An Almost Nurse

Whenever I talk about work, Ross always refers to my job as being an "Almost-Nurse".

It's a pretty accurate description. At work I'm assigned to a preceptor and I work with her to provide care to our team of patients. I'm not allowed to do some of the really invasive nursing tasks, but I am expected to take a lead role in my patients' care.

My preceptor is pretty awesome. She is a newer nurse and she totally understands how much I want to learn. She provides as many opportunities as possible for me to learn. We are constantly looking things up, researching and thinking critically. She is very passionate about pediatric nursing and I'm really beginning to feel at home there too. I love working with babies and teenagers alike. It's difficult to describe, but I finally feel like I might've found my niche in nursing.

Orientation Day - May 21st
74 externs were hired to work all over the hospital this summer.
Can you find me? Second row from the top, smack-dab in the middle with my bangs down.

Wearing fun scrubs! I learned on the unit that Walmart has the best scrubs.
I am now on a mission to find Disney scrubs & scrub pants with flared legs.

Retractable ID clips. They make getting into locked rooms MUCH easier.
One of the nurses at work makes & sells them. How cute!!!

Example Meal:
My first meal after waking up... eaten at 5:30 p.m.
It doesn't matter what it is, I just try to eat 3x a day.

My shift is 7:00 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. I leave home around 6:15 p.m. to get to work early and get ready for my day. Then I get home around 8:15 a.m. and pretty much fall right to sleep. My breakfast is when people are usually eating dinner. I eat dinner at 8:30 a.m. I eat lunch at 12:00 a.m. It's a weird schedule but I've adjusted to it nicely. I have had ZERO trouble sleeping during the day (knock on wood) thanks to a dark room and comfortable bed. I don't even need much caffeine to stay awake at night.

I love being an "almost-nurse" on the pediatric unit in a children's hospital. It is such a blessing to get paid to do what I do. It makes me even more excited and ready to graduate. I feel like I've learned and grown so much over the past few days. I can't even imagine how much more I'll learn over the next 8 weeks. Praise the Lord for his crazy-awesome blessings.