RN Orientation: Week One

First day of work, er, orientation. I'm so thrilled to be at this hospital. Having been through orientation in other jobs...this has been well-organized, well-staffed, and everything has tied together well and feels pertinent to my role. Class act!

I think the most thrilling part of the day was the end when they took my picture and handed me my ID. To see the RN tag attached was a really cool moment. I've been envying everyone else's RN tag for years. Now I have my very own!

Tomorrow will be another day of basic hospital orientation. Then Wednesday through Friday and Monday and Tuesday of next week I will be in the simulation lab getting trained and tested on a variety of nursing skills and related information. Then next Wednesday and Thursday I will hit the unit for 12 hour shifts! Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've worked a 36+ hour week!

I stopped by the unit this afternoon and learned that my preceptor primarily works Monday through Wednesday. So it seems that I will be working few, if any, weekends during orientation. I'll take it! Working 12 hour shifts is definitely going to take some getting use to! I'll wake around 5am, leave house at 6am, work 7am-7pm, then have two hours to drive home, eat dinner, & chill out  before heading for bed at 9pm so that I can get eight hours of sleep. Whew. I'm not sure it's even realistic to think that I could squeeze in a quick trip to the gym after work...I'm thinking that it might wire me up if I work out and then shower right before going to bed. Oh well...something to try a few times to see.

Last week I ordered up a bunch of scrubs on-line and they are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow! Can't wait! I bought a variety of top/bottom styles and I'm hoping that I'll like the majority. I decided to go with solids and skip printed tops all together and the local shops did not offer options that I liked. I'm not all that inspired by the scrub top prints that are out there these days,and it's also recommended that I wear monochromatic tops/bottoms to make me appear taller and leaner [prints/color blocks make your look short and wide(r)]. We'll see.

Well, I am exhausted and about to fall asleep. Guess I need to take a short nap to revive for another couple hours.