The New Job!

So, it finally happened! I got a full-time RN job at a hospital. I am now a Behavioral Health RN at Southern California Hospital at Culver City. Behavioral Health is the 'official' name for psych. So, I am still working in the same specialty/area of nursing as I was at my previous part-time RN position, which is good because my experience at the adult day care has helped to prepare me for this position.

Here is the condensed timeline of my nursing journey thus far:

• Oct 2006 - decided I wanted to become a nurse
• September 2007 - started taking night classes for pre-requisites needed for nursing school
• January 2010 - started going back to school full-time to finish up pre-requisites for nursing school
• March 2011 - started nursing school (Associate Degree program)
• June 2013 - finished nursing school with an Associate Degree in Nursing
• August 2013 - passed my NCLEX and received my RN license
• November 2013 - started school (again!) as it was becoming evident I needed a Bachelor of Nursing to be competitive/relevant
• Jan 2014 - got my first RN job, part-time at an adult day care center
• June 2014 (a year to the day of my graduation form nursing school) - got an offer for my first full-time RN position
• July 2014 - started my first full-time RN position
• (future) Dec 2014 - will have my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (thank the LORD! :))

Whew - that was a loooong 7ish years, but I am so happy to be a nurse! It was well worth it :)

So far, the new job is what every new job is - a lot of training and trying to remember things I learned in school a couple of years ago that I know are buried in my brain somewhere, but I haven't had much use for this info recently and so am desperately trying to retrieve it :) However, my preceptor seems to be happy with the progress I am making in my training, and I feel good about that. I complete my training over my next two shifts, and will be 'on my own' in August. I feel pretty comfortable with most of the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities, and I am excited to be acting as an RN on my own in just a few short weeks.

All of the staff that I have met (techs, nurses, doctors, social workers, security personell) have been pretty great, and several of them have been at the hospital for years and years - that makes me feel good about my place of work. Also, this hospital is in a growing phase (adding new units, new specialties, and doubling the number of beds at the hospital), which will provide a lot of growth opportunities for me in the near future, and that also makes me feel good about where I work.

So far, the only real downside is the schedule. I know you are all saying "What?!? Don't nurses only have to work 3 days a week?". And, you are right. But, the way they set it up here (and seems to be the norm for the day shift in California) is that we work every other weekend :( Matt and I had just gotten into a groove with our Saturday morning bike rides and going to our new church on Sundays. I will miss both of these things. Plus, I miss Matt! It really sucks not seeing each other on the weekends as this is our main time together. But, we are making the best of it and having Thursday night date nights and Friday lunch dates when I work the weekends. It will just take some getting used to.

So, maybe I will be able to spice this blog up with some fun stories from the psych unit - no names, I have to be HIPAA complaint, of course ;) But, one thing is for sure - I am happy to be practicing as a RN (finally!)  :)