Rants, Recipes, and Running

35 Patients on a alzheimers/memory-care unit........... 1 new-grad RN Lord, help me. I would be lying to you all if I said I'm not a little bit nervous. I start my Per-Diem job tomorrow. This is a little something I'm doing to "get my feet wet" until I start working for the hospital. Most orientations for new grads lasts a few weeks of classroom & on-the-job training. Mine will be 3 days of OJT. I will always keep this job on the side -- so I can keep my head in the geriatric world...since I kind of want to be a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner some day down the road.... The silver tsunami is coming, my friends. However, I am going to put my nervous feelings aside when I walk onto that unit tomorrow morning at 6 am. And show the world that I can do this. The world seems to think new grads are incapable. Tomorrow is my day to prove the world otherwise! I'm ready for this. Nursing school was never overwhelming to me - and neither will this be! ( cute ...

1. What keeps you up at night? (figuratively) Sick worry about never being hired full time as an RN. Fear that my hospital will just never contact me. 2. What keeps you up at night? (literally) Well, I literally don't sleep well at night due to this fear. So I often find myself up walking around, thinking I'm going to be physically sick at about 1:30 am, 3 am, 4:30 am, 4:45 am, until I finally just get out of bed. It's like clock work. But hey, last night I only woke up 3 times -- so I'm making improvements! Besides this little phase-o-hell.....nothing keeps me up at night! A train could come bursting through our bedroom and I wouldn't know. 3. Where do you want to go in life? (figuratively) I want my career to be fulfilling. (Right now it's hard to ever give a damn about a fulfilling career..I just want a career.) I hope that in 15 years I can list of all the areas of nursing I've placed my footsteps within, and be a "go-to-gal" for areas...

So, there I was at the grocery store picking up some odds and ends to make a delicious soup..... (It was rainy and 80 degrees today - which means EXTREME FALL/WINTER weather in Tucson. Watch out! Therefore, I had to make a soup from scratch. I also whipped up a home-made loaf of bread) When I realized, "I need to gather some supplies to send a care package off to my sister , Lisa, for her marathon coming up". When i realized she leaves in like 2 DAYS for the destination of her marathon! (Portland, Oregon next Sunday -- woo hoo!!) I live in Tucson, AZ. Which would mean it would take more than 1.5-2 days for my "care package" to get to her on time. So, Lisa -- I am sorry for my lack of schedule and consideration. But the thought was really there!!! 4years ago when she ran the Twin Cities Marathon -- I was a freshman in college. I boxed up so "Gu-Packs", new socks, a card, and "sports beans (which are claimed to have electrolytes in them) ...