One Week Down...

I have officially completed my first week employed as a registered nurse.

While it was a short week due to Memorial Day on Monday, it was a much of what I had anticipated my first week to be...overwhelming, exhausting and mind-blowing. I think what I was unprepared for was the extent to which I would feel the aforementioned things. After only working 4 days, I am completely exhausted and I'm quite sure my head will explode with all the new knowledge getting stuffed into my gray matter! Sadly, it's as if the bank vault holding the past 6 months of resting and recharging I have saved, has been thieved in just 4 days! Uhg!

In addition to the usual things that induce panic when starting a new job, upon arriving at work on Tuesday morning, my new Nurse Manager (whom I think is probably the coolest of people) informs me that she is leaving her position and her last day will be Friday.....FRIDAY!?!?! Yep, as in Friday, 5/30, Friday! WHAT!?!? This lovely and talented Nurse Manager is inarguably the reason I am employed. I've been in contact with her since before I graduated nursing school. She has been patiently working with me for the past 6 months to get me hired on. And as I am making my grand entrance...she is making her graceful departure...and it breaks my heart! Needless to say, there is a lot of CHANGE going on, not only for me but with the other nurses as well, as everyone adjusts.

In addition to the usual 'new job stuff' to learn such as computer charting systems, treatment protocols, names of both staff and patients and the general ebb and flow of the job, I have the incredible task of learning the vast array of chemotherapy medications AND becoming extremely proficient at starting IV's. And by proficient, I really mean EXPERT. Many of our patients have been receiving treatments for years or are older and tend to have difficult veins. And difficult veins beget difficult IV starts. And honestly, no one enjoys getting poked, not to mention getting poked repeatedly...and I DO NOT want to be the nurse that has to poke them over and over again.

The truth is I wish I was a genius (don't we all?!?). Then maybe all of this would not be so overwhelming to me. Not a crazy know-it-all genius...but your average, well-rounded genius! Then I'd be able to learn new things quickly without getting too overwhelmed and without becoming too pretentious and annoying! At this point, I'm feeling like a complete novice at everything. I swear, the learning curve on this job is a vertical climb. And again, while I was anticipating the steep climb, I was not really prepared for it! I feel discouraged and incompetent. I know the truth is that I'm starting something new and that is often challenging and scary.

From all I have read and those I have talked to extensively about this...evidently, there are no Magical Genius Superpowers! I'll have to start with being a hard-working novice who, over time and with experience, will hopefully one day become a proficient chemo nurse...and maybe one day in the distant future, an expert chemo nurse.

So, I will muster all the courage and energy I have.
Onwards and upwards to week two...