Sunday, June 12, 2011

Pull the Plug Already

I'm to the point where I'm sick of school and burnt out, at least for this quarter.

I've been in universities that use the semester system and ones that use the quarter system and really, I don't think it makes a big difference. Because, like a slow death the closer you get to the end of the semester or quarter you just want it to end. Pull the effing plug already.Talking to another student who was also a travel nurse in her past and I compared school to a travel assignment. When you travel nurse you sign 13 week contracts with the hospital and it is exciting, at least in the beginning.

The first couple of weeks you are in a new city, learning a new floor, a new system and meeting new people.

Then next few weeks you still ask many questions and start falling into a routine. You get to know your co-workers and who to trust and who to avoid. The same with the new city your living in, you learn where to go and what to avoid.

Then for the next four or five weeks, you can coast a little, being sure to cover your ass and not be blamed for anything. You know what doctors to call when there's a problem and who to bother to get a patient discharged, that should have been gone days before. In town, you have learned the good places to eat and the parks and tourist areas to explore.

Then that last week or two you relax and stop giving a shit. Not about the patients, but the politics of the floor and hospital where you are working. It really is sad that it only takes a few weeks to get involved in the politics; the regular staff is always looking for a new person to listen to their complaints, and take their side.

Well, I am into the last week of school and the I don’t give a shit phase. I really need a break.

8 comments:

Absentbabinski said...

I totally hear this and to be honest it is the one thing I really don't miss in nursing.

I have a friend who has fallen foul of ward politics in her last placement of her nursing degree. Smiled at the wrong person and now she's getting hate from other corners.

Urgh. Like the job isn't tiring enough without politicking.

MamaDoodle said...

I'm a school nurse finishing my last few days before leaving my offices for good. I've definitely got that whole "summeritis" thing going. Trying to make myself remember that I'm still there and not yet on to the next thing feels impossible. But I'm pretty sure that, somehow, it will all happen. And somehow you'll get through the last little bits of the quarter!

NPO said...

AbsentBabinski, it's sad because the politics that I normally experience at work are happening at school.

MamaDoodle, one more week cooped up and writing papers, it is hard when the weather is so nice and in the 80's,

rnraquel said...

Politics suck. And why is it that just the nice nurses always seem to leave? Or is that just where I work?
Good luck on this last week :)

Cartoon Characters said...

I've been given an opportunity to take a university program for a specialty accreditation. It has to be done over 2-5 years...will take some time out of my free time.

I will have to think hard about it because although I do keep current with nursing, I am not sure I want to delve into excessive studying, assignments and exams to write...I would rather just audit the course and do it for interest sake....without the pressure of actual deadlines to meet.

I guess I have too many other interests that I don't want to miss out on... :( and if I make nursing my total life...I will end up in retirement with too much of a void....

Great post once again! I needed to hear some of the things you said. Good timing.

TM said...

Totally understand your feeling, without fail happens every semester. Hang in there!

NPO said...

Rnraquel, the nice ones do leave, because their smart enough not to deal with the stress of the politics

CC, go to school. In the end it will be worth it.

Tine, thanks I will.

Candi said...

Ha, the "I don't give a shit phase" lasted the whole last semester for me!! It really was by grace alone that I even got through that semester, much less getting by with decent grades!!!! So I feel ya on this one.