Today is the day. I’ve been at my current job for 2 years! I’ve never done that before. I used to do contract nursing to save myself from burn out. I’d envisioned myself doing travel nursing as I got older because I don’t like to sit still. I don’t like the same routine that drags you down day by day.
One summer I was working at a boys camp. My brother Andy, who is a nurse sent me a text asking if I’d be willing to come work at his facility that needed nurses badly. I immediately said negative. I hadn’t even thought of wound care at the time. I had zero experience. I was talking with another nurse at the camp who I’d consider the momma bear of nurses. I was laughing at the offer, explaining I didn’t do long term jobs. I was a float and liked it that way. Shortly after I shot the offer down a kid busted their head open. This may sound dark… but it was the most exciting thing I had taken care of that week 😬. After fixing the poor feller up I grabbed my phone and texted Andy back saying, I’ll only work there if there’s a wound care nurse position open. He texted back almost immediately and said there is! I laughed and said well are they okay with taking on a nurse who has zero experience? Yes. The answer was yes!
The interview didn’t go well. I made it clear I intended on getting the experience I needed, working no more than a year and then leaving. My current boss says I’m very transparent hahaha. Yeah I guess I am. On top of that, I was working at a bar on the weekends making killer money and when I uploaded my resume I accidentally sent my liquor license instead of my nursing license 🤦🏻♀️. I didn’t get the job. They didn’t like my idea of coming in brand new, collecting skills and bouncing. Eh I didn’t blame them but it was worth a shot.
Two weeks later I get a phone call asking if I could come back in for a second interview. I said sure but nothing had changed. I was still standing firm on the acquire these skills and leaving position I had presented. I went in and the lady interviewing me was different than before. We went through the exact same interrogation. Only the ending was different. They asked when I could start… who me?! I didn’t know at the time but the lady interviewing me was not the DON, it was the lady who hires the DON. The big wig. The main Kahuna. I actually didn’t know for a hot minute who she was so the first few months I was complaining about my job to the lady 🤦🏻♀️. I didn’t understand how my complaints got taken care of so quickly but now looking back, hahaha it all makes sense.
After almost a half year there I still had only acquired the very basics of wound care. I didn’t realize how much there was to learn in this specialty. I began researching everything in depth, contacting scientist, taking classes, I fell in love with what I was doing. The caterpillar became the butterfly. The one year mark hit and I remember leaving work and thinking… I think I coming back tomorrow.
Over this past year the work has extended out passed my own little bubble. I get text and phone calls from facilities I don’t even work for asking my opinion on wounds. I answer those 2am messages without a worry of being clocked in. I think you’ve found the right job for you when you think to yourself, I’d do this for free. If I didn’t need money to survive, I’d do this job for free! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the best wound care nurse out there, I don’t know everything and I’m still learning something new everyday, every once in a while a patient will come in and I’ll think “well what the heck is that!” and I’ll have to contact someone above me, but that’s not often and I am at that point where I can say I’m a good wound care nurse. One day I’ll be the best. So here’s to 2 years and counting! Now where’s my raise?
