RN Orientation: Week Two

My First Twelve

It's going to take a while getting used to twelves! By the end of my first twelve hour shift all I could think about was my feet. Now that I'm home and my feet are up, I'm now thinking about my knees. Maybe when I go to bed it will be my ankles. Ha!  I've not done anything about shoes. I wore my Danskos today, but since there always two of us together (my preceptor and me), she's often the one sitting and I'm left standing... so maybe I'll wear tennis shoes on Friday and see what the difference is.

This morning I was set to wake up at 0430/0445  (to leave the house at 0600), however at around 0300 I woke up and sneezed. It wasn't until I got up at 0430 that I realized my nose was running and I was probably dealing with a head cold!  It's been two years since I've gotten sick...and my first day on the unit and I start coming down with a cold! Sigh. So I'm going to treat tomorrow as if it was a sick day (even though I'm not scheduled). I'm going to get up at 0430, get a shower and then I think I'll go back to bed as if I'd called in sick. So much for getting to the gym tomorrow.

My main preceptor typically works Monday through Wednesday, so in order for me to get my hours this week, they put me with another nurse for my first day (and again this Friday). I was basically thrown into the mix of everything. Doing vitals, meds, discharges, admits, charting, calling dietary, etc... The best part was being told I can sign or co-sign something because I'm RN!! Such a strange, but fun, new experience.

The most awesome part of it all... I leave my work at work. No homework, no studying, etc... Sure I will have things I will want to review and look up at home, but I'm thinking that for now the majority of my learning is going to take place on the job. Which is how I best learn anyhow.

Overall a great first day on the unit.