So…I quit my nursing job. My last shift was the Friday before Thanksgiving. I wasn’t quite sure it was going to be my last shift until I was doing it. I was working with my favorite charge nurse and my favorite nurse tech and it was a smooth shift and it was the shift I wanted to end on. They’ve hired a bunch of new nurses and I could tell that they’d be fully staffed soon and they wouldn’t need me and I could also tell I needed to rest. I didn’t tell anyone it was my last shift except for my charge Astra who took me off the rest of the schedule – I had committed to shifts into January, but I couldn’t bear to continue going in. Of course, I can go back anytime, but if I do go back, I don’t think I’d go back to that floor, I need to try something new. I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever be a nurse again, so we’ll see.
There are many reasons for quitting – #1 is basically that I had had enough. I’m tired and need to refocus! Edda’s childcare situation still remains spotty – at least one of has to be home everyday, so we can’t both be working out of the house at the same time and as Jeremy’s travel starts picking up, I need to have more flexibility in my schedule. I also realized that I wasn’t practicing nursing enough – it is a practice and I wasn’t working enough to really get into the groove of things. Like if I don’t give blood for 6-8 weeks and then I need to do it emergently- the protocols can change within that time period and then you just need to know that it changed. So in order to keep up with the changing protocols/equipment and processes, I felt like I needed to work half time for at least 3-4 months which I wasn’t willing to do. Also, I want to spend more time with people who are important to me! Which is what I’m doing with my goofball pals. This is a particularly unflattering photo of me, but it is what it is.
Christine, a nurse on the unit, came by with her dog Apollo (and the rest of her extended family) to take a look at the basement apartment to maybe rent? We’ll see.
Congratulations on making such a hard decision. If it’s right for your family, then it’s right for your family!