This past week had a lot of things going on it it. All of which were AWESOME, and by awesome I actually really mean that and am not being sarcastic. First up, I got my preceptor assignment for next semester. Our preceptorship is basically a 90 hour internship. Nursing students in the past have had a say in what area or specialty they would like to go into and the faculty would try to match that student up with a nurse in that particular field. This semester however, the faculty made no qualms about letting us know that they were not taking into consideration where you would like to go and "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit". To be honest, I would really prefer to go ANYWHERE but a Med/Surg floor. Since I didn't have a choice in the matter though I decided I was fine going wherever they assigned me since in the end it is only 90 hours of my life, which equates to roughly 11 eight-hour shifts or 9 ten-hour shifts (as students we aren't allowed to do twelve hour shifts any longer). My biggest concern was that I am obviously birthing a human being halfway into the semester so I was just going to have to hope that my future preceptor would work with me on letting me recover for a week after giving birth and allow me to pump during my shift.
The first good news came when I got the email that my preceptorship was going to be at a St. Luke's facility, which is where I was really hoping to be placed! Most people get assigned to where their prior clinical experience was, which mine was at St. Alphonsus. Since my job as a research assistant is working with nurses at St. Luke's I am already in their database which explains why I was able to get assigned there. Second good news followed the next day when I found out I was assigned to a lactation consultant at Meridian St. Luke's! I was speechless! So happy I could have cried. Okay, my eyes may have started to water just a bit from pure joy! My research position has been working with lactation consultants and that is a certification I aim to get not long after becoming an RN. Also the Meridian location is where I will be delivering and ultimately where I would love to end up working. This position could not have been more perfect for me! Or more perfect for my situation of having a baby and having to pump during my shifts :) I am beyond thrilled and cannot wait for next semester!
The second spectacular news of the week also came in the form of an email when I found out that the abstract paper I submitted to the Western Institute of Nursing conference in Seattle this April was accepted for a poster presentation! I was encouraged to enter the professional portion by the professor I work for, just to see if it would be accepted. If it wasn't then I would just re-enter this January to be part of the student portion so either way I would be presenting, but my professor wanted to see if I could get into the professional portion and "play with the big girls" as she put it :) Looks like not only will I be playing with the big girls this April, but so will my baby girl (and Matt) since they will be joining me on my Seattle adventure this April!
Third, not to speak of school again, but I finally got a 4.0 this semester and don't mind if I do toot my horn a bit! Toot-ely toot toot. All previous semesters of nursing school I have had at least one measly B+ that snuck in there dashing my hopes of getting all A's. The "+" was just insulting too since that meant I was painfully close, but not close enough. The funny thing is, this semester I added an extra non-nursing related online class into the mix and it still ended up being my easiest semester to date. Let's hope next semester is just as easy peasy when a baby is added in to the mix!
Fourth, this past Thursday we went to a "Tacky, Gaudy, Ridiculous Christmas" party a.k.a an ugly sweater party with some of my nursing peeps. Ever since we all started school together two years ago we usually have at least one end-of-school blow out at the close of the semester. It's crazy to think we only have one more semester together before we will be graduating! Throughout our nursing school journey one friend has gotten married, two more have gotten engaged, one's mom has gotten really sick, I had a miscarriage followed by a pregnancy and before the next semester is through I will have a baby in my arms. There's been a lot of changes happening the past twenty four months! We've laughed a lot, cried a little, and helped each other survive the stress of nursing school! It's going to be bittersweet to graduate and know I won't be seeing these ladies on a weekly basis anymore!
