I’m a Virgo. Us virgo’s like to compartmentalize life and be in control of our surroundings, we're a tad bit of perfectionist! In that, I like to have my goals laid out. By laid out I mean, back in 2017 when I graduated nursing school if one thing was certain, I knew what specialty I wanted to work, the hospitals I was willing to work at or not work at, the pay rate I expected to earn, the thought of getting my ID badge that read “Registered Nurse” in bold letters at the bottom, even down to the chic scrubs from Jaanuu I wanted to buy (no seriously, I knew the scrubs I wanted to wear and imagined myself coming to work cute af) I thought I had it all figured out, I was going to be this bomb ass NICU nurse (neonatal intensive care), working at the hospital I desired, making the top dollar! Ha!
For so long, I literally dreamed about that day, I was obsessing! I excelled in nursing school, graduated with honors, passed the NCLEX (state board exam) on the first try, in 75 questions (the minimum amount of questions you can get, out of possibly getting 265, we’ll talk more about that in another blog). I worked my ass off for two years and did everything I was supposed to, so it was only right in my mind that my dream job was next on the to do list. WRONG, like dead ass wrong. Like got off on the wrong exit and popped up in China wrong! Finding my first job as an RN was the hardest thing ever, I applied to numerous different hospitals, I wasn’t getting any call backs for weeks. The thing about being a new grad is that you must humble yourself. I was fresh out of school with zero experience, me finding a job working in critical care, with newborn babies at that, was slimmer than my waistline (LOL)! I mean it’s possible, some people are fortunate enough to find their dream job right after school, but that percentage is low. Generally, as a new grad, most hospital want to start you off on a more general floor, where patients are more stable, so areas like Med- Surg or Tele.
Remember the part about humbling yourself, yeah see, I’m a planner and like things to go my way. By the time I was brought back to earth, it was a few months into my search and still nothing. So, at this point, I gave in and said you know what I’m willing to take anything just to get some experience and then move around. Well, by anything I guess I really meant anything, because I found myself working at a Skilled Nursing Facility (nursing home/rehabilitation center). This was an area I NEVER wanted to work, solely because prior to me becoming a nurse I’ve worked in facilities as such as a CNA (certified nursing assistant) and I hated it then. I started my career in an area I hated, but this is what humbled me and helped me to show gratitude to the people who work in long term care. It taught me time management and it helped me perfect those basic nursing skills before I entered a hospital. Now since then I have moved on to working in a hospital, I love my aides even more, and it helped my transition to be a bit smoother.
While I wouldn’t recommend this route to anyone, for numerous reasons (patient safety and your license) I’m now more educated than before I walked in and have grown. We all take different routes, with one goal in mind and that’s to be an awesome nurse in our area of interest. I want to be able to reach those people who got the not so pretty side of nursing, not everyone lands their dream job after graduating. I want to encourage someone else to take whatever avenue is presented to them and learn to adapt in any setting, as you can still be a bomb, phenomenal nurse in any specialty, even if you’re not at your end point! This has made me fall in love with nursing even more as I have learned the never-ending options and makes me want to explore more! I still would like to do NICU at some point, but what I also learned is that nursing is so diverse, I now want to explore different avenues before NICU. I worked at the SNF for only 6 months, thankfully. I then transitioned into working in a hospital as a Med-surg/Orthopedics nurse for a year and a half. I am now embarking on the journey and joy of working Pediatrics, I’ll be working with babies from newborn to 18 years of age, saving one little life at a time!
