changes

How handsome is this guy? He's going to the be the fox in school!

Wednesday was Maysen’s last day of school so I guess for him that signified the beginning of summer. And today sure felt like it! I think it got to above 90F here today. By 7:00pm tonight it was still 87F. So we pulled out the hose and let the boys get wet before bedtime.

I have always said that I believe that everything happens for a reason. And sometimes it just feel like life’s taking a turn. That is what is happening for me. I haven’t said anything but there have been some changes heading my way that I am excited about. We are expecting another baby! No – just kidding!!!

I have felt a heavy weight on my back over the last few months. Almost like a conflict. The Mommy in me loves staying home … but the NURSE in me, the part that craves helping and healing has felt stifled. True; I still go in and work at the clinic and work Triage and fill in here and there, but I have craved something “more”. More of a specialty, maybe.

So, I started keeping my eyes open for PRN (meaning basically “fill in”) positions in other areas of medicine. I applied for PRN positions in the ER, the ICU, and even the OR. That produced nothing, as I learned from a physician-friend of mine that the local hospital is experiencing a hiring freeze. Then one late night I happened across an ad for a PRN pre-op/PACU (recovery nurse) position for approx 1 day per week. I sent in my application, 1 week after it was posted and waited. Nothing. Then on the 4th day, I got a call from the NeuroSpine Institute in town. She asked me to meet with her the following morning and we had a TWELVE MINUTE interview. I thought it was doomed. I have, afterall, no experience in Pre-Op or Recovery Room. She told me she’d call me the following Tuesday after Memorial Day.

Tuesday came and went. No word. On Wednesday morning one of my fellow co-workers called to tell me that the Neurosurgical team had called her for my reference. While on the call with her, they called me! She asked if I’d come to the surgical suite to meet the other nurses and then “lets discuss training”. I get there and about 25min later a nurse, C, comes to get me. We go back to the nurses station and she sits me down and I get hit with a mother load of non-expectations: “So, what assets can you bring to our company?” HUH!? I was so not prepared for that, I had no idea this was Round II of interrogations. I BS’d my way through that in the end I’m sure it was more of a confusing answer than a real one. I got asked about my level of competency, my level of pace, etc. After 20 min of that I was glad to hear her say she was done. She then let A know she was done with me. A sent me back out to the waiting room for 10 more minutes and then came out to ask me if I could start training next week. It was a bit awkward having that go down in the waiting room … in front of “other” staff. But whatever, it was fine. In the end I GOT THE JOB. I am a true RN with a true specialty of Pre-Op/PACU nurse.

I have this sense of peace now knowing that although I’m going to home with my kids pretty full-time, there is one day a week that I am skipping out of my house and to somewhere where my inner true self will shine. I get MY identity back, and that is that I am an RN! I get to produce skills that only an RN can/will do. I get to be that person that helps others, strangers, in a time of need. I get to help the doctor perform miracles on some people. I’ve been missing that heightened level of … nursing. And it’s back now!!

Something even more fun that is going to start happening on Monday is that I have hired a private Yoga Instructor who comes to my house 5 days a week and teaches me Ashtanga Yoga out on my deck in the evenings. We’re going to alternate Yoga with high endurance walking. I am excited to get that going – someone to come and kick my butt into gear while teaching me a holistic form of Yoga that can calm my core!

I can't wait to see what these 2 different things in my life do. Either/or could quite impact my life so I'm just going to hold on for the ride :)