Fair warning: these will pretty much all be work-related because I have been at work every day except one in the last week! I have barely existed outside of Hospital World.
This week, I am thankful:
that I still felt happy about my job after so many days
Me after arriving home last night:
I was even happier when it was time to go to bed. 😉
But I do love this work and I also love my co-workers, so it’s a good kind of tired.
that I have four days off of work now
WHEW. My marathon of shifts is over.
My next thing is a four-hour new grad class on Monday, followed by three night shifts.
(BOOOOO.)
But we will try not to focus on the night shift issue because this is not Complaining Thursday. 😉
Refocus: four days off! Woohoo!
that I feel more and more comfortable every day at work
I can feel my competence growing each shift, and I am getting better at knowing what to do without my preceptor having to tell me or remind me.
(A preceptor is an experienced nurse who is with us for our first eight weeks. A funny thing: my preceptor is Lisey’s age. Ha. But she IS way more experienced at nursing than I am, and I am grateful to have her.)
that my writing skills are coming in handy
My many years of writing here are helping me out in this new stage of life! Obviously, I am using my writing skills for my BSN classes (lots of discussion posts and papers involved there).
But they’re also coming in handy at work because I have to write notes in my charts and I have to message back and forth with providers. I know this is sometimes hard for new grads, but it’s been one of the easiest parts of the job for me!
that I got to encourage another midlife nursing student
One of the techs on my floor is a nursing student at the same school I went to, and like me, she’s a midlife student. She’s exactly where I was a year ago, working as a tech and starting third semester.
So, she was encouraged to see where I am now: RN degree/license in hand, working as a nurse. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel of all this schooling! And we midlife students can indeed be successful at trying something very new. 🙂
that my preceptor is a good fit for me
She walks fast, likes to keep things tidy, has a Snoopy badge holder (VERY IMPORTANT, OK), and gives me correction/feedback in a way that works well with my personality.
(At baseline, I am always anxious to do things the right way and take good care of my patients, so I absolutely do not need someone to be harsh with me for me to learn. No “tough love” is necessary; I will hop-to with gentle reminders and feedback.)
Also, we have fun together!
Overall, a 10/10 matchup.
that my study buddies and I have plans today
study buddies!
We are all off of work simultaneously, so we are taking a field trip to a brick and mortar Figs store today. It’s a couple of hours away, so we will make a day of it, and luckily Brittany offered to drive. That way my tired self can just be a passenger. 😉
Stacey in UK
Friday 26th of September 2025
I’ve been away with work for three days & nights this week which affects my thankfuls and means I’m a day late in adding them
- spending quality time with work colleagues. Our small team are all remote workers so we don’t spend a lot of time with each other face to face. I haven’t spent much time with either of the colleagues I was with this week and it was lovely to be able to get to know them both a lot better
- for the option of being able to travel for work. Visiting sites that I would not normally see is enlightening. Every site is different and the one this week has fabulous grounds.
- a therapy dog. The trainer this week brought his therapy dog, Hope, with him. She is so placid and friendly. She made sure to visit everyone at least once in each session and I was very happy to give her lots of fuss and attention.
- sleeping in my own bed! It is always nice to get back to my own bed qnd sleeping in a hotel room is not very restful for me.
- family and friends. Always thankful for their love and support.
Central Calif. Artist Jana
Thursday 25th of September 2025
At 4:55 p.m., I am so very thankful to have internet/phone/email restored that I cannot think of a single other thing.
Jan
Thursday 25th of September 2025
So nice to see you happy with your new career, your work "family" and your life in general. And you are getting PAID. You are in a much better place in your life than you have been before and it's a joy to see.
I'm thankful for surviving my first ever bout of Covid. It was not pleasant, and I felt even worse because my husband got it from me and he was sicker than I was. He is really grumpy when he's sick and I had to fight him to believe that tea with gelatin powder and honey would help his razor blade throat. It did help a lot, but not without some arguing first about whether he was going to drink it or not. He got Paxlovid and is doing much better but we are both contending with mild hearing issues from the virus (fluid in the Eustachian tubes) so we are having to yell at each other like old people in a cartoon--even when he has his hearing aids in. I still have a lingering cough and tire easily, but I feel at least 90% better.
I'm thankful that we only had one hot day this week (hottest day of the year!) and it was only in the mid-90's. We've had a blissfully cool summer, which is great because we do not have AC. Last year we had a couple of nasty "bomb cyclone" heat waves where it got to 115 F for a few days. That was miserable.
I was chatting with someone who adopted a hellion of a dog, and our dog was like that too. It took months for him to settle down with us and just this year (five YEARS later) I'm realizing that he has turned out to be a pretty good dog after all we went through with him. I'm very grateful we didn't give up on him, although there were many times I wanted to. I think he would not have survived long in a shelter.
Joyce from Arkansas
Thursday 25th of September 2025
Good for you, bring done with your long days. Enjoy your time off! I, too, feel thankful that I'm alive and can share my experience of going through full blown breast cancer treatment (a lumpectomy, chemo, radiation) with people who come to a cancer support meeting I attend monthly. It helps them to hear from others who've gone thru cancer treatment and, as one of our funny 90 yr old group members says, "are still sitting upright and taking nourishment."
-- I'm thankful we got some rain -- a lot of it, actually! My flowers do so much better with rain and they are just beautiful now! -- I'm thankful I listened to my hubby who told me a technique he saw and uses to lesson back pain. I've NEVER had back pain and exercise 2-3 times a week. But recently, I have had a tight back and hamstrings that were just aching. He told me to lay on my side, put a pillow between my knees and pull my knees up to my chest as far as I could. I stayed that way for several minutes. It worked! Weeks of back pain and hamstring aches disappeared and I'm walking again, comfortably. I don't know how it worked, but it did. I guess I was just out of whack! I was beginning to think I had sciatica pain or arthritis. And maybe I do, but this technique was successful for me. Have a great weekend!
Kristina
Thursday 25th of September 2025
Good for you, Kirsten! Well begun is half done?! Thanks: For pretty good health. For my new piano. For cooler weather, by at least a few degrees. For a full fridge. For progress on Mount Laundry.