recap

thought I would post a quick recap of my first week of work. I've forgotten how much working kicks my butt. I love sleep. and I don't get near enough sleep when I'm working. it'll take a while to get used to again.

so let me tell you a bit of what I'm doing. I just started an operating room nurse training program. it's for people who are already nurses that want to be OR nurses. it's a 9 month program and it includes didactic and clinical practice. there are 5 of us in the program - myself and two other experienced nurses and two newly graduated nurses. but we're all new to the OR. I have yet to meet one of the experienced nurses (she is actually transferring from another unit within the hospital and she was on vacation). one of the new grad nurses is one of those know-it-all types. you know the kind. she has a very strong personality. but she seems nice enough. the other two are great. very friendly and our personalities all mesh together well. it will be fun working with them.

so day 1-4 of week 1 was mostly just new hire orientation. I sat in a conference room for 8 hours each day going over policies and procedures for the hospital. pretty boring stuff. but, I got paid for it. I like getting paid for sitting on my butt doing nothing. day 5 we spent in class and in the OR. the first half of day 5 we did didactic modules - intro to perioperative nursing (basically an intro to the roles of surgical nurses), aseptic technique (we don't want to be contaminating anyone while they are open on the operating table) and the surgical environment (basically what the operating unit looks like, what's in the operating room, etc.). we had to take exams to show that we understand what we learned.

the second half of day 5 we spent in an empty operating room learning how to set up a sterile field and pull supplies for a mock case. holy overwhelming. there is a LOT of shit to remember. a LOT. my mind was reeling while my manager was showing us how to set up. I'm one of those that has to do things several times before I feel comfortable with it. this is going to take a lot of practice. I have no doubt that I will learn, though.

I left work very overwhelmed. it will definitely be a lot of work. and it will be challenging. but I can just tell that once I get things down to where I'm comfortable, working here will be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the experience.

so, until I get more settled in with my routine, please forgive me for being lame with making posts. the only thing I want to do when I get home is plop my ass on the couch and veg. and I go to bed extremely early now since I'm such a baby when it comes to sleep. hopefully I'll get a little more with it soon.