My new boss (es)

So I have recently resigned from my position as an RN in the PACU (recovery room) at the Intermountain Medical Center.... I have accepted a position as a FULL TIME SAHM... (stay at home mom). I couldn't be more excited. I will say, not that it was a hard choice to make, but it was a difficult step. I typed up the email to my manager Sunday night and I sat just looking at it for about 5 minutes. Finally, Clark who was sitting next to me asked me if I was going to send it. I had to take his hand and make him click the "send" button, I couldn't do it. Then immediately I was literally overtaken by emotion and just sat and cried. Clark was really not sure what was going on... he was like do you not want to quit? And it wasn't that I didn't want to quit, it's just the end of an era for me.... at least for now. Being a nurse has been such a big part of who I am...

My first job in the medical field was as a lifeguard at the Cottonwood Spa when I was 16. That was the first time I ever had to learn CPR or any kind of lifesaving and I LOVED IT! The next year in school I took an EMT class from the Jordan District Tech center... again, I loved it! It all seemed to come very naturally to me. So it was an easy decision to go into nursing. My freshman year at USU I became a CNA and even did some volunteer work at the ER at Logan Regional Hospital... exciting place! That was the first time I ever saw someone's stomach pumped, or someone walk in with a nail through their foot that they had shot with a nail gun.... again, I loved it! From there I decided I would have more opportunity in the medical field if I moved back to SLC. I got my first CNA job at the University of Utah Medical Center in their float pool, I worked on every unit in the hospital from maternity, to ortho, to psych. It was a great intro job which I did for a year until I decided to pick a home unit and work permanently on 4 North/ Telemetry. I really consider this job to be where my career really began. The nurses I worked with on this unit have stayed my closest nursing friends throughout my entire career and I've continued to work with them in other areas. These nurses (you know who you are, traci, tammy, bonni, louisa, courtney... ) really taught me HOW to be a nurse. Nursing school teaches you what you need to know to be a nurse but you can only learn HOW to be a nurse by example... and these nurses were the best example for me. From their skills to their compassion they taught me so much. By the time I graduated from nursing school I had been working nights and days at work, and nights and days in my clinicals and I was BURNED out, ready for a change. So I took a job as a circulator in the OR at the U of U hospital... totally different from anything I'd done before. I really enjoyed this job, it was a nice break from the craziness of floor nursing but it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my nursing career, but it did allow me to work with CRNA's (nurse anesthetists) which I was totally inspired by and decided THAT was what I wanted to do with the rest of my career. However in order to even apply for CRNA school, I had to have a few years of experience working in an ICU. So I decided if I was going to follow my dreams then I needed to do what it took. Luckily by this time all those awesome nurses I had worked with on 4 north were now working in the Surgical ICU, so with help of their influence on the nurse manager, I was able to transfer into the SICU. Little did I know how much this experience would change me as a nurse and a person forever. I can remember my very first day on that unit, orienting with a very experienced nurse, we recovered a fresh post-op heart transplant who wasn't doing so well. The entire 12 hour shift we were running trying just to keep this person hanging on... at least through our shift. Turns out, the patient did fine and I walked away from that day completely intimidated and overwhelmed, and I remember thinking if I could become an ICU nurse, then I could do ANYTHING! And now even at times when I get discouraged I remember that I am/was an ICU nurse and I can do ANYTHING! Being and ICU nurse became part of who I was. So a couple years went by and I still had the goal to be a CRNA or to at least continue the persuit of my dream. So I applied for and actually received an interview at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. However at this point in my life it was hard to know if actually going back to school was going to be the right thing. We already had one baby and Clark was trying to figure out his career as well. So it was a bittersweet moment when I received the letter that I had not been accepted into the program. I was a little disappointed, and a lot relieved. If I had been accepted it would have been hard to turn down, even though I guess I knew in my heart the time wasn't right. Funny how things work out... the very same week I received the letter, Clark was offered a new job and that job has opened doors and led the way for Clark to follow his career and ultimately allow me to be a mom first and foremost. So at this point things shifted, and Clark's job took more of a priority in our life and I needed to find something that was less demanding of me than ICU... they don't call it intensive for nothing!

So now I was needing a change again. I remember sitting down and searching the IHC website and saying that if there was a position available in PACU that would transfer to the new hospital, then I would take it. Funny how things work... there was the EXACT position I was looking for. I applied on a Sunday, got called in for an interview on Tuesday, interviewed Thursday and got the job offer within a week. I guess when things are meant to be, they are just meant to be. So I've enjoyed the past 3 years almost working with a great group of nurses in what I think has been the best nursing job EVER! Working in the PACU you take care of 2 patients at a time... max. As soon as your patients are awake enough to converse with you, you ship them out either to go home, or up to their room. No more of this business taking care of a crazy person for 12 hours straight! I've had enough of that!

So it is with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to my nurse friends... thank goodness for facebook...right?!? I guess it comes down to the fact that there are so many capable people who could easily fill my role as a nurse, but there is no one else who could replace me in my role as mother. It won't be that different though, it still involves puke, poop, administering medication, and people waking up really crazy from a deep sleep! Good thing I'm PALS (pediatric advance life support) certified... I really hope I NEVER have to tap into those skills!!!

So wish me luck! And who knows where I'll step back into the world of nursing... that's part of the fun, the future is wide open!