Work Work Work

One of the hardest things for me to accept was the change cancer made on my career. Gone are the 12-to-16 hour overnight shifts in the Emergency Department. Gone are the days of 2-to-5 minute CPR. My body can simply not handle that and be as healthy as I can be. I now need stability with regular hours. A job where I can come home and not be physically exhausted. I need a job where I can still find the time and energy to work out and meal prep. A job where my quality of life is considered and respected.

Once I realized this and the toll that cancer took on my body, I was worried about my future and work. How was I going to find a job that made even a livable wage? A job I even remotely enjoyed? How will I cope when I miss the adrenaline and action-packed ER?

Being as Type A as I am, I started to research. When I was up all night because of the steroids, I’d spend hours looking at open jobs. I reached out to former coworkers and friends, exploring different career avenues they suggested. Then I landed on school nursing.

A New Direction

I did some job shadowing. I did some subbing. Then due to a tragic and unexpected death, a full-time school nurse position opened up at a local high school. Who better to help those kids understand and process their grief than this magical nurse who has been through hell the last year?

I gathered up some plants, motivational posters, and a bit of Disney magic and headed into a new adventure. An adventure that has been different and more wonderful than anything else I could have expected.

The high school environment is much more different than I expected. Everyone is so open to being themselves and accepting of that. Individuality is encouraged and explored. Helping your neighbor and problem solving together is expected. If something doesn’t get done, it’s okay (for a valid reason). There is a camaraderie. There is so much joy and love. Even when helping the students who have the hardest home lives, it’s all about providing them the resources and understanding to be the most successful they can be. It’s truly so beautiful and different than the “treat them and street them” mentality of the ER.

I am learning a lot while cultivating a different skill set. I’m learning about autism, ADHD, type 1 diabetes, and therapeutic communication. I still use a lot of my ER skills like triage, basic wound care and straight catheterization, but this is a whole world of nursing I never learned about in school. It’s a whole different skill set and environment, and is just what I didn’t know I needed.

Making It Work

Every up does have its downs. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies. I’m on a teachers contract and make teacher’s rates. I make in a month what I made in a week as a travel nurse. Or I make in a month what I made every two weeks as a staff nurse. While I’d love to just chill all summer, I’ll find some locum or PRN work to make up for the dismal pay. In the meantime, I’m lucky enough to come from a dual income family with a beyond-supportive husband to make up the difference. All of that coupled with the better insurance, and I’m pretty close to what staff nurses make, but in a way better and supportive environment.

People always say do what makes you happy! There is no price of happiness! For me, in this season of life, they are so right. I am happy and healthy (well, as healthy as a survivor can be). I go in next week for blood work and I hope it is as good and happy as I feel.

Go be happy today, warriors.