The New Nurse

After a few weeks on the job I have learned a great deal about myself. Here is a list of a few things that I have learned.

1. It is okay to cry, and in many circumstances a necessity. I have become close to one of the burn victims on the unit. She is a beautiful young girl who has a long road ahead of her. For some reason we connected almost instantly. On one of the days I was caring for her she had a minor setback. She was so upset and frustrated. I could see that she wanted to cry but was trying to put on a brave face. I shut the door and pulled up a chair next to her bed and we cried.
2. Be thankful for what you have. I had not been assigned to the young girl in a few days and I have really been missing her. I knew she's been having surgeries this week and wanted to see how she was. When I entered her room she asked me where I had been and why I hadn't been her nurse for a while. She began asking me how my weekend was and how Rosie has been. It made me take a step back. This girl is in a hospital bed, in pain with a long road ahead of her and she's asking me how I am? Really puts things into perspective.
3. 12 hour shifts are hard work. I love having 4 days off but the three that I do work are exhausting. I usually need a day just to recover.
4. I do not function very well without sleep. Yesterday was a pretty tough day at the Scherhouse. Rosie has been sick so I decided it was a good idea to keep her home with me. One problem...I had just got off work having worked the night shift before. Needless to say, we didn't get a whole lot accomplished yesterday. I forgot to add the clothes to the washing machine. We watched a whole lot of Dora and Word World. We ate breakfast and lunch in front of the TV. We took a nap and I'm pretty sure Rosie was awake long before I was.

I really love my job and am adjusting to the new role of working, being a wife and mother full time. I am thankful for the opportunity to care for people.