First blog post

This is my first blog post!! I drove cross country from MA to Washington to escape my crazy, dramatic life and so far this has been a wild ride! If you ever get a chance to take a cross- country road trip- DO IT!!!! It is amazing the things you would never otherwise see. I was lucky enough to have a special guy come with me along for the trip 😉 I wouldn’t recommend going alone because there are periods where you drive for hours upon hours with NOTHING in sight which can get very boring. Settling in here in Washington was a little scary but a lot of exciting. My agency was great in helping my transition and my apartment was great, except apparently air conditioning is not a thing here. Who knew? So it was literally an oven arriving during the hottest weeks of the summer but now I’m in an apartment with more windows, a better breeze and the weather has cooled down so it is much more bearable! Thank God. I have explored a lot of the city with that special guy I mentioned earlier- but he left to go back home on Monday and I miss him like crazy. It is kinda lonely living alone (which is something I’ve never done). I lived with him back in MA, but we both need some “me time” separately after both getting divorced. I have started to learn I have to keep busy to keep me from getting depressed or going nuts. I have started going back to the gym which is one of my passions. And I really have to plan out my whole day, what to eat, what errands to run, etc. 

My adjustments to my new job was interesting to say the least. I went from a hospital where I was very invested- taking the role of charge nurse, mentoring, precepting, teaching childbirth classes, etc to basically being a nobody at the bottom of the totem pole. Talk about humbling. They didn’t care that I had 3 professional certifications or that I drove ACROSS COUNTRY to work there or was going through the biggest changes in my life. They cared only that I could take care of a patient delivering a baby- period. They deliver 700-1000 babies A MONTH! They didn’t have time for my dramatic soap opera story.  I was accustomed to a facility that delivered approximately 150 per month, where my co-workers are like a second family. Huge culture shock. My first 12 hour shift orientation day I had assisted in 2 c sections, one vaginal delivery AND admitted another patient who was going to have a csection. As I left that afternoon, almost in tears, I thought this has got to be a joke. There is no way I can do this everyday. Come to find out (fortunately) that they just wanted me to see as much as I could out of the gate because I only had three days of orientation. It has since calmed, slightly. I like the convenience of 12 hr shifts. Having 4 days off a week is nice when I want to explore the city and do fun things. Not so nice when i don’t really want to do things alone.

Walking to and from work is very convenient (now that I don’t get lost anymore). I still keep my GPS on just for my own reassurance that I’m going in the right direction.

I think that’s plenty for today! More updates to come. I’m working a 4 day weekend (48 hours in 4 days) 😑 so I will write if when I get a chance!

Author: NurseEmily

Career driven, single mother trying to sort out this wild ride called life. View all posts by NurseEmily