Currently I am in orientation for labor and delivery, either my 3rd or 4th week, I have lost count. Anyway, after my 2nd week I was having severe doubts about labor because I worked 3 night shifts, and had a migraine every night, and felt like crap. So I didn't know if it was the night shift that caused it, or the work I was doing. But now, the last 5 shifts I worked were day shifts, and I had great experiences and felt fine. So not sure what that was all about. But I am still unsure if labor is going to be my thing. I feel I am catching on to many things, but at the same time I feel like I rely on my preceptor too much at times. Granted, I have many more weeks of orientation to go, and haven't even touched on the 'sick' pregnant women (mag sulfate/diabetics etc) or the C-Sections, and evals and what not, but I just don't know that this area is my cup of tea.
In addition, I am not super happy about my schedule after orientation is done. It seems as though I have little control over it compared to what I was used to at St. Joe's (due in part to my good friend Cora). They have given me a 'footprint' schedule of what I should usually be scheduled, but that isn't always the case apparently. So, I assumed that being hired for a 12 hour position, I would always work 12 hour shifts, but they are trying to give me a week of 3 - 8 hour PM shifts, which is very inconvenient for daycare and our family (they say they have to staff to accomodate the other 8/12 hour employees; so then perhaps they should hire more 8 hour people to match their needs). Also, being hired as a 12 hour 0.6 FTE, I assumed I would be scheduled 2 shifts a week, but they are trying to give me 1 shift one week and 3 the next. Again, not a huge deal, but they screw with your schedule a lot it sounds like. Oh, and there is potential to have to work at the affiliated hospital if their census requires more staff, which not many people seem to be a fan of, which means I am sure I won't be a fan of it either.
That being said...
Sunday night I decided to go out and look at the hospital websites in the area with NICU's to see if there were any postings. And by golly, Children's Hospital - Fox Valley (located in ThedaClark, which is in Neenah) had a 0.6 FTE position available in their NICU. So I went ahead and applied. The only down fall of this position right off the bat is it is every other weekend, and I am used to every third weekend. The posting said that it may take 2-3 weeks to hear anything after applying, and I got a phone call yesterday already. But I was working yesterday and wasn't able to get back to them until today, had a mini HR interview over the phone and now have an interview next Wednesday with the Supervisor of the unit. So we will see what happens, I have mixed feelings on leaving AMC so quickly, and am concerned if I do get a job offer and take it, that I might not love it there either. I like the people I work with now, but that isn't always enough to make you like your job. So we will see.
Oh, and I have only been working at AMC since the end of March, and I already got a raise. So maybe it isn't so bad?
So that is my current situation. Sorry some of this post might not make sense to my non-nursing friends and family, but I think it is easy enough to get the idea of what it going through my head.
3 comments:
Hmmm...tough choices. It sounds like your schedule would really be hard to work around where you are now. Days, pms, nights, 12 & 8 hour shifts, and working 3 one week and 1 the next? Sounds like a lot of BS to me. Liking the people is important, but you'll probably do fine at the NICU too. Just don't be too crabby to quickly! :-)
I'd personally go for the NICU. Who cares if it is QO weekend? Usually if we weren't working the weekend, we were working Friday noc anyways. Just face it...you're a (working) mom, you're never going to have a life! Besides, more weekend hours means less time that R has to be at daycare, thus saving you $.
Have you had a prolapsed cord yet, and had to assume "the" position? I can't wait to hear about that!
Oh, and I think that Ruth J's daughter works at that NICU.
Hey Megan- from someone who has had a few jobs:) I would suggest waiting this one out and maybe just speaking to someone and seeing if your schedule couldn't get a little more fine tuned. I think the NICU is your comfort zone so naturally that sounds nice but having some more experience is nice too. I tend not to give new situations enough time and end up regretting it. Just think both jobs through and I'm sure you'll make the right decsion. Take Care.
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