Riding the Elevator to the Fifth Floor

A new job is like a new beginning. Except with the old me. So, not much has actually changed except that I'm the new blood- once again at the bottom of the totem pole longing to work my way up. To be an accomplished nurse. To have fresh RNs look at me one day and think, "Wow, I hope I'm as good of a nurse as she is one day."

Also, different? I don't cry before I have to go to work anymore. Which is really a fantastic change. Pretty sure I could get used to that. Working in the OB is so completely different that the ICU (and here, all my nursing friends think 'duh.') But really, I am amazed by the change in the atmosphere. We have toddlers running through our hallways chattering about the "new bebies" and how cute they are. We have sixteen year olds, blissfully unaware of how their lives are going to change when they take this tiny baby home. And we have thirty-five year olds who have 32,000 questions, because they have a slightly better idea what is going on.

I am still in the honeymoon phase of work in the OB. But so far, it is looking like I made the right decision. My back isn't killing me when I get home from a 12 hour shift. I am not crying over the death of my patient or wondering if I would have saved a life if I had pushed the doctor just a little harder. No, it's not all fun and games in OB. Sometimes, the tragedy here is far worse than in the ICU. But it's rare. More common? The celebration of life. A nervous set of parents scared to death about this little life that is now their responsibility. The flutter in your heart when a six pound person quiets as your lift them from their crib. Charting with one hand while you hold a tiny, sleeping baby in the other.

I do not know the future. I have no idea where I am supposed to go in this life. I'm sure I would be scared to death if I saw the plans God has laid before me. But while He holds me here, I will be content. I will choose to learn and grow. And I will keep my life as a sacrifice before Him.