I'm a nurse!!!

I found out this morning at 5:55 am (when my alarm went off and I immediately checked on my phone) that I passed the NCLEX! Today was also my first day on the floor. At about 1:30 I got to go down and get my new badge from HR as well as a credential tag that hangs below my ID that says "RN" in one inch letters. I was pretty excited to get that badge! And glad to actually be a nurse. We gave some drug today that I recognized the name but couldn't recall and I had a small adrenaline rush and thought "what if that's on the NCLEX!?" So I am sooo glad all my learning now is just to function and be good at my job, not to take a test!

My first day on the floor went well. There wasn't much to note. One of my patients had "swine flu" (in quotes because the person who diagnosed that was.... the PATIENT!) I guess they thought there was a chance she could be right, because she was in isolation. She also had schizophrenia... so who knows if she really has the flu.

Another of my patients was older and a bit confused. He asked me where I went to high school, and I told him, then he asked me if I was going to graduate. I assured him I was indeed a high school graduate.

My friend who already works on this floor (and is a year older than me) already told me everyone asks her how old she is and if she's old enough to be a nurse. So I can only assume I'll get that a lot too.

orientation, NCLEX, oh my

Last week I had orientation to the hospital. It was mostly boring, and an exact repeat of what I sat through last summer when I was an extern. I met a guy who is a new grad as well, and will be working on my floor. So I was glad to not be the only new guy when I start! Hopefully he doesn't upstage me though. But I think it will be fun. Once during the week I went up on the floor to ask a question and the other new grad's preceptor called me "newbie" and I couldn't help but flash back to scenes from Scrubs between Dr. Cox and JD. Hopefully my work experience will be as funny and poignant as a television show =)

This morning I took the NCLEX-RN exam... so I am waiting to hear if I'm an official nurse or not. I feel pretty good about it.
Thursday is my first day on the floor so hopefully my blog will be more interesting when I start working!

My first big girl job.

Well it's hard to believe but I have a job. It feels really strange. I haven't even started working yet but it's still quite strange. I already feel different and more empowered to take on life and do it the way I want to. I feel free.
It's also weird to actually be on the brink of getting to the place I've been striving for for years.
It's so close I can taste it.
I'm working med-surg, which is just a general floor. My week of classroom orientation to the hospital starts Monday the 21st.

I talked to a lady at my college and she predicted I should be testing in the next week or so.

I'm going to have a stroke when the news I'm ready to test comes in.

My first blog post!

This blog is a chronicle of my first (and I'm sure hardest) year of being an R.N.! I've been in college for FIVE YEARS and I'm finally out and ready to hit the ground hopefully feet first! I'll be blogging about everything from getting my first job, taking the NCLEX-RN, meshing with my new coworkers I spend 13 hours straight with, patients and their constant calamity (sparing all details of course that are so very private!) , hospital rules and the ties that bind, trying to have a life outside of those sterile walls, and just why sometimes leaving the things that happen at work... at work, can be so hard, and actually impossible.

I've never blogged before but I've always read blogs so I'm really excited! I always read blogs about things I wished I was doing but aren't or can't like mommy blogs, dog blogs, teaching English in South Korea blogs, or missionaries in Haiti blogs. Blogs are like a nice vacation from the life you actually lead to some other life you could have lead if things were different. So I'm pretty excited that potentially one girl (or boy) out there wants to be a nurse but isn't yet or can't and will enjoy this blog! Also, I'm going to print this out at the end and have it bound at Kinko's for a keepsake to remember.

So welcome! And drop by often! Soon I'll be posting about trying to find my first job!

Yours truly,
Winnie

P.S. Just for the record my name isn't really Winnie Tenenbaum. I felt it would be best to be vague about the details of who I am and what hospital I work for due to the sensitive nature of nursing work.