - the nurse manager, 2 of the night shift clinical supervisors, and a night shift RN. The interview lasted maybe 20-30 minutes, but I walked out feeling like I did an good job at it. I answered their questions to the best of my ability, plus I asked 4-5 questions of my own (finding out later that the questions I asked were some kick-ass questions that impressed some people on the unit).

Now fast forward to December 27th...phone rings, it's the HR department from THE hospital! My name was sent to them after my interview and they needed to start the background check process. OMG! Now, this wasn't a formal job offer at this point, but I was thinking that the fact that I was moving on to HR, that had to be a positive sign! I consented for the process to go forward...and then just went back to studying for NCLEX.

January 3rd...phone rings, HR from THE hospital...offering me the L&D job! I accepted, and after a few minutes of formalities and further instructions, I had determined my start date of January 21st. I wanted to go ahead and get NCLEX taken and out of the way before I started my job, because I knew I'd rather not juggle job stuff with studying...so now all I had to do was study and pass NCLEX (no pressure!) and wait until January 21st.

Over the next couple of weeks, I got stuff in the mail and had forms to fill out, paperwork to turn in, accounts to activate online, etc. My main focus was NCLEX, though (see previous entry for those fun times)...but once I found out I passed, I had a few days to relax and enjoy my last days of freedom.

January 21st - so begins my 1st day as an employed RN! I won't lie...that whole 1st week was hospital orientation, patient services orientation, and then general nursing orientation. Long 8+ hour days sitting in conference rooms and classrooms, but at least I was getting my RN pay.  On Wednesday afternoon of that week, I actually spent a few hours at the hospital in L&D with the educator, going over department stuff such as a tour and checking off on some of the general orientation activities (uristix, sure step blood glucose testing, unit safety, etc.).

January 28th - my 1st day on the unit, as far as dressing in surgical scrubs, following a nurse, working with patients. I spent the whole week doing this same thing, and saw and did a variety of things: put in Foley caths (probably 4 or 5?), learning to do cervical checks as far as dilation, effacement, and station, watched the CRNA do a few epidurals, charted some vitals, hung some IV fluids and meds, assessed external fetal heart monitoring (determined baseline, variability, presence of accels or decels), saw an amnioinfusion, and was in on 2 deliveries. Can I just say that I totally *love* my job?

So that's it...my job as of 2 weeks in. Even though L&D wasn't my actual 1st choice, mainly because I was looking to get a med-surg job before going into a specialty, I am so not disappointed! OB is the reason why I went to nursing school, and the fact that I got an L&D job as a new grad with no previous experience in the unit...maybe this is where I'm supposed to be. I intend to get in there, learn as much as I can, do the best I can, and work my ass off to be a damn good nurse. Baby steps, but I will get there!

And now that my transition from student to working RN is complete, I suppose I need to change the name of the blog, here. I'm not having adventures in nursing school anymore...so I guess I need to ponder this change and get it taken care of soon!

Also worth noting...this whole thing of clocking out at the end of my shift, coming home and being able to relax without having homework or studying or reading to do...FABULOUS! :-)

I got my practicum assignment today!

I'll be on the cardiac telemetry unit at THE hospital, night shift (7p-7a), weekend option.  Probably starting my first shifts next weekend, depending on my preceptor's schedule.  EEK!

I'm so thankful I got night shift hours, very satisfied with the tele unit, but a little on the fence with the weekend option part.  Granted, I'll get probably 36 hours every week, which will help me get through my required hours quickly...and other than weekends my preceptor has off, I pretty much know my schedule already...and none of my practicum hours will interfere with classes and exams (although it will cut into my Sunday night library-campout studying night).  But I'll be in clinical every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, then sleeping every Friday afternoon, Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday...no relaxing weekends for awhile...and I'll have to miss weekend activities with my kiddos, and with soccer starting up next weekend...perfect timing!  :-(  But it's temporary...as soon as I get my hours logged, I'm done.

So now that I know my assignment, the next step is waiting until our director gives me permission to contact my preceptor and set up a time to meet n' greet and get schedules coordinated.  Then let's get this thing going...I'm ready to get back to direct patient care!

