What Nursing Is Not

As a nurse, I have often been asked "so, what do you do all day?" and to be quite honest, that question irks me.

What don't I do?

As a nurse, I am a psychologist, waiter, cheerleader, confidant, and advocate to name a few.

I feel like some people have an opinion of nurses that are way off base. SO I'm here to clear up the air a tiny bit.

Nursing is not sexy.

We do not take care of patients while wearing mini dresses with our cleavage all in the patient's face. Our hair is not in pigtails as we saunter to pass meds in our stilettos.

Nursing is not a way to meet doctors.

I just recently started working day shift, but previously I worked night shift. I hardly even knew what the attending looked like, let alone if it was a man or a woman. Yes, some people meet their future spouses on this job. That is the exception, not the rule.

Nursing school is not easy.

Nursing school is HARD, ask anyone who went through it. "I have to study" takes on a whole new life of its own when you're going into the medical field.

Nursing is not "have it your way" service.

Do I want you to be comfortable and cared for and well attended to? Yes. Do I also want all of my patients to make it through my shift and into the next one? Yes. That being said, if I have to prioritize fluffing your pillow and grabbing juice OR taking my newly confused patient down to get head scans, I will be choosing the latter. Sorry, not sorry.

Night shift is not easy and boring.

I'll say this one time and ONE TIME ONLY - night shift (on many units) do a lot. We have to be quick on our toes because there's no one else looking at that patient but us, the nurse tech and the family (if they're not sleeping). Oftentimes, the gag is that patients sleep all night so what do nurses have to do? Well, a few months ago I worked a shift where I clocked in at 7pm, and at 8pm we had a code met (meaning the patient was unstable and possibly needed to be transferred to the ICU). At 11pm that same night, we had 2 different patients who needed to go to the ICU because one of them was projectile vomiting and the other had an elevated sodium of 160. At the same time, we were informed we would be receiving a patient who was confused, combative and had an elevated sodium of 155. Needless to say, that night was insanely busy. Nurses, both day and night, have a lot of responsibility and each shift has it's busy and stressful moments. 

Nursing is a career, and a calling, of passion. Depending on the unit in which you work, it takes a lot out of you physically, mentally and emotionally. It's not for everyone, but for those who do it - it is rewarding. 

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Currently

I've always loved these little posts about what is currently going on in life, so it's time I filled one out of my own!

Currently, I am:

Reading 

Admittedly it's an audiobook, but I'm "reading" a book called The Couple Next Door. It's about a couple whose baby gets kidnapped while they are at a dinner party at their neighbor's house. So far, I'm loving it!

Listening to 

I've been loving Erykah Badu's album But You Caint Use My Phone, as well as Kendrick Lamar's Damn

Watching

Queen of the South. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show. My friend Genesis got me started watching this since she loved La Reina del Sur and figured, "why not watch the English version?" We literally just started watching this show together last Saturday night, finished 3 episodes together and homegirl was through episode 9 by Sunday night. Needless to say, I've got to catch up to her. 

Thinking about

My new job! I had to wait to say anything, but I got a new job as a mother/baby nurse! I'll still be working within the same healthcare company, but at a new location and with day shift hours! 

Wearing

Black soft shorts and white t-shirt from Target. Very basic. Very easy. 

 

Texting

My best friend Gabbi. We don't text everyday, but we do send each other random snaps/tweets/messages. While we may live in different states and have very busy lives, it never takes much to make me feel like we're in the same room talking and laughing like back in high school.

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Date Night

Admittedly, I love going on dates.

I love being wined and dined. I love dressing up since I wear scrubs 98.3% of the week.
However, I don't go out with just anyone. Unlike some women, I do actually have to like the guy.

Sometimes though, going out on a lot of dates with said guy can get to be expensive, so to break up the spending, I'm usually game for going on a variety of types of date whether it's cheap/free or a $200 date.

Here are some prefect date ideas despite your budget:

Free

Watching planes - heck, I've done this alone and loved it

Going for a walk

Hiking at a local trail/mountain

A day at the pool

Star gazing - maybe you'll even catch a meteor shower!

