911 What's Your Emergency?

Well, hello there, blogreaders. It's been a while. Time is flying by. I'm officially halfway through my last semester. Feels like it was just August. Not that I miss August but it seems like it was yesterday. Sure wish we could just skip November and get right to December. Anyways, here my latest and greatest...

Clinical has been a blast the last 2 weeks. That's because I have been in the emergency room. I love it! Each patient that comes in is different. Shortness of breath, very high blood sugar, severed finger, you name it...I worked with a great nurse who seemed to remember what it was like to be a student. She let me do lots of things (started 4 IVs!!) and tried to teach me whatever she could. The entire staff was friendly and patient and they all worked well together. The ER is certainly a fast-paced environment and you do have to remain on your toes at all times but it's definitely not like they portray it on TV. I'm sure it gets chaotic when a patient comes in and is coding or in some other critical state but I was even in a huge downtown hospital and never saw that for 2 full days. (but i have to admit, i was hoping for it). :) Probably what I liked the most is that the patients come in with presenting symptoms and they are exactly like what we learn in school and then the nurses do almost exactly like what we are taught in school. (plus there are doctors nearby so no worrying about trying to track one down). The difference on the floor is that we are more so managing the symptoms in a stable patient. Of course, stable patients can become unstable at any time but it ER nursing just seems so straightforward to me. I just get it. I even bravely applied for a job in the ER!
Oncology unit is next and as most of you know, that's where my heart is so I'm really ready for that.

Class is good. Just had our endocrine/renal test and I made an 80. That was definitely my least interesting unit of the semester. The kidneys are so important but so boring! Now we are on the granddaddy of them all...CARDIAC! I am fascinated by the heart but it is pretty darn complicated, and no matter what kind of unit I wind up working on, I need to know the heart pretty darn well!

As for the job search, no progress to report. I had my interview at Baylor All Saints on October 5th and I feel like I might have a decent chance of getting the job. The unit was amazing. I would love to work there. Unfortunately, I wont know for another month!! Ugghh! I have also applied for 2 other oncology jobs at other area hospitals, as well as, the ER job I mentioned earlier. Supposedly, that hospital system will start conducting interviews in early November so I hope to hear from them soon. The job market for Graduate Nurses (GNs...that's me!) is poor right now. There are less opportunities out there and it's pretty competitive. I feel like I am a pretty qualified candidate but it still makes me a bit anxious.

So, that's me in a nutshell. I appreciate your prayers for my job search. I know that God will lead me in the direction I am supposed to go but a few prayers never hurt. :)

Have a great week!