Last week was weird.
Monday and Tuesday were two of the most horrible days at work. And I’ve already had some of the most horrible days of my career at the facility here in California so basically, the bad days just kept coming at me. From walking in on sexual misconduct by an employee to having unsafe assignments to the charge nurse asking me to cross out an MD order so that they could just follow through with an unsafe discharge (when I wanted to halt the discharge altogether because it was incomplete). I learned a couple things over my 7 weeks at this facility here in town: 1. It’s a terrible place to work. 2. It’s a terrible place to be a patient. 3. Nobody in my family is allowed there! Really. Nobody. If I find out any of you are taken to that facility for a medical issue — we’re getting you transferred!
Needless to say, when I called in my resignation I did so with a clear mind. They broke their own sexual misconduct & harassment policy- after I reported the issue I walked in on- by not creating an action plan and following up with me. Reporting it was hard enough, and then I spent the next few weeks afraid I’d run into the guy in the hospital as I floated all over to the different units. I’m still unsure if he was caught. The entire situation just gives me the creeps and I’m having a hard time putting it out of my mind.
This morning I signed another contract back in Colorado. Eastern Colorado. I’ve worked at this facility for two long stints in the past. They tend to need travel nurses often because of their rural location (halfway out between Colorado and the Kansas border) and the manager out there contacted me last week letting me know they needed someone for a quick 6 week contract and asked if I’d be interested. Sure. A job is a job when you’re a travel nurse and it’s a huge bonus if you get to go back to a place you really liked. Small hospitals are my favorite! I know the staff, I know the manager, I know the MD’s and I genuinely like my job when I’m out there. The commuting and staying out in Eastern Colorado is tough – but it will be dry land vs. the snow covered rocky mountains where I now call home. And I’ll be back closer to Ben and the dogs. To me, it’s a big win.
For now I’m still in California working on school work and wedding planning. Tomorrow Dad and I head to Big Sur so I can show him the Venue and the area. We’ll also take Copper for a quick run on the beach so his old legs can enjoy the soft sand. The weather forecast is beautiful – 65 and sunny! Spring in Big Sur is often amazing.
Speaking of school work… I learned this week that I was granted my #1 choice for my practicum placement. In order to graduate with my Masters in June I have to first complete 150 hours of a graduate school practicum. Most nurses will complete their 150 hours in a hospital, college or clinic working alongside other nurses or nursing instructors. My counselor suggested we apply for the online practicum option since I live in Colorado mountains and the school does not have a contracted placement site up there. I wrote a letter to the College of Nursing explaining why the online practicum would be a perfect fit for me — and I was accepted!
I am so excited to get to complete my entire practicum online by receiving full instructor training and then working alongside an online nursing instructor to teach a BSN course for college students. When I first enrolled in my masters program my goal was to get my Masters of Science in Nursing so I could teach online at first and then maybe in person. It’s been my goal for years to move away from the bedside full time (but remain at a hospital intermittently). Now, I get the chance to actually learn to teach! I’ll receive the same three week training course online professors receive when they accept a job teaching online & then by working with a preceptor, I’ll get to learn all the ins and outs of leading an online class. The practicum placement could not be more perfect for me given my rural location in Colorado (I now don’t have to commute to Denver!) & my future goals (teach).
It’s hard to believe I’ll have my Masters in just a few short months. I started in 2015, took a two full year break to just focus on work because I was completely burnt out after two full years of working full time and school full time, and now here I am…. a full time student as I finish my evidence based practice project course & practicum but more motivated than ever to finish it all out & graduate. Hard work eventually pays off…
| jenn at home | 