Yeah for the last 2 days........of this rotation

Goodbyes are such sweet sorrow....except for the sorrow part.

As much as I have enjoyed working with classmates on this rotation (as with pretty much all my rotations thus far), I will not be sad to see it go. I think that OB is a great place to work as a nurse. You get to work with mostly healthy patients who, for the most part, have mostly healthy babies. You get to be an integral part in the first few days of family bonding and help the new mothers try to develop good habits for caring for their newborn. However, it isn't for me. I can definitely see the allure, but I still feel too much discomfort both in myself and in my patients. One may play off the other, but what is certain is that there are ZERO male nurses on the entire unit and there hasn't been one in years. Roughly half the people you ask say they would have no problem with a male nurse tending to them in OB, but almost no one has issue with a female nurse in the same capacity. Not that it matters for the outset of anyone's career anyway. It is a highly coveted nursing job that is mostly filled with nurses who have significant experience elsewhere.

I took the advice of my adviser and set up some interviews at local hospitals. I went to my first one yesterday. It was a very peculiar dynamic. I am acclimated to being interviews involving me desperately to stand out from the competition to get the job then waiting hopefully by the phone for the offer to come through. This was more like me interviewing them. It is REALLY nice to be able to go to an interview with ZERO stress as an organization tries to sell you on why you should work with them as opposed to in another unit at their hospital or at another hospital just down the street. It is just as nice to be able to say to them, no thanks I really want to do this instead of that. Now, if I could just get to a position where I could make salary demands too :)

I think there is still only the most minuscule chance that we will opt to stay here, but there is lengthy pro/con list for working in either place. The impression that I get is that, here in ROC, you can be very picky. They will also coddle you more than they would out West. The on-the-job training sounded impressive. However, they also pay you seventy cents on the dollar, which doesn't remotely equate to the cost of living differential. Plus, there is the whole 'living in ROC thing' that neither Tia nor I are enthralled with. In Portland, the pay is better, but they seem less inclined to so much as talk to me until I get my license and there is a far greater level of competition for jobs, meaning you need to take what will get you in the door, not what you want to do necessarily. Long term, that isn't a bad thing, but you also dont want to start with a bitter taste in a new profession. Opinions still range wildly on this.

For the second being I am caught up, so I think I will bask in the warm glow of that feeling......at least until my 4:30 group project meeting.