I am one of the lucky ones who actually stayed friends with their university roommates. Miraculously, all of the “best friends forever” declarations stuck, and eight years later (give or take a day or two), I spent the day with the same girls I met in frosh week at Wallingford Hall. Our ever-changing and improving, yet still so kindred-spirited selves, and the next generation of McMaster grads spent the day welcoming Joshua, the newest member of our club, into the world.
The funny thing about our gang (the “Westside Story” kind – not the “hood” kind….none of us would last 2 minutes in the hood) is the fact that we have all ended up in some degree of the same place. Despite significantly different paths of life, we are all proud contributors to the crazy world of health care. And after taking the longest, most atypical routes imaginable, we nurses have all found ourselves living the nurse-to-George-Clooney dream (minus George – he has yet to show up in my ER – but he will).
As always seems to be the case, our experiences in healthcare drove the majority of the conversation today (between pauses to debate whether or not Joshua really could be any cuter. He couldn’t).
Kate has been an ER nurse for a year. I have been an ER nurse for about 5 minutes. Becky has been an ER nurse for minus 2 days. We’ve all got a lot to learn. This predicament provided the groundwork for my second-favourite moment of the day:
Jenn: It’s overwhelming. I feel like in the ER, you have to know everything. And, that’s a hard skill to learn.
Sara (Social Worker….but still pretty cool): How do you measure your progress toward knowing everything? How do you know when you know 50% of everything?
She was mostly being funny….but 10% serious. She’s probably working on the measurement tool right now. That’s why Sara’s great.
And, what would a second-favourite moment of the day be, without a first-favourite moment of the day???
Jenn to Becky (yep, again, I set the stage): How come you don’t wear your wedding band with your engagement ring?
Becky: Did you ever see a Disney princess with two rings on?
Showing posts with label George Clooney. Show all posts
posted by Jenn on Disney, ER, George Clooney
Comments Off
posted by Jenn on ER, George Clooney, Nursing, Starbucks
Comments Off
As it turns out, I am absolutely scared to death of being comfortable. Because I think that comfort is ridiculously sneaky and has the potential to keep you in a place you were maybe never supposed to be.
I recently made my eternal peace with grad school (potentially an inaccurate use of the term eternal – since I have in no way resolved to never pursue graduate studies again in my life, but only to stop pretending that the pathway I was following was right, simply because I was there and doing it). This decision left a fairly significant chasm in my life.
By rights, there was no physical chasm. I actually have had a job this whole time. An incredible, purposeful, important job, where I know what to do and where I am loved like a member of an extraordinary family. A job that I should have been totally content to return to.
Given the situation at hand, I obviously began my pursuit of “what next?” (please note: I completely understand how, at first glance, this type of behaviour might appear flighty, unsettled, unappreciative, nomadic, idealistic, or even pompous….but hear me out). The initial realization that there had to be a “what next” came almost immediately following my beauty school drop-out moment. Basking in all my pink-haired glory, my thoughts went back to Africa of course.
“But I am not ready Lord, we both know that. There is so much more to learn and to know.”
It was almost humorous to me considering myself in the middle of a bush somewhere, with a cupboard full of expired bottles and viles, attempting to decipher how each (or better yet how I) might be of any assistance to anyone.
"Ok, so not now. I'll get more experience….got it"
So, where do you get experience? Where do nurses have to learn to deal with the unexpected and unknown with grace, flair, and confidence? I didn’t spend my teenage years in love with George Clooney for nothing.
"Absolutely! Emerg … perfect!"
Enter: Fear. The allure of comfort.
Emergency departments are scary. I think I remember a distinct putrid smell. Most people that come to emergency departments are irritable, annoyed, and tired. From my experience with human beings thus far, this combo doesn’t make for the most pleasant of interactions. Nurses dealing with emergencies have to think on their feet. They have to have a wealth of knowledge categorically stored in their brains for instant retrieval in the critical moment. They have to have supreme confidence and common sense. I have none of these. I desperately desperately want them (thus the decision to work in a place where I will be forced to acquire them), but I don’t have them.
Thus the dilemma: which is more risky – doing something that is intimidating or being comfortable? The allure of comfort is just so strong. The desire to stick where I am with what I know. To stay where I am comfortable and loved. But, how thankful I am to have a God who convinces me that the not doing something because I am afraid is so much more dangerous. Because there is a path that I need to walk down, and apparently there are some things I need to learn before I can head out.
It seems that God and my Starbucks cup were thinking along the same lines today: “Failure's hard, but success is far more dangerous. If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever”.
And so, here I am: afraid. An ER-nurse-to-be (as of Tuesday). Unsure of what to expect. Convinced that I am going to be overwhelmed. Confident that there are going to be a million things to learn. Fairly sure that there are going to be moments that absolutely blow chunks (probably literally). And, yet here I am, wholly convinced that doing anything less would scare me to death.
