Continuing Education

Another week down. The residency class met three more times this week and on the other two days, the other new grad on my unit and I did some self study on fetal monitoring, postpartum care, newborn care, and neonatal resuscitation. It was a very long and draining week.

While we were studying on our own, the others in the graduate nurse residency program were on their floors. This was depressing for us because we knew that the others were doing something relatively fun and interesting while we sat in the library for hours on end.

Tomorrow is my first day on the unit. I will meet with my preceptor at 7 am and work 12 hours. I hope that I have a patient but I also really just want to be oriented to the unit. I hope it goes well and that I make a good impression.

Living situation

My last post was vague, but if you know me at all, you know that that post was related to my living situation. I am currently living at home with my mom and my 88 year old relatively immobile grandmother.

I never thought that I would move out right after graduation, nor did I ever think I would want to. I am living here rent free which is amazing. However, once I get paid I will start to give my mom some money to help with the mortgage. I have no debt whatsoever, my parents paid all of my school bills with the assistance of 100% tuition reimbursement from my mom's employer. I don't tell many people this because I feel horrible that they have loans that will cost them $500 a month.

My grandmother isn't doing very well. She has congestive heart failure and other issues. She needs constant monitoring because she is very unsteady on her feet. She has also started speaking almost completely in French. I am picking up French though. I need a lot of help but I have gotten a lot of phrases down.

My grandmother had 10 kids, has 17 grand kids and 27 great-grand kids. One of her sons died in a car accident when he was 16 years old. Otherwise, everyone else is alive and well.

There always people around the house helping my grandmother. My mom rarely leaves the house and even when she is here there are other helpers. During the week she has a nursing aid visit who gets her dressed and clean, then a homemaker comes over and keeps her company and does housework. Every few weeks, my aunts come around and help out too.

It is just too many people around for me. The dog is having a hard time with it too. He gets overwhelmed and gets rambunctious. My grandmother is scared of Jacoby for no reason. It just stresses me out.

I guess the whole point of this post was that I am ready to live on my own. I have a job now so I can start to think about it. I need to save up as much money as I possibly can and I want to buy a house rather than rent. It is basically always on my mind. Hopefully things will work out in my favor, although unlikely, so that I can move out :)

Don't say anything at all

Do you know when people say "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all." ?

I have had such a bad weekend that I don't want to write it all out. I just want to forget.

First week

For the last four days I have been going non-stop and when I get home I have been crashing. I haven't been to the gym or even made dinner all week.

Our second and third days of orientation were spent in a classroom learning all of the basic things about the hospital. We met with people from the pharmacy, infection control, risk management, and many other departments. Both days were horribly long and relatively boring, as horrible as that sounds. I mean, how interesting can those things be? JCAHO requires that we learn these items so we sat for hourssssss.

A good portion of those two days was learning about benefits! I know I mentioned this before and I know it is harsh but I honestly can't even fathom how much money I will be making. I plan on putting most of it in savings and giving my mother some as "rent" and working on paying her every month since graduation that I have been unemployed.

Another relatively fun thing that I did was meet with all of the other new graduates and our instructor. There are 9 of us. Three guys: B, W, and J who are all going to the ED, and six girls. One girl, L, is going to the oncology unit, another, A, is going to the stroke unit, T and K are going to surgical floors and S and I are going to be on the maternity/newborn unit.

I really like everyone and I feel like we are a great group together. We are all so different though! Some have master's degrees, some have bachelor's degrees, and the others have associate's degrees. Our ages range from 22(me) to about 40! Between all of them there are 8 kids!

Today was a little different from the last few days. We spent the whole day on the computer. We were supposed to be learning the charting system. However, it was such a boring task that it was a miserable day. I am a quick learner and I know that I will learn the system well when I get to use it in actual practice. So, I, along with many others, just skimmed the modules and took the post-tests.

Tomorrow will be another computer day but we will probably get out a little early. I am so thankful for that because I am exhausted!

I got my schedule for the next few weeks and I will be at the hospital M-F next week and 4 days the following week. S and I also got our neonatal resuscitation books that we need to self learn and will eventually have a practical exam with the nurse educator.

That is all for now, I am falling asleep!

Orientation Day 1

The first day went well! There are about 30 new hires of all different sorts: nurses, doctors, nursing assistants, monitor techs, phlebotomists, and security guards. We spent all day stuck in one room learning about fire safety, occupational health, chemical safety, abuse, mandatory reporting, and many other things.

The hospital is a catholic hospital. I use a lower case "c" because they are open and accepting of other religions and differences. I am Catholic and I was impressed with the openness and the mission and core values of the hospital. Even though I am not a true practicing Catholic and I am completely open and accepting of all lifestyles and religions, I feel like I am going to fit in nicely.

Tomorrow we are going more into patient care and also will be talking about benefits! I can't wait to have dental and health insurance!