In other news...it's now the middle of the 2nd week of classes, day 8 of the semester...and I've been to class only 3 days.  I'm really liking this schedule!  All day Wednesday for critical care class, and select Thursdays for Transition to Nursing Practice class...and that's it as far as face-to-face class times for the rest of the semester.  Then with my weekends for practicum hours...I have my weekdays free!  Well, relatively, since I'll have plenty of school work and studying to do.  But still!  I can make this work  :-)

So I passed my med dosage calculation quiz last week (no problem!) and have learned a crap-ton about EKG's.  I'm really looking forward to being on the tele unit so I can see and hear some of these disrhythmias in real patients.  They make sense, mostly, but I think seeing the monitors and strips will really help tie it all together.

Now time to read up on more cardiac stuff and get my weekly journal started.  Off tomorrow, although studying disrhythmias with a classmate for a few hours, then all day Epic training on Friday.  Yay...8 hours of training on a computer system I already know how to use!!

Laters  :-)

Survived my first 12-hour night shift

I did it, I managed a 12-hour shift from 6:30p to 7:00a. I got tired, I was yawning and dragging at times, and by about 6:30a, I felt my brain shutting down (which is amusing when giving report to day shift and you can't remember basic words). But I managed!

It ended up being an insane night. My preceptor said that most nights are not that nuts, but we got through it. I felt bad a few times that she was bogged down having a student, but I think I ended up helping overall, especially with rounds and charting. We started out with 5 patients, 2 were "high maintenance" (not bad, just needing more attention because of their situations/interventions), the other 3 were pretty easy keepers - just round on them, give meds, etc. Over the course of the night, the unit got 8-9 new admits, 2 of them going to my preceptor and me. So on top of the 5 patients, we had 2 sets of admission paperwork and assessments to do. Fortunately both new admits were relatively easy keepers, probably because it was overnight and their PCP's weren't around to write up orders and start their home meds.

I clocked in at 6:30p and didn't sit down in a chair until right around midnight. And then didn't get my dinner break until 1:45a. We were both starving by then and spent our 30 minutes in almost silence as we were stuffing food in our mouths. I gave most of the PO meds, hung IV meds, programmed the pumps, flushed IV lines, did assessments, changed a PICC line cap (first time I've done that...pretty cool!), fetched supplies...I did a lot of stuff! Even though I was exhausted by the end of my shift, I have no complaints. I'll gladly return for the rest of my shifts this summer! Because last night...even though I was busy and tired and feeling incompetent...the experience just reinforces my decision to go into nursing.

So after sleeping a few hours and returning to something that better resembles a human, I'm now heading out to walk a few miles and enjoy some fresh air.

Happy Wednesday  :-)

One week in...

So I survived the first week.  My overall take on this semester: I'm going to be plenty busy, but it doesn't seem to be the same level of insane busy that last semester was.  4 classes, 2 with clinical rotations...exams and projects and care plans and clinical worksheets.  But still, things seem less intense.  And the clinicals...OB in L&D and Nursery/Mother-Baby...peds in the NICU, a ped's office, on the peds unit in The Hospital, outpatient OR...plus I might get a day of shadowing at Kosair's Children's Hospital NICU or PICU.  Even if I don't get to touch a thing and all I do is just watch, an opportunity at Kosair's will be priceless!

I was reminded of being oh so thankful I'm past Med-Surg.  Tuesday after they'd had their first class, the cohort behind me looked panicked, scared, almost already beaten.  I got caught in the hallway talking to a few of them...not caught in that I didn't want to talk, but caught up by their questions.. "How much did you have to read?  How did you do on the exams?  What was clinical like?  How did you do on ATI?  How much time did you spend on this class?  What was your final grade in the class?"  They were firing questions at me left and right.  Oh those poor souls.  I feel bad for them, I do...but just like we did, they'll have to buck up and get through it if they're serious about it.  Not to say that the classmates we lost weren't serious...hell, I won't get into that whole situation in the event someone were to stumble across my words here and...well, I don't want trouble.

ANYWAY

Getting right into the swing of things this week...Peds and Leadership classes on Tuesday, Peds clinical on Wednesday (0630!! Woohoo!) and OB clinical orientation on Thursday.  Already completed one main assignment for Global Health, got my case studies and reading done for Leadership...have some reading to do for Peds for this week and for OB for next week...seems like I'm getting back into the groove fairly well.

