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Jun 24, 2009

Waiting…Waiting…

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I’m finding myself currently stuck in a registered nurse limbo right now. I’ve graduated from nursing school, my clinicals are complete, and yet I still can’t add those two little initials – RN – to the end of my name yet.

After finishing school, nurses are required to pass an exam before they can officially have their license to practice nursing. Makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, I’d prefer the nurses caring for me were tested independent of their school to make sure they really know what they’re doing.

Right now, somewhere in a stack of papers in the Ohio Board of Nursing office is my application for licensure. I’m not sure where it is in that stack, but I’m hoping it’s somewhere near the top of the stack, waiting to be entered into a computer. Considering I dropped it off in person in early May, I’m really hoping it’s near the top.

As soon as that application is processed, green lights will flash and I’ll be eligible to register for my license exam. I’ve already paid for the exam and entered all of my personal information. The password for the test location selection screen is all I need. Don’t ask how many times I’ve been tempted to enter guesses at the password, hoping that youcantestnow or sexynurse1 or even password might be my key to gaining access.

I’ll admit patience is not a virtue of mine. Each day I visit the database, input my name, and am greeted with “No results found for specified input.” And then I growl, clicking away with a mental note to check again tomorrow.

I need a job. I want a job. I want to start putting the knowledge gained from three (long) years of school to use. But first I need that approval to take the exam. Oh, and I have to pass the exam, too, although strangely I’m not worried about that.

I’m sure the Board of Nursing is busy. There are also several new pop-up nursing schools all over Ohio, churning out new nurses at record numbers. I’m only one of many, many names in that pile of applications. Patience…sigh.

Anyone know how to be patient? And can you tell me quickly?

Filed Under: daily life, the J-O-B ·


May 20, 2009

Collecting Good Thoughts Here

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The end of nursing school is now just weeks away, and the focus has shifted from exams and clinicals to job hunting. Unlike many parts of the country, there is no nursing shortage in Columbus. Plenty of nurses, fewer jobs as hospitals cut back, and a slew of new nurses coming out of the 8+ nursing schools around the city.

I went into nursing for a single reason: to work with new moms and babies. I’ve happily (and not-so-happily at times) endured my turn through all other areas of nursing, understanding that we need to have a basic knowledge of how different hospital areas function and getting a wide variety of clinical experiences.

But my mind has been set on working with moms and babies from the beginning. It’s why I started on this journey. It’s my calling, I guess you could say. Sure, some of my class aren’t picky about where they’ll work, but I’m nearly 33 – I know where I want to work, and I don’t want to waste time getting there.

I’ve applied for probably 10 jobs so far, all in labor & delivery units or NICUs. The biggest challenge is that I’m up against so many other applicants, several with experience. No one seems to want a nurse fresh out of school.

However, last Friday I had to complete the last of my clinical hours, choosing to shadow at a birth center in my hometown. My mother has worked at that hospital for over 30 years, and I thought it would be nice to see how a smaller hospital works. I had also noticed that they had job openings in the birth center, and I applied for a job as well.

It was a wonderful experience, and I really enjoyed how nice everyone was and how well the team worked together. The nurse manager answered all of my questions, and at the end of the day, she interviewed me for the open job. I think the interview went really well, even though it’s been four years since my last interview and I’m a little rusty.

She told me that she hopes to make a decision on the job by the end of this week. You can imagine that I’m crossing fingers, toes and eyes hoping to get this job. I liked the other nurses, I liked the nurse manager, and I think I’d love working there.

I believe in the power of positive thinking (OK, maybe not as far as The Secret believes it can go), and I need help here. If all of you can spare a few good thoughts, some positive energy, prayers, or whatever it is you do for me this week, I’d appreciate the help. I’m so anxious this week – I want that job. I think I’d be an asset for them.

It’s also time to see an end to the bad streak of luck we’ve had. Aaron’s one last freelance writing job – a job he hoped to see go full-time – ended abruptly last week in a rather unprofessional way (unprofessional on their end, not his), and I’m a little tired of being thrown under the Karma bus. I want some good news for once. And you’d probably rather read some good news, right?

Let’s hope I impressed them enough that I get to be the next new OB nurse at that hospital.

Filed Under: daily life, me me me, school, the J-O-B ·


Mar 4, 2009

Grumpy

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There are some days that no matter how hard I try to shake it, I can’t get over feeling grumpy. Today? One of those days for sure.

First, it was pretty much confirmed for me today that Aaron’s contract job is gone. On Sunday he found out that the contract ended two days before. Last week he was told the contract had been extended into April. But the company changed its mind and told his manager on Friday that they were shutting down the (still not complete) project.

This abrupt ending has me frazzled as I now need to reassess our finances and go back to full-out survival mode on an unemployment check income. I’ve been building a cushion with the income we’ve had the past few months, so I’m not freaking out with worry, but throwing off my financial plans makes me…grumpy.

And then in the mail today, I received a change of terms from our credit card company. You may have heard about American Express offering some clients $300 to close their accounts, or other credit card companies handing out gift cards in exchange for paying off accounts and closing them? Well, this company (*cough*CapitalOne*cough*) decided to go a different, less friendly, route to shore up its financial situation by raising the interest rate on our always-current, long-standing account from a fixed 8.9% to 17.9%!

The letter even explains that we’ve done nothing wrong – the only reason for the change is “extraordinary changes in the economic environment.” We may not have any income, but we do still have excellent credit, so seeing our interest rate nearly double on a balance that I now cannot wait to pay off entirely makes me…grumpy.

