Since this blog was (is?) supposed to reflect my work life/nursing experience, I thought it would be an opportune time to reflect back on my new (is it still new?) career.
It began inauspiciously with a brief, and horrid, experience at a local hospital (I won't name them but it resides in Oregon City). The memories are fuzzy, but I mostly remember it for what it was not rather than for what it was. What it was not was organized. I ended up being 'mentored' by an average of 4 different people a week. That alone would not have been horrid had those 4 had any overlap during the week. Instead, I built no foundation with any of them nor they with me. So, they had little idea of what I knew (not much) and what I needed to learn (cavernous). The words frantic, harried, and nauseated come most readily to mind. I didn't last long, but I was kind of glad for that as I fit the position as poorly as I fit a pair of 28" skinny hipster jeans. I openly wondered what the hell I had gone and done with my life.
Thankfully, the day I decided to quit the hospital gig I got an interview with an outpatient allergy clinic, which shortly thereafter turned into a job. It paid less, the benefits were not great, and the hours were a bit haphazard, but I liked it for the most part (as much as one can like a job anyway). I learned a lot about working with patients, practiced some skills I would need in the profession, and worked with a pleasant group of people. Only, A + B did not equal C unfortunately. I was not earning enough to pay for all those loans I took out to get my shiny new career and the benefits quickly began to erode as soon as I became eligible for them. At the time, Tia was not making nearly as much either, so we couldn't afford for me to not make much. Also, Tia's benefits were eroding as quickly as my own. Those things and the fact that the doc I worked for was pregnant (meaning we would all be taking a month long leave unpaid). So, after about 7 or 8 months, it was time to move on.
Getting into a hospital job is no easy feat. It isn't necessarily related to skill, experience, or knowledge.....though all are helpful. It is as much related to who you know as what you know however. So, when my classmate Bob got an IV job out of school at the hospital, it was an unlikely stroke of luck. The way the application process goes for new nurses is akin to sticking your name on a hat. They took every person who applied to the internship program (which numbered in the hundreds) and stuck them on a spreadsheet which ended up being 7 pages long (this per my manager). They then handed this out to the hiring managers who then picked off the list. Also per my manager, a LOT of those doing the hiring did not consider anyone from out of area because it meant that we would not have done our rotations in this hospital system. As fortune would have it, Bob was picked for an interview doing IVs (though he had not pre-selected it), utterly at random. He got the job.
He started at the hospital at the same time that I started at the clinic. Through my connection to him, I was able to get an interview for an open position that was half clinic/half out in the hospital working with inpatients. I had a lot to learn (still do) but I was able to really learn how to work in the clinic without a doctor present, how to place central lines, put in IVs and an array of infusion meds I had never heard of let alone worked with. After about a year of this, the hospital starting having budget problems as well (thanks to a continually poorly functioning economy) and my hours were repeatedly slashed. Additionally, management conflicts were occurring within the department and outside of it. And I was working a lot of odd days and alternating weekends. I thought maybe a change would do me some good.
Unfortunately that change turned out pretty badly. The only intelligent thing about it was staying within the same hospital system. The job I accepted promised me 36 hours a week (4 full days and one half day) and they delivered on that much. However, they also told me I would be working alongside doctors (a half truth), helping with procedures (a full on lie), and still have the opportunity to work with patients (lets call it a half lie). What it actually was 36 hours a week staring at a computer screen with a headset on talking to patients about their bowel problems. I worked alongside doctors in that I sent and received emails from them all day long regarding patients. After a short while, I dreaded waking up and heading in to work. To make matters worse, we were perpetually short staffed meaning that calls for the dozen doctors were parsed between just 2 of us (and a half day a week each with no one else to pick up the phone calls). It was an endless stream of horrible days. Thankfully, I generally try to stay on good terms when I leave places........something that came in quite handy.
Just about the point I was ready to walk away from the triage job and wait tables if need be rather than sit there for one more day, they realigned my old department and, through some serendipity, the clinic position remained open. I found out later it was because it was largely unwanted (a fact I find amusing since I feel the same way about the floor positions largely), but it fit my skill set well. It was truly a messy transition (which you can re-read if you like) and there was little 'training' to speak of. But, thankfully, it was more about knocking off the rust than it was learning an entirely new position and, in time, the pieces came together.
So, a little more than 3 years in, it has been an uneven ride, but so far I will call it a success. I am no one's boss, but I have very little oversight and a lot of independence, not something I thought would come so soon. I would like to do more, but for now I am content to let it ride until the next door opens in front of me. Only time will tell if it is something better or worse to go through it.