I am one of the lucky ones who actually stayed friends with their university roommates. Miraculously, all of the “best friends forever” declarations stuck, and eight years later (give or take a day or two), I spent the day with the same girls I met in frosh week at Wallingford Hall. Our ever-changing and improving, yet still so kindred-spirited selves, and the next generation of McMaster grads spent the day welcoming Joshua, the newest member of our club, into the world.
The funny thing about our gang (the “Westside Story” kind – not the “hood” kind….none of us would last 2 minutes in the hood) is the fact that we have all ended up in some degree of the same place. Despite significantly different paths of life, we are all proud contributors to the crazy world of health care. And after taking the longest, most atypical routes imaginable, we nurses have all found ourselves living the nurse-to-George-Clooney dream (minus George – he has yet to show up in my ER – but he will).
As always seems to be the case, our experiences in healthcare drove the majority of the conversation today (between pauses to debate whether or not Joshua really could be any cuter. He couldn’t).
Kate has been an ER nurse for a year. I have been an ER nurse for about 5 minutes. Becky has been an ER nurse for minus 2 days. We’ve all got a lot to learn. This predicament provided the groundwork for my second-favourite moment of the day:
Jenn: It’s overwhelming. I feel like in the ER, you have to know everything. And, that’s a hard skill to learn.
Sara (Social Worker….but still pretty cool): How do you measure your progress toward knowing everything? How do you know when you know 50% of everything?
She was mostly being funny….but 10% serious. She’s probably working on the measurement tool right now. That’s why Sara’s great.
And, what would a second-favourite moment of the day be, without a first-favourite moment of the day???
Jenn to Becky (yep, again, I set the stage): How come you don’t wear your wedding band with your engagement ring?
Becky: Did you ever see a Disney princess with two rings on?
As it turns out, I am absolutely scared to death of being comfortable. Because I think that comfort is ridiculously sneaky and has the potential to keep you in a place you were maybe never supposed to be.
I recently made my eternal peace with grad school (potentially an inaccurate use of the term eternal – since I have in no way resolved to never pursue graduate studies again in my life, but only to stop pretending that the pathway I was following was right, simply because I was there and doing it). This decision left a fairly significant chasm in my life.
By rights, there was no physical chasm. I actually have had a job this whole time. An incredible, purposeful, important job, where I know what to do and where I am loved like a member of an extraordinary family. A job that I should have been totally content to return to.
Given the situation at hand, I obviously began my pursuit of “what next?” (please note: I completely understand how, at first glance, this type of behaviour might appear flighty, unsettled, unappreciative, nomadic, idealistic, or even pompous….but hear me out). The initial realization that there had to be a “what next” came almost immediately following my beauty school drop-out moment. Basking in all my pink-haired glory, my thoughts went back to Africa of course.
“But I am not ready Lord, we both know that. There is so much more to learn and to know.”
It was almost humorous to me considering myself in the middle of a bush somewhere, with a cupboard full of expired bottles and viles, attempting to decipher how each (or better yet how I) might be of any assistance to anyone.
"Ok, so not now. I'll get more experience….got it"
So, where do you get experience? Where do nurses have to learn to deal with the unexpected and unknown with grace, flair, and confidence? I didn’t spend my teenage years in love with George Clooney for nothing.
"Absolutely! Emerg … perfect!"
Enter: Fear. The allure of comfort.
Emergency departments are scary. I think I remember a distinct putrid smell. Most people that come to emergency departments are irritable, annoyed, and tired. From my experience with human beings thus far, this combo doesn’t make for the most pleasant of interactions. Nurses dealing with emergencies have to think on their feet. They have to have a wealth of knowledge categorically stored in their brains for instant retrieval in the critical moment. They have to have supreme confidence and common sense. I have none of these. I desperately desperately want them (thus the decision to work in a place where I will be forced to acquire them), but I don’t have them.
Thus the dilemma: which is more risky – doing something that is intimidating or being comfortable? The allure of comfort is just so strong. The desire to stick where I am with what I know. To stay where I am comfortable and loved. But, how thankful I am to have a God who convinces me that the not doing something because I am afraid is so much more dangerous. Because there is a path that I need to walk down, and apparently there are some things I need to learn before I can head out.
It seems that God and my Starbucks cup were thinking along the same lines today: “Failure's hard, but success is far more dangerous. If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever”.
And so, here I am: afraid. An ER-nurse-to-be (as of Tuesday). Unsure of what to expect. Convinced that I am going to be overwhelmed. Confident that there are going to be a million things to learn. Fairly sure that there are going to be moments that absolutely blow chunks (probably literally). And, yet here I am, wholly convinced that doing anything less would scare me to death.