Tonight I’m going to take my frustrations out by doing the 30 day shred again. It’s better than spooning my way to the bottom of a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.

In the meantime, if you’ve got a link to something funny, I’m really looking for a little humor right now.

Grumpy.

—————-

Edit: I’m still looking for laughs, but I did remember one thing that always cheers me up. This guy never gets old.

Filed Under: daily life, rant, the J-O-B ·


Oct 14, 2008

See A Penny, Pick It Up

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It seems that the bad luck that has been an unwanted house guest for oh-so-long is tiring of the scenery and packing its bags. I don’t know if it was lots of positive thinking, searching for four-leaf clover, picking up every penny I saw, or throwing said pennies into fountains and making wishes, but things have turned around in the past few days.

At first I thought we would never escape the dark cloud hanging over our heads. On Friday I received a call from one of my freelance gigs (the one that paid the best) and my producer told me I was no longer needed. That was a huge blow, and while I tried to not take it personally since it seems everyone is cutting back, I still took it personally. I’m trying to look at it as one task off my overfilled plate, and therefore a blessing in disguise.

On Sunday we attended the Walk Now for Autism event. Our team raised over $500. The walk had thousands of people there, and it felt nice to be surrounded by those who understood if Cordy started acting out. There was also a resource fair at the event, and I talked to several service providers who we may be contacting soon to get Cordy signed up for further therapy.

When we were approved for additional therapy funding back in May, I was handed a huge list of providers – hundreds of providers – with no additional information about them. Which approach do they use? What are their specialties? I was told I’d have to call everyone on that list and interview each one if I wanted that kind of information. The autism walk gave me the chance to see some of the providers who specialize in autism treatments in person. It was like a mini-interview session, and I found several that I plan to follow up with.

Waiting in line at the bouncy castle

At the starting line of the walk

And then yesterday morning there was a flurry of phone calls, and by 10am Aaron was employed again. He has a 2-3 month contract with a company in Cincinnati, but he will be working from home for most of the project.

The down side is that it’s only a short-term contract, but if he does well the contracting company will hopefully find another position for him. The pay is enough that we’ll go off of all assistance (woo-hoo!), and it looks like we might have enough to buy COBRA insurance for those 2-3 months. Even if the company can’t find him another project, it still buys us more time for him to look for other jobs.

I’m hoping it’ll also help drive away some of our irritation with each other. It’s not that we’re having actual problems per se, but when you’re around your spouse all the time, and you have to carefully examine each expense and interrogate the other as to why we needed another pair of pants for Mira or a ticket to a horror movie marathon, well, you quickly get tired of each other. We’re in each other’s way all day long.

So now he’ll disappear upstairs to work for a few hours a day, and then I’ll take over the office for a few hours when he’s done. And hopefully that will kill some of our irritation. If that doesn’t work, I’m lobbying to bring back Family Double Dare. Dumping green slime on your spouse could be therapeutic.

Filed Under: Aaron, Autism, big issues, daily life, the J-O-B ·


Oct 7, 2008

A Touch of Random Update

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Have you visited my reviews blog yet to read about our family’s adventure in making French Toast? There are pictures and video of Cordy participating in her first cooking experiment, already showing more talent than me. Although she did want to drown each piece of bread.

*****

The car is fixed! When I posted last week about our car troubles, a local reader e-mailed me and offered to send her husband over to look at our car. He discovered the faulty part, and $80 later the car works again. Thanks to his diagnosis it became a problem we could afford to fix instead of something that would have likely been out of our price range when adding in labor and the fee they charge to read the check engine light code.

I’d like to give a big thanks to Karen and Clay for their help. (I’m not sure if Karen wants me to link to her blog or not – but if she does I’ll add the link.) Have I ever mentioned that there are very nice people in Columbus? Well, there are. I got more proof of it this weekend, and had fun meeting a new local mom in the process.

*****

Cordy didn’t like it when daddy refused to turn the TV on for her the other day. Her response: “Daddy, those aren’t the right words.” That’s her new go-to line whenever we say something she doesn’t like.

*****

Anyone watching the debate tonight? I’m watching and joining Momocrats for their liveblog?

*****

After all of my wailing about being poor, there’s a chance Aaron will have a new job tomorrow.

Advantages: he’ll be working with a good friend (she’s the one who encouraged him to apply), the pay is good, there are opportunities for overtime, and he can work from home.

Disadvantages: It’s contract only, so at the end of three months he’s done, unless he can impress them enough to get a second contract.

But it would be enough money to afford COBRA health insurance for a couple of months, pay the bills, and buy presents for the holidays this year. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping this string of bad luck has finally reached its end.

*****

Now that school is over two weeks into the quarter, I think I’ve figured out a good school-work-life balance again. That means I can get back to reading and commenting on blogs regularly again, so hopefully I’ll catch up on your life soon.

*****

Remember back in May when I did the Cincinnati Walk Now for Autism? It was a fun (although wet) event, and thanks to a few readers, we raised $345. Well, this Sunday I’m walking in the Columbus Walk Now for Autism and once again accepting donations for the cause.

You can give a tax-deductible donation for my team through the website to help support autism research, advocacy and awareness. Even $5 or $10 helps, so if you have the ability, please consider giving. Those in Columbus are encouraged to come to the event on Sunday morning to show your support. We’ll be there in force with the kids and extended family.

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Filed Under: Autism, Cordy, kid logic, people who don't suck, random, the J-O-B ·