Monday, November 11, 2002
So far, I've heard back from some other places. First is another home care agency in the area. I went and explored it, but so far, the other home care place is the one I like better. Also, a local hospital is looking for nurses to work in their cardiac cath lab and their admissions/short stay unit. Both of these would be Mon-Fri with minimal weekends. This morning I recieved a call about another job I was looking at, involving utilization review, which is looking at charts and setting up the patient with the care they need outside the hospital. This job probably would not require a lot of hands-on patient care.
I feel good despite all that has happened in the past two weeks. My fam is happy that it's not life-threatening, but at the same time, they were concerned about my stress levels. They've been really supportive of the decisions I've made up to this point. I am grateful for the oncology experiences, because without them, I don't think it would be so easy for me to be out there, nursing, with just the psych experience I had. I realize that I don't have the personality for hospice or end-of-life care. The practical, applied art of working with dying patients and families is dramatically different from the classroom aspect of it. It really takes a special, patient person to work with hospice and palliative care, and to be successful at it. I realize that wound care fascinates me. I feel like I could tackle a central line while standing on my head. I can stomach most strong stenched bodily fluids, although no nurse really finds them pleasant. I love the idea of getting in my car and being able to move from place to place all day, one patient at a time, rather than having five all at once.
So, I guess I have a lot to think about.
I feel good despite all that has happened in the past two weeks. My fam is happy that it's not life-threatening, but at the same time, they were concerned about my stress levels. They've been really supportive of the decisions I've made up to this point. I am grateful for the oncology experiences, because without them, I don't think it would be so easy for me to be out there, nursing, with just the psych experience I had. I realize that I don't have the personality for hospice or end-of-life care. The practical, applied art of working with dying patients and families is dramatically different from the classroom aspect of it. It really takes a special, patient person to work with hospice and palliative care, and to be successful at it. I realize that wound care fascinates me. I feel like I could tackle a central line while standing on my head. I can stomach most strong stenched bodily fluids, although no nurse really finds them pleasant. I love the idea of getting in my car and being able to move from place to place all day, one patient at a time, rather than having five all at once.
So, I guess I have a lot to think about.
