Of New Jobs
Well,
I officially suck at posting once a week.
I have however now started my new job as an actual registered nurse on a renal ward! It is awesome and terrifying and busy and full of responsibility but the people are lovely and helpful and i'm settling in alright. 12.5hr shifts are a bit of a kick up the butt after 8 weeks not on a ward... I prefer long days though, means I only work 3 or 4 days a week, which means I have 3 or 4 days a week off! Though of course nursing is a 24/7 52 weeks a year kind of deal and I am working a 12.5hr shift on Christmas day... Oh well, I have the two days after Christmas as my days off so I can go back to Leeds and celebrate Christmas with the family. Unfortunately it means I don't get to spend Christmas with Justin, but I have new year off I think so I can spend that with him. I plan on wearing tinsel in my hair and Christmassy earrings and trying to be as jolly and in the spirit of the season as possible, because it must be rather sad to have to spend Christmas in hospital as a patient.
But eek! I'm an actual nurse! It keeps scaring me. I put on my new uniform (well, I say new, it's 're-commissioned' as they can't afford new uniforms at the moment, and they're soon designing a new one anyway, so I got a set of uniforms that are basically big blue tents for me to live it, about 3 sizes too big, but at least they're roomy and comfy!) and all of a sudden I was in proper nurse blue, not student nurse pale blue, and everyone starts asking complicated questions and expecting me to know stuff. I wish they came with L plates on, you know? So people can tell if you're a newly qualified nurse or not. I also had a mini freak-out when I saw my name officially printed on the off-duty, under the registered nurse section and not scribbled in pencil in the student nurse section.
I've got so much to learn, but I won't be doing dialysis myself for a few months, they're letting me settle in and learn to be a regular nurse first before they make me a renal nurse. I started last monday, and since then have mostly been wandering around in a daze looking scared, lost and confused whilst trying not to get in the way. It took me 20 minutes to do a wound dressing the other day, about 5 minutes to do the dressing but 15 minutes spend just hunting for all the things I needed. It's a whole new hospital and trust to the one I trained in, so even though the basics are the same, as across all the NHS, the particulars are different, slightly different paperwork, slightly different preferences for what dressings are available readily, different beds and protocols etc. I'm sure i'll get used to it, everyone is very nice in reminding me that everyone had to go through this phase and that in a few months it'll be like i've always worked there. Roll on a few months is what I say.
Anyway, in news of other new things, Justin rolled home at 4am on Saturday night, having just delivered a baby himself. That was quite exciting. Well, I say delivered it himself, I don't mean he personally gave birth, I mean he was leading the delivery from a medical point of view (he's a medical student), and he held the baby and clamped and cut the cord and passed the baby to the new mummy :) This just seems pretty awesome to me, that he was the first person to hold this whole new mini human and bring him out into the world. Labour sounds pretty scary though... But I don't think i'll be having kids 'til i'm 30 anyway, want to do some relief nursing abroad first and that involves more experience and training, and waiting for Justin to finish med school anyway so we can go together, so I have time to forget what he's told me about the birth-giving experience and the screaming between now and then.
Next week is our 1 year anniversary, and we're going to go see the Lion King in London :) Yay!
Also, this Thursday the new Terry Pratchett book comes out! Yay!
So, that pretty much sums up the life of Zoe at the moment. Things are good! New job is exciting, even if a bit stressful but I believe that's normal.
I hope you are all well!
Be Happy!
Zoe
I officially suck at posting once a week.
I have however now started my new job as an actual registered nurse on a renal ward! It is awesome and terrifying and busy and full of responsibility but the people are lovely and helpful and i'm settling in alright. 12.5hr shifts are a bit of a kick up the butt after 8 weeks not on a ward... I prefer long days though, means I only work 3 or 4 days a week, which means I have 3 or 4 days a week off! Though of course nursing is a 24/7 52 weeks a year kind of deal and I am working a 12.5hr shift on Christmas day... Oh well, I have the two days after Christmas as my days off so I can go back to Leeds and celebrate Christmas with the family. Unfortunately it means I don't get to spend Christmas with Justin, but I have new year off I think so I can spend that with him. I plan on wearing tinsel in my hair and Christmassy earrings and trying to be as jolly and in the spirit of the season as possible, because it must be rather sad to have to spend Christmas in hospital as a patient.
But eek! I'm an actual nurse! It keeps scaring me. I put on my new uniform (well, I say new, it's 're-commissioned' as they can't afford new uniforms at the moment, and they're soon designing a new one anyway, so I got a set of uniforms that are basically big blue tents for me to live it, about 3 sizes too big, but at least they're roomy and comfy!) and all of a sudden I was in proper nurse blue, not student nurse pale blue, and everyone starts asking complicated questions and expecting me to know stuff. I wish they came with L plates on, you know? So people can tell if you're a newly qualified nurse or not. I also had a mini freak-out when I saw my name officially printed on the off-duty, under the registered nurse section and not scribbled in pencil in the student nurse section.
I've got so much to learn, but I won't be doing dialysis myself for a few months, they're letting me settle in and learn to be a regular nurse first before they make me a renal nurse. I started last monday, and since then have mostly been wandering around in a daze looking scared, lost and confused whilst trying not to get in the way. It took me 20 minutes to do a wound dressing the other day, about 5 minutes to do the dressing but 15 minutes spend just hunting for all the things I needed. It's a whole new hospital and trust to the one I trained in, so even though the basics are the same, as across all the NHS, the particulars are different, slightly different paperwork, slightly different preferences for what dressings are available readily, different beds and protocols etc. I'm sure i'll get used to it, everyone is very nice in reminding me that everyone had to go through this phase and that in a few months it'll be like i've always worked there. Roll on a few months is what I say.
Anyway, in news of other new things, Justin rolled home at 4am on Saturday night, having just delivered a baby himself. That was quite exciting. Well, I say delivered it himself, I don't mean he personally gave birth, I mean he was leading the delivery from a medical point of view (he's a medical student), and he held the baby and clamped and cut the cord and passed the baby to the new mummy :) This just seems pretty awesome to me, that he was the first person to hold this whole new mini human and bring him out into the world. Labour sounds pretty scary though... But I don't think i'll be having kids 'til i'm 30 anyway, want to do some relief nursing abroad first and that involves more experience and training, and waiting for Justin to finish med school anyway so we can go together, so I have time to forget what he's told me about the birth-giving experience and the screaming between now and then.
Next week is our 1 year anniversary, and we're going to go see the Lion King in London :) Yay!
Also, this Thursday the new Terry Pratchett book comes out! Yay!
So, that pretty much sums up the life of Zoe at the moment. Things are good! New job is exciting, even if a bit stressful but I believe that's normal.
I hope you are all well!
Be Happy!
Zoe