Glimmers

I went to Alaska to see my daughter get married, went on some more bad interviews and finally wound up with a parttime job in a local nursing home.

Yay!

I can now pay my bills. And if I still get five days a month of substitute teaching, I can pay my student loans. So there is a glimmer of hope for this almost fifty-three year old graduate nurse.

There still won't be any extras around here. I won't be buying the living room rug I've wanted for eight years. If anything bad happens, I'll be scrambling. But I think this job will grow into something else in the future.

I feel like my DON has taken me under her wing. She wants me to learn more and be able to fill in more positions. That's fine with me! Extra hours always help.

It takes me four minutes to get to work. The nurses have all been very nice and encouraging to me. I've already fallen in love with the residents. I work only every other weekend, so I have weekdays to schedule appointments and help Benjamin with his schoolwork, or substitute teach. I will be working only when the boys are gone anyway.

I am essentially a warm body with a degree. I fulfill the requirement for eight hours of RN coverage during the day. I am responsible for "treatments", or what I call wound care. I also check orders to make sure they are recorded in the correct places and that the proper parties are notified. Eventually, I will learn how to do admit paperwork, do scheduling, and be a true "supervisor."

Sometimes I think to myself, I'm not really a nurse. I don't have a full time job. Then I think about all the good things about my situation and I feel as though God has his hand on me, shaping me life into exactly what it needs to be, for now.