I thought I'd tell you a bit about what it's like to be me these days. I am balancing two jobs, both of which I love, and let me tell you, it's been a long time since I have enjoyed working. It is very gratifying to slog through four more years of school and end up with a good job that lets me apply all the new knowledge I have gained in class. That being said, I am struggling to make time for both of them. Luckily they both knew I was applying for the other position, and both my supervisors have been very generous with flexible times for me to work. It helps that they are friends with each other outside of work, too.
I was about 6 weeks into my first job (as Nursing Consultant) when I started work at my new job (RN at the hospital). I was quite nervous, because while one job is office-y (and I have lots of experience at that), the other is quite different. Plus I'm sure everyone has heard about my less-than-pleasant experiences as a student in the hospital so I was understandably gun-shy about walking back into an environment like that. However, I had three great shifts, oriented by nurses who were supportive, encouraging, and complimentary. I got some great feedback that was forwarded to me by my supervisor, so I feel like I have made a first good impression.
However great my jobs are going, I have to keep reminding myself that I am expecting a baby in a few short months, and I have to watch my energy, as well as my safety. I have a lot of patients who are on "isolation", which means I have to gown, glove, and mask-up before I go into their rooms. And someone is always mopping a floor somewhere, so as I waddle around off-balance, I have to remind myself that it's easy to slip.
At the office, I have a much easier time of it. I sit myself in a comfy chair in front of a computer, and spend 7.5 hours using my brain. "I'm being paid to think," says one of my co-workers. Or, what she said was, "I'm being paid to work from my neck up." (She's a nurse, too). Strangely, I often feel more stiff after a day in the chair than when I run around for 12 hours at the hospital. And I eat. Today I was crunching on caramel-covered popcorn surrepticiously from a little bowl at my desk, trying not to let the Dietician who sits in the next office hear me. How ironic is that. I hope she never looks in my filing cabinet drawer, which is not filled, as you might think, with files, but with snacks. Some good, but most are "hiding" snacks like chocolate-covered almonds, chips, or peanuts.
Actually, right now I pretty much eat all day. I bring two sandwiches (one a peanut butter and honey, the other a liverwurst and cucumber sandwich lately), a banana, a sliced cucumber (yes, a whole one. Each day), several other kinds of fruit, like peaches, cherries, blueberries. And juice. And lots of water and herbal tea. (which means lots of bathroom breaks too).
So, you must be saying, how much weight have you gained with all this food? Well, yes, it's true the doctor only wanted me to gain 25lbs with this pregnancy, and I think I am just about there now, with another three months to go. So I guess I should be cutting back on the chocolate almonds. I suspect, however, that they are keeping me from falling asleep in the afternoon.
Because, ah, coffee. I have drastically cut down my intake for the little babe, but I do miss it. Every day. Now I drink half-caf, add lots of milk, and limit it to two cups in the morning. I was reading that in the second and third trimesters, the mother's body does not metabolize caffeine as quickly as it used to, so it takes longer to get eliminated from the body. Now would be a good time for me to switch to decaf, or better yet, get off coffee altogether.
I'm sure you are wondering what I do with my "brain" job, sitting in front of the computer all day. (Not that nursing in the hospital isn't a brain job too, it really is, making decisions all day, ensuring your patient is safe, that the medications are correct. It's actually physically and mentally draining).
So both jobs have challenges. I hope to work to make at least the 600 hours needed for mat leave federal benefits (I am at 302 now), and then we'll see how long I can work comfortably. Of course, as time goes on, the desk job starts to sound ideal. There's just so much THINKING in it, and my brain gets tired, or I feel a little scattered, which makes it more exhausting than working in a hospital.
Okay, this post was a little meandering. I think I just wanted to get some of my thoughts out. And what better way than to post them publicly?
Oh, I just finished a great book, "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande. It's written very much in the same way as Malcolm Gladwell. Mark would like it, I bet.
Have a great weekend!
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