Orientation tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the first day of orientation! I am wicked nervous and I don't know what to expect. I mean, I know that I will be sitting in a classroom for hours on end learning all kinds of things that I already know. But, I am nervous about who I will meet, if I will know anyone, and that I will look like a fool.

I have to be there from 7-4:30pm. It is going to be a long day! I also have to get a PPD shot before hand. I don't understand why I need to get a second one but I am just going along with everything they say.

I will try to update this week with how it is going. Wish me luck! I have to go plan my outfits now :)

Doggie Day Care

I think I mentioned in a previous post that Jacoby was going to start Doggie Day Care. Well, he started yesterday. I dropped him off at 7:30am so that he could be there to meet all of the dogs as they came in. I felt like a parent when I left, I was so nervous for him and worried that he would be scared and lonely. The owner was so wonderful and she told me I could call anytime.

When Jacoby and I went there for an interview, the owner introduced him to four different dogs so she could see how he played and how he reacted. First came a small terrier mix and after a minute or so, they were romping around. Then, a little yorkie came in and Jacoby loved her too. The next dog was a mutt that was a little larger than J. He was a little nervous about this dog because he is rarely around bigger dogs, he only sees small dogs. After the mutt, a large lab came in. Jacoby didn't know what to do but played a little bit with him.

I called the day care around 10am and checked on him. The owner said he was doing very well and was playing with all of the different dogs. Thank God! I was nervous that he was going to playing really rough.

Matt picked him up at 5:15pm and J. was so excited to see him! The owner told Matt that he continued to play all day and napped for a bit in the early afternoon. He didn't eat lunch though, which is odd, but he seemed to do great otherwise!

He will be going back Tuesday and one other day next week. I wish that he could talk and tell me everything that went on all day, either that or I wish I could just watch for a while!

TMI Thursday

A lot of blogs that I follow do "TMI Thursday" and I felt as though I wanted to play along, at least for this week.

It is a short and sweet tale of this past Sunday night. I felt absolutely fine for most of the evening until about 9pm. I all of a sudden had a horrible wave of nausea and didn't move from my bed. I stayed awake until 1am when I finally threw up. YAY!

...don't lie, you know throwing up makes you feel better...

I guess it is too much information but isn't that interesting.

I threw up a few years ago when Gracie was a puppy and she was right next to me trying to see what was going on. I had to push her out of the way of my puke... okay... that was gross.

Snow: A new addition to Jacoby's life.

It is October 15 and it is currently snowing outside. That is not normal. This is Connecticut not North Dakota! However, it is Jacoby's first snowfall so I threw him outside to check it out.
Okay, so its not sticking... But, he was a little weirded out. I can't wait for it to actually start snowing because I know he will love it.

The little monster came down with an eye infection last Thursday. I am not completely sure how he got it but I noticed grossness around one eye a few hours after he got groomed... The following day, it still was gross so my mother decided to wipe them with a cloth. She proceeded to wipe both eyes with the same cloth... Guess who now has a double eye infection?

It didn't clear up by Monday so I brought him to the vet and $72 later, he has a diagnosis and some eye drops.

I weighed him when we were at the vet and he weighs 37 pounds! He is a beast. He is 18 weeks old now and the vet estimates him to be over 60 pounds when he is full grown. (The breeder told us 45-50 pounds!) We love him though, we don't mind a beast, we just weren't expecting him to be so big!

He has been doing well in puppy training class. He is very smart, he just has some behavioral issues. Matt and I have been working very hard on getting him to stop biting, jumping, and just overall being high energy. So, I enrolled him into daycare! We went and checked out two places. One was what I expected but the other was above and beyond what we were looking for, and it was cheaper! I am hoping to get him started tomorrow but he definitely will be going next week.

He has to go next week because I start my job on Monday!

The Call

The hospital called! I got an offer to be a new graduate RN on a maternity/newborn unit!

The nicest guy ever from Human Resources had been corresponding with me since I applied. He interviewed me and took me on a tour of the unit. He also had been keeping me updated with the interview process and was the one who called with the offer!

It is a 36 hour position rotating shifts. I am beyond excited. This is my dream job. I can't believe that not only did I get a job but it is on a unit that I will love.

I went in today to get my pre-employment physical and to sign all kinds of papers. My physical went very well. My eye sight is 20/13! That is even better than 20/20 for those of you not following along. My blood pressure was 112/62. That's pretty darn good too! My weight however... well, we won't even go there. I didn't really freak out at my TB shot either... I consider that a good doctor's visit!

I traveled the hallways of the hospital from occupational health to human resources and signed my offer letter. I can't even fathom how much money I will be making. I know that is a kind of harsh statement, but this is coming from someone who has never made more than $9 a hour. I signed a bunch of other papers and filled out tax forms and then I went and got my picture taken for my badge. Guess what color my badge is? HOT PINK... yesssss!! They are cute... Will match my scrubs.

That is all for now... Orientation starts in 14 days!