More than halfway through the month......

Wow, we are more than halfway through the month of April! Things are going okay.

1) Work...........is still stressful as usual, unfortunately. I don't know if things have gotten better since the last time I wrote. All I know is that it's stressful, and it does not bring out the best in me. Then why did I go into it, you ask? Well, we nurses all have to start somewhere. Some people know what field they want to go into from the beginning, and some people have to move to different areas before they find their niche.

Before I started nursing school, I had narrowed it down to where I thought I would like to work. I wanted to work in something related to maternal health, whether it be Labor & Delivery, Mother-Baby (postpartum floor), or NICU. Those interests remained all throughout nursing and all the way until now. I applied to NUMEROUS nursing positions in OB areas, but of course, all of them (except for the L&D internship) required more experience. Thus I started on a med-surg floor.

I am eligible to transfer now, since I have passed the 6-month mark (YES!!!). Yet....I feel bad just leaving so soon. I have to show that I am grateful for the job (which I am), and I feel like I have to "do my time" - even though there is no written rule to do anything of the sort. *sigh*

I give myself another 4 months. That will make it 1 full year that I have been working on my current floor. We'll see if I last.

2) Grad School Planning: I am really excited to say that things are moving along fairly well in this department. I am only waiting on my 2 references to give their forms back to me. I have filled out most of my application, roughly written the essays, and have done all the other stuff. I gave my references till the end of April to return the forms to me. So far only 1 out of 3 people have returned their forms to me. I am getting antsy to see if they have remembered.....but I must be patient and not say anything first. Unless the end of April comes and I haven't gotten anything back. Only then will I politely ask. Because I know they are doing a huge favor for me.

3) Doula course: it's coming along fine. I'm on the 3rd - and last - manual! It's tedious, and I do have quite a while to finish, but I just want to be done with it so I can read a ton of books I have been longing to read!!