Guess how many times I’ve moved since I first arrived in Colorado in September of 2009?
Well, let’s just say a lot. Sometimes I like moving, Sometimes I don’t. It’s nice when you’re looking for some place new, exciting, different & can afford to move around and test the waters in different cities, apartments, homes. It’s not too fun when you’re moving because you have to. Last week I moved out of the ranch in Fort Collins (Loveland, technically) & put most of my stuff in storage. I packed a car full of stuff that I’d keep with me & headed to Casper, Wyoming with my Shiba in tow.
We have 12 weeks to spend in Casper. This is week 1. I got here Sunday night around 8:30, unpacked a bit and settled into bed. After tossing and turning all night I woke up around 7am with a sinus headache (it’s allergy season in Co/Wyo which means the pollen is out in full force. Have you ever walked outside to find your car completely covered in pollen? True story. ) & got ready for my first day of orientation at the hospital.
Orientation went quickly and I think the 5 of us who have to spend our summer there were completely surprised – in a good way. The hospital is spotless, looks and smells like a hotel, and is tiny. They only have 23 in patient beds with 37 beds total including the OR, ER, Observational, Pain Management, etc. It’s a neurologically based hospital with their specialties being brain, spine & orthopedics. I am not interested in any of those, but the hospital seems incredible and I do know I’ll get a good experience because of the way the hospital is run (appears to be, I should say. It’s only been one day) & because of it’s small size. It seems they place an extremely high emphasis on patient-centered care, with bedside nursing (actual bedside nursing ~ like patient:nurse interaction, which some hospitals seem to lack) being very important. The highest patient to nurse ratio is 4:1, with the ICU being 2:1.
I got my schedule for the first few weeks and I work nights, 6p-6a. I can’t figure out how I feel about this. I loathe waking up at 4:30 in the morning to get ready for a 12 hour shift that starts at 6am, but forcing myself to stay awake & alert all night during a pm shift is difficult too as is forcing my body to sleep when it’s awake and not adjusting well to sleeping in the middle of the day in a room with a big window. I guess I’d rather have days. Thankfully I’m only on nights for 4 out of the 12 weeks.
So while the summer is looking better here in Wyoming, I’d much, much rather be moving somewhere of my choosing or better yet, leaving my stuff in storage and traveling for a bit.
I have the travel bug and all I want to do is set out for a week and explore some place new. Outside the US. I haven’t traveled outside of this country since 2009. 2009! This makes me sad. I desperately need to get away for even a quick while. I didn’t get to go to Honduras for various reasons but now things have settled down & I really want to make my volunteer abroad dreams a reality before I hunker down and really devote myself to my career.
I think I’ll start looking for volunteer opportunities now. I have the day off and Copper is snoozing at my feet ~ what a perfect opportunity ❤
| jenn at home | 