New Grads Need Not Apply. . .

First things first!  I PASSED MY BOARDS!!!!! I took the boards on 2/20 at 8am, got my quick results at around 9:30 Saturday morning, and by Monday afternoon I had a brandy spankin' new registered nurse's license number!  So exciting and yet I find myself feeling frustrated. The job search is going a little different than I expected.  So many agencies are posting jobs that specifically say "We are sorry but we are not accepting new grad nurses at this time."  It totally sucks!  Could you imagine if instead it said "We are not accepting latin american candidates at this time."  Is is not discrimination to refuse to even  interview a new grad??  Some hospitals go so far as to set up "barbed wire" by asking right up front if you have the required experience - if you answer "No" to the question they won't even allow you fill out the online application!  No matter the experience of a new employee, it is still necessary to train them in the policies and procedures of the agency.  Why not choose an enthusiastic new grad who has no bad habits over a cranky experienced nurse who is jaded and set in his/her ways?  After spending several hours searching job sites today, I am throwing in the towel (just for today).  I am feeling very frustrated, disappointed, and a little bit defeated.

I know that God has a plan for me, and I am all about putting up a good fight - I just wish that SOMETHING positive would happen in the way of a job.  Even just one interview to know someone is remotely interested in me.  I am so frustrated by this new online application process.  There is no way to represent yourself as an individual - you are just a number on HR rep's computer screen.  If only they could meet me and see what they are missing. . .

My Boards are in Less Than 48 Hours...

I am taking a test in less than 24 hours that determines my future as a nurse.  Funny thing is, I am calm about the test. . . but I am freaking out about the fact that I am so calm.  What is wrong with me?  I know I know everything I need to know for this test.  I have been learning and studying for it for the past 3.5 years.  I am only freaking out because I am afraid of my confidence in myself.  What if I am wrong?  What if I don't know what I am doing?  I never thought I would lust after 2 letters, but having those letters "RN" after my name is fulfilling a dream that I have had for way too long.  I'm playing head games with myself and it all seems so silly.

It's a snowy day, I have homemade chicken soup simmering for dinner, my kids are home on February break.  All is right with the world, except that test that looms on Thursday.  I can't wait until it is behind me and I can forge ahead into the insane professional world of nursing.

For now I guess I will just be calm, and freak out about it.

What am I?

It just dawned on me yesterday that I am rather unsure of my current title.  I mean everyone has a title, in fact, most of us have many titles.  I currently operate under wife, mom, sister, auntie, daughter, granddaughter, neice, friend, the list goes on and on.  But professionally, what am I?  I used to be quick to say I was a nursing student - the dark circles under my eyes and the stressed out look on my face easily backed me up.  Yesterday, I realized that I am no longer a nursing student.  I joked with a friend that the only truth I can speak when someone asks me what I do is to respond "I am unemployed!"  Eeek!  No one ever wants to admit that their title is "unemployed".  So, right now, from a professional standpoint, the only thing I can state truthfully to describe my status is "unemployed unlicensed nurse".  How did I go from magna cum laude graduate to unemployed unlicensed nurse?  Talk about riches to rags. Once I pass my boards I will be able to proudly sign Michele Pearce, RN.  Can't do that yet.  I guess for now, all I can manage is Michele Pearce, UUN for unemployed unlicensed nurse. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

What is with titles anyway.  I often grab business cards from nurses or other health care professionals and they have more letters after their name than they do in the name itself.  What is with all these certifications?  I often think it is a contest to see how many letters you can put after your sign your name.  Half the time I have to google search what they even mean and I get lost in the proverbial alphabet soup.  It all seems kind of silly.  I mean, RN is a big one.  Or MD, or DDS, or DVM.  A lot of work goes into earning those letters.  It's the certifications that get me - just because you went to a weekend seminar in Los Angeles and sat playing Candy Crush on your iPhone while speaker after speaker rambled on about some new fangled therapy - you can add a few extra letters after your name.  I could easily market myself as Michele Pearce, UUN, DW, SM, BSE, AE, DD, DGD.   No one would know that the DW is for devoted wife, the SM is for Super Mom, the BSE is for Best Sister Ever, the AE is for Auntie Extraordinaire, the DD is for Darling Daughter and the DGD is for dear granddaughter.  Everyone would just say "Wow, she must be really smart and important!"

While that is all quite clever, but rather ridiculous, I guess for now I will just walk briskly with my head down pretending not to notice those familiar to me so I can avoid the question "So what are you up to?" because unemployed unlicensed nurse is not music to my ears.  21 days to my boards. . .

So I am a nurse. Now what?

I graduated magna cum laude from nursing school on Jan. 15, 2014.  What a monumental event, a day that shall go down in my history, a stunning accomplishment...

Nursing school took me almost 4 years to finish, 115 blog posts later it was all said and done.  What to do now?  Do I start another blog?  Do I just move on?

I am in somewhat of a holding pattern right now.  The official ceremony of graduation in complete, I have received my nursing pin, and now I sit and I wait.  I will be sitting for my boards and until then I am just a new grad nurse, not yet a Registered Nurse - I am just sitting in suspended animation.

Well, not really like that, that's just creepy and all science fiction-y.  I'm just sort of stuck here, waiting to take my boards on February 20th.  I came out of the gates as a new grad, all revved up and ready to conquer the world.  I started applying like mad to a million positions (well maybe just a dozen) in hospitals all over the state and had visions of grandeur - HR people banging down my door for an interview and throwing RN positions at me because I was such a promising candidate.  Yea, not so much.  I quickly realized that without a license number to enter on my application I was being cast off into the circular file, the vast abyss of crappy resumes, in the land of human resources.  In other words, it quickly became apparent that I am probably not going to get an interview until I pass my boards.  So I stopped applying and started studying for NCLEX (the nursing boards) instead so that I can be sure to pass the first time around. 

No one told me this when I was wrapping up my last semester.  No one told me that I would take my last class on Dec. 16, 2013, but that I wouldn't sit for my boards until Feb. 20, 2014.  No one told me that I probably wouldn't get a job for 3-4 months after I graduate.  No one prepared me for the suspended isolation.  No one told me that I would be sitting here as a new graduate nurse saying ...

 So I have taken this opportunity to make up for lost time with my kids.  To help out at their school.  To bake some cookies.  To take my dogs for a walk.  To take a nap a few days a week.  All things that I have not had time to do for the last almost 4 years!    I know that the right job will come along, and I have taught myself that patience will be a necessity as I move into this next chapter of my journey.  I know that God has plans for me.  I know that a career is what you are paid for and a calling is what you are made for.  I was made to be a nurse, and even if it came a little late in life, it is still God's plan for me.  He has never let me down before and I don't expect Him to let me down this time.  So I will learn to be patient, and wait for what He has planned.  And I will fill my "now what?" with all of the things that I have missed for the last almost 4 years.  God is so good, and life is a gift.  I intend to make the most of every second I have been given.