Work wife.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying my job at the hospital. The first year was terror because I was learning to be a floor nurse and it takes a long time to be familiar with the rhythms of the unit and how to interact with patients. The 2nd year was also terror because of the pandemic. I’m going to complete my third year on the unit this summer. My plan was always to quit when Edda turned 18 to take a break (I have other things I want to focus on for 9-12 months) and then go back in a different specialty for another 2-3 years until I physically can not take bedside nursing anymore. I’m very friendly with everyone at work but mostly not friends if that makes sense. But in the past few months, Rachel has befriended me and taken me under her wing. As they say – a work wife. She’s studying to be an NP and as English is her second language, I edit her papers. She helps me with rowdy patients, wound care, etc. She’s trying to convince me to not quit the unit in a year – how will I see you she asks? Of course, I like things better knowing I can quit. I’m not sure what psychological feeling that is, but I always remember this quote from Middlemarch – re Dorothea “Riding was an indulgence which she allowed herself in spite of conscientious qualms; she felt that she enjoyed it in a pagan sensuous way, and always looked forward to renouncing it.”