Jobs Jobs Jobs

That seems to be the topic of the moment......who accepted what job and where. They spoke to us about it in the Fall actually. There appears to be no consensus on the issue of whether to seek employment now or to not bother with it until we finish up with classes. To mix metaphors, the constant tug between a bird in the hand vs. waiting to see what lies behind door #2. Most students and former students find it advantageous to apply and accept now. Advisers and instructors seem more inclined towards waiting. Unless Tia and I decide to reside in Rochester another year, the point is a moot one for me, but an anxiety provoking one nonetheless.

It is hard to hear about the jobs that everyone else locked up and when they are going to be starting while I try to figure out how I will afford to move back to Portland and re-start a life out there. Especially since, in Portland, the few people who did speak to me (some hospitals evidently declined my inquiry outright...perhaps misliking the timbre of my voice) were not to be bothered with applications from unlicensed individuals until we are far closer to such point or, ideally, have attained said licensure. The situation feels all the more disconcerting since it is unlikely I will navigate through the convoluted licensure process and be able to begin working until July at the earliest. August is actually more probable.

There also seems to be more reluctance out West to start a new nurse with anything other than a general medical/surgical floor. The kind of floor where poop is a constant. The kind of floor I will be unhappy with. Once again there is significant disagreement. Some people feel med/surg offers the most rounded introduction to nursing and affords you the most significant opportunity to improve in the field and master skills you can take anywhere. Others feel that, should you not enjoy such an endeavor, why expose yourself to it. You will ultimately specialize in something, so why pick up habits on such a unit when you will have to relearn the specifics of where you would prefer to be. Also, on all floors you will practice, to some degree, general skills, so why subject yourself to something that is likely to turn you off of the profession. You dont go to the OR if you can't stand blood after all. It leaves much to ponder.

In the interim, I will just try to push the whole job thing aside until I can figure out how to make it through Pediatrics and OB, Ethics, and Management. But it will surely play on the fringes. As much as I work towards the Buddhist ideals of living in the moment, it is awfully hard to not look ahead.