Working: The good and the bad

Having been a Stay at home mom/ student for the past 13 years this going back to work thing is a huge transition.  I probably didn't really appreciate how huge until I was really into it.  I have about half a dozen blog posts rolling around in my head about this but since I seem to only post about once a week, I figure I'll just go with list form.

The GOOD:

1. We'll start with the obvious: THE PAYCHECK!!!!!!  WOW!  Payday rocks. I get paid to do this.  Money goes in my bank account in significant amounts. Here's a picture of my weird little motel style master bathroom.  A warning: your time on this Earth is seriously limited. And children: it looks like you will be able to go to college after all without paying off debt until you are 50.  Yes, the money is a good thing.
2. The Title: OK, I like being able to say, I'm a nurse. I just like it. I'm a nurse, I'm a nurse, I'm a nurse.
3. The patients: There are nights when I make a real difference to people, especially women. I get to see moms, especially first time moms make that transition from woman to mother.  When I take care of the same mom from right after delivery to right before they go home over several nights you can see her change her focus from herself to her baby by the time they are ready to leave. And often times, I get to facilitate that.Very cool. 
4. Increased Efficiency: I definitely have to do more planning and make the most of my time off to get things done. There's enough time but it has forced me to be  more thoughtful about how I spend my time. I make A LOT of to do lists.
5. Potential for new friends and relationships: Haven't quite got there yet but anytime you are in a new environment with new people there's potential for friends.
6. More appreciation for family time: I don't believe in the myth of quality time, as in you can work yourself to the bone and just spend really awesome time with your kids to make up for it.  However when time is of unlimited quantity it is easy to take it for granted and to ease into routines that require minimal effort (Speaking for myself). Now that my time is more limited, I think I appreciate making memories a little more and being a little more thoughtful about my time with my family.

The BAD:

1. This is stressful:  Kind of goes with number 4 above. Time is limited and things have to get done. Meal planning is really stressful especially if I don't want my family eating wings every night that I work.
2. Work can be stressful: I'm still learning and have a lot to go!  And there are nights when things go great and I click along and stay on top of things and there are nights when I get behind and just can't keep up.  I don't like not being good at something!  Nurses are each other's harshest critics.  Everyone has been very nice but I know how they talk about people they don't like and I wonder what they say about me privately.  My rational side says I'm doing just fine but you just never know!
3. Vacation time: I have to earn it now.  What's up with that???????  By this summer I will have about 3 days of vacation earned. That stinks!
4. Stuff I don't know that I don't know to ask: This week I was sick, really sick, on Monday. By Tuesday I felt better but just didn't see how I would make a 12 hour over night shift so I called off sick and used some of that precious vacation time. Then The next night there weren't enough patients for all the scheduled nurses so work called me and told me not to come in (They don't have to pay me if they do that) because it was my turn to get "flexed off". What I learned was that if I had asked the first night to be flexed off they probably would have done it, saving my vacation time and preventing me from being flexed the next night. So this week I worked one night.  That's a bummer when it comes to #1 on the good list. 
So that's what I got for now.  I'll keep you posted....