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!