Read and hammock together

Drive around new subdivisions and look at houses

Feed the ducks

Game night (maybe include some friends in this one)

Low Cost

Ice cream

Cook each other your favorite meal - you gon' get this mac and cheese, string beans and fried chicken ;)

Picnic at the park - Publix subs and some water/lemonade

Home movie night - complete with Dollar Store popcorn and candy

Plant flowers - nothing makes me smile quite like fresh flowers

Medium Cost

Visit the museum - visit on a discounted day for a lower cost!

Go to a water park

Water rafting

Kayaking

Creating your own food tour - 1 app, 1 entree and 1 dessert from different restaurants

Go to a sports game - they usually have cheap tickets if you don't mind sitting up high!

High Cost

I'm pretty sure you all know what an expensive date entails. 

Ruth's Chris? A weekend getaway? Caviar, champagne and the works? Skydiving? Shopping spree? 

If you dream of it, then that's your expensive date :)

Cheers to great dates full of fun, laughter, and getting to know one each other!

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#WordlessWednesday

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Little Known Facts

I work in oncology with leukemia and lymphoma patients.

My parents live in Portugal.

I hate the sound of people's teeth scraping against their fork.

I redecorate my house approximately 5 times a month.

Obsessed with Sims Freeplay and Cooking Fever.

My favorite movie of all time is Pride and Prejudice.

I love cooking and experimenting with new recipes.

I don't wear over 1/2 the clothes in my closet. 

If you really know me, I'm terrible at hiding how I feel.

I'm blunt.

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MIA

Where have you been?

You should start blogging again?

Where's the update?

All things I've heard over the last few months while I hiatus-ed from this little part of the world. Admittedly, I miss this place but I miss something else even more. 

I miss my parents. 

(however that's not why I took a break... we'll get to that)

My parents moved overseas around the time I last pressed "publish," and while I didn't really expect to be too much affected by it, I was. My parents are my rock and my mom is my best friend, so for them to leave and go on this new adventure - I was a bit of an emotional mess. Instead of dealing with my emotions head on from the jump, I brushed it under the rug. Instead I dove into my job and turned to friends/relationships to occupy my mind and time.

Don't get me wrong, I am beyond excited for my parents. This childless adventure is well-deserved, well-earned and well overdue. My parents are amazing and they have spent the greater portion of their lives making sure that my siblings and I were raised in a stable and loving household, received great educations, and developed into morally sound human beings. Even though my father got to travel as part of his career, my mother has always dreamed of traveling more, so now that they are in a position to do so without kids, they honestly and truly deserve to go see the world.  

Let's be clear about something though - 

My hiatus isn't because I missed my parents.

My hiatus was because I felt like nothing I had to say was important. Nothing was happening in my life worth talking about - I went to work, I slept and I occasionally hung out with my friends. I entered into a relationship that, in hindsight, was detrimental to my mental and emotional health, but I didn't want to talk about that either. In addition, I had about a two month span of my patients dying and my apartment was falling apart - doors getting stuck, termite swarm in the bedroom window, leaking kitchen sink for two weeks. On the positive side, I had friends having babies, getting engaged and/or married. I had friends earning promotions and degrees. All things I thought were wonderful and definitely blog-worthy, but not on my blog because it wasn't about me or even my business to talk about. 

It was in that time that the undertone of sadness began creeping its way into everything I wrote, so all the saved drafts got deleted because I didn't want to talk about death and dying, my parents, my apartment or relationship woes. I didn't want a pity party. I didn't want to come off "weak" or "unhappy" when in reality, that was how I felt - unhappy, sad and alone. 

So even though I'm not in the greatest mindset/job/apartment of my life, even though I still have things I'm dealing with (as we all are), and even though I still miss my parents everyday, I miss this blog. 

I miss you guys. I miss being creative. 

I miss having an outlet. 

If no one reads my blog anymore, it's okay. I'm not writing this solely for you. 

I'm writing this because this blog is my therapy - it makes me smile, it takes me happy

and I miss it.

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