And on that note, the reading beckons.  Good luck to everyone starting classes this week!

Later.

First day...mixed thoughts

So today was my first day of my second semester in nursing school...and as alluded to in the title, I've got some major mixed thoughts on it.

The morning started at 8:30 with Mental Health class, taught by one of our TNI clinical instructors from last year, who is also the same instructor that several of us had for Pharm a year ago.  She's a very kind person, very approachable, someone who wants us to do well and is willing to offer help and suggestions as needed.  I can't remember if I've said it here or on Twitter or on Facebook...but I think the classroom portion of Mental Health will be pretty interesting, with the clinicals being...interesting but also potentially scary/sad/eye-opening.  We will spend some time in the local childrens' psychiatric hospital, as well as the psych floor of THE hospital and out at some community sites.  We'll get those assignments on Thursday.  And it was stressed to us that what happens in psych clinical cannot leave the confines of our classroom when we meet for post-clinical conference.  So yes...I still remember my HIPAA obligations.

Our instructor also told us her very personal reason for being interested in mental health topics...and while I wish I could pass along her moving story, for the sake of her privacy, I just don't feel right doing so.  But I will say I was surprised to hear her story, having had no idea of this part of her life even though she's been a fairly consistent figure in my nursing school life for the past year.  God bless this woman...and now I have an even greater appreciation and respect for her and what she's doing.

We also had a medical dosage calculation quiz after going over the syllabus and course stuff.  Just checked and my grade isn't up on Blackboard yet, but I feel pretty confident about it.  It's pass/fail, so as long as I got a 75% or better, I don't care too much about the actual "grade" on it.  Well, I do...but I've learned to let go of some of that Type A tendency.  I give my best, my all, but I'm not going to worry about getting that 100% as much as I used to...as I learned last semester that nursing school is a whole different ball game on that front.

Anyhoo...

Next up was Adult Health AKA Med-Surg.  I mentioned in my last entry that we have a new instructor for this course.  I'm still debating on how to go about this portion of this entry...getting my point and thoughts across without also getting myself into a big mess o' trouble if this little bloggity-blog were to be discovered by the powers that be at my school.  So I'll opt for the professional route...and say that the jury is still out on my final opinion of the new instructor.  She is...different...than the previous instructor and from what we were expecting to walk into.  Having been a teacher in my past life, I'm hoping she's just employing a few teacher tricks that help her to establish her role early on and then will...settle...a few weeks in.  We shall see.  All I know is I will be working my butt off for this class.  For one thing, Med-Surg is a backbone for the rest of my nursing courses and subsequent career, so what I learn this semester has a huge impact on the rest of my whole nursing gig.  Another thing, is it's an 8 credit hour class...and 8 credits of A will be a huge boost to the GPA, plus it will look good if I can swing an A in such a hardcore class.

We had another medical dosage calculation quiz in this class...I walked out of that one shaking my head and hoping that I had done OK on it.  A couple questions really threw me because they were either really involved with conversions, or had conversions that I was hazy on, or were things we just hadn't yet covered.  But, I ended up with a 15/16, with the one I missed being a really stupid mistake on my part (such and such L of IV meds was to be given over 24 hours, calculate the flow rate in mL/hr...and instead of using the 24 in the equation, I had a 4.  ?!?!  See, stupid mistake.  BLARG.)  But I passed.  Even though the Maths is so not my thing.

Up tomorrow and next week are massive clinical/skills review days for Adult Health...we get to demonstrate to our instructor all the things we've learned (and haven't learned) last semester so she can see where she needs to start (and what to fix).  Yay, sounds like fun.  :-/

So...mixed thoughts/feelings on semester 2.  I'm hoping it's just the 'trauma' of the combination of impending stress, the new instructor, the new courses, not knowing what to expect, etc. and that in a few weeks once things are more familiar, I'll be just stressed and busy, not feeling so discombobulated.

So...to end on a positive note -- Happy First Day to those who are starting or heading back to classes this week!  And for those who still have a few more days/weeks of summer vacay left...enjoy it while you have it!

Later(s) gators,