Well, dear blog readers, I am on the hunt should the move to OR happen. I'm torn: I would REALLY like to stick with NICU babies, but everything around us in the community hospitals is pretty much encompassed in L&D. They have transition nurseries, but beyond that, any sick kids get shipped to Eugene or Portland. Eugene is about 45 minutes away in good traffic. (Figure an hour to park and get door-to-door and to account for traffic accidents, etc.) When the baby is born, I figure I don't really want to spend 2 hours on the road, even if I'm able to work part-time a couple of days a week.
But I really can't bring myself to be excited about L&D again. I guess learning in a chaotic birth center was actually a pretty good experience, but we (almost) always had a second nurse (or more) in the room who was the "nursery nurse." Their job was to assess and transition the baby. In fact, I've never worked in a birth center where the labor nurse did both. By the time you count the delivery tools, get the mom cleaned up, finish charting (because you're supposed to support the mom and chart every 5 minutes....yeah right!), get the epidural out, get the mom to the bathroom with dead-sensation legs, etc., there goes two hours, and you're getting called for your next patient. I can't imagine having to do that AND bathe/assess a baby every 15 minutes. Oh well. My connection at the local hospital who works on the unit says it's rarely chaotic, so it might not be as bad as I think it might be. And it couldn't be worse than IL, where a psychotic (literally) patient tried punching me out while proceeding to nearly bleed to death because she wouldn't let me treat her, and I was in the PACU by myself with her until the doc came in. Oi. There could be worse things.
Also, Oregon is not unionized, which means I would probably be paired with four babies instead of two. If they're good eaters and have no problems, that's fine. If they're anything like the babes in our NICU, they take 45-60 minutes to assess, diaper, and feed. I might be running ragged if that's the case.
All of that to say, unless I worked pretty much with a bunch of midwives who are really laid-back, I just can't get excited about L&D. Maybe I can talk them into letting me work the babies in the transition nursery? That would be cool. Ideally, I would work in a clinic, but they pay way less than hospitals do, plus I wouldn't get shift differentials. That stuff really adds up.
What do I do? Do I apply for the position in L&D and also for the NICU in Eugene?
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The life and times of a nurse, her husband, their tiny children, and their every-day adventures.
A Life Defined
A neonatal ICU-loving RN; a messy "home chef" in the making; a wanna-be gardener; a reader of good historical fiction; a lover of good gourmet food; someone whose spouse makes her laugh every day; a novice quilter; a woman who regularly gets her oil changed; a procrastinator of getting the mail; an envier of gingerbread-house-makers; a rusty pianist; an insomniac who cooks and does laundry when she can't sleep; an officianado of sleeping late ("jet lag" is routine when you work nights); a longing traveller who hopes to be able to see more of the world someday; a person who wishes she could draw or paint and will maybe take lessons someday; a singer/dancer when the blinds are drawn and no one is home while doing household chores; but mostly just a normal human being in need of God's grace everyday.
2 comments:
You are freaking me out. I had to read your blog 3 times before I figured out you were talking about Oregon, and not the O.R. - Hopefully there will be just the right fit in the hospital for you there. I meant to ask, did you pick Oregon- family there? or is that where he had his interview?
That's where he has his interview. It's a lot closer to my family than we've ever lived, though, so they're thrilled because they can do weekend trips if we move there.
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