Slothing

I'm not sure I can rightfully turn an animal into a verb. Regardless, that's what I am doing: slothing. I'm not sure which event to point the finger at - the Plague that kept me on the couch last weekend, Tuesday's nerves and adrenaline (with no coffee), or the lack of real obligations at the moment - but I have no energy at all. I slept well last night for the first time in a few days, but somehow I still ended up joining the kitty back in bed this afternoon on my way to start a load of laundry. I did a few productive things yesterday and this morning, but overall? Couch. Part of me feels guilty like I ought to be doing something, but, then again, there will be plenty of "something" to come.

Because I got a J-O-B.

[Insert big, giant sigh of relief. And a big, giant glass of wine.]

When Andrew and I were deciding where we wanted to live out here some of my opinion was based on the fact that I planned to work at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church. The Inova system of hospitals has locations all over the place, but Inova Fairfax is the big level I trauma center/magnet-designated hospital. I applied to a handful of positions there about 6 weeks ago, and, as many of you know, I turned down an offer I got from one of the units in that hospital about a month ago. It didn't feel right, I knew I was more interested in the other positions I had applied to, and I made the (scary) decision to turn it down without knowing if I even had interviews for the others.

[Enter the longest wait of all time with weekly calls and e-mails to HR]

Was it nice moving and settling in without worrying about starting work right away? You're darn right it was. Was the employment issue still on my mind all day every day? Ohhh yes. I sent in some applications to Georgetown University Hospital the week I moved here, thinking I would just have to deal with the long commute there and back if it meant I was getting a good job opportunity.

Last week as I was dying on the couch, a phone call interrupted my fever dreams, and I had gotten an interview for the Neuro ICU at Inova Fairfax. I was to come to the unit at 7AM to shadow a nurse for a few hours, and I would interview with the manager after that.

[Queue EXCITEMENT! Disbelief! Panic! Nausea!]

No really, I cried real tears the night before playing mock-interview with Andrew.

Aside from worrying I would blow the interview, I was worried about shadowing and not liking it! Mentally, all my eggs had been in this basket for 6 weeks, and I wasn't sure what direction I'd be taking if this didn't work out. After being in the break room before shift change, though, and listening to everyone talk about their weekend, make sarcastic comments about the new navy-blue scrub policy, and wait for the charge nurse's daily "safety cuddle," I was so reminded of everyone at Brack! Seeing coworkers that are friends with each other speaks volumes - probably the most important thing I saw that day.

I shadowed a nurse for about 3 hours and loved it. There are lots of bells and whistles and equipment I'm not familiar with, but her neuro assessment is the same one I know how to do, and I wasn't clueless about the patients' plans of care like I thought I'd be. I loved how collaborative the unit was - doctors, pharmacists, PAs, nurses, RT, and whoever all working together to come to a conclusion about the new orders. The doctor and pharmacist immediately recognized me as a new face and introduced themselves. I mean, where am I?! I really liked a lot of our docs at Brack, but the vibe here was a lot more group-oriented. I guess it helps that, as a nurse, your two patients are in fishbowls right in front of you, and it's impossible to miss the doctor coming by like I often did at Brack.

After shadowing I was interviewed by the charge nurse and two other nurses, and then I met with the manager in his office. It was by far the least awkward interview I've ever had. There is nothing I hate more than cold questioning with no sort of feedback from the interviewer, and this guy actually chimed in with his own experiences and made the interview more like a conversation. By the end of all of it I had a great impression of the unit and how it's run, and oh my GOODNESS I wanted the job. "We'll let you know either way within the next few days or so." I celebrated the good interview with a much-needed Starbucks, a bunch of phone calls, and the couch.

...And then 3 o'clock rolled around, HR called me to tell me I am being offered the job, and I have been on cloud 9 ever since! I am still waiting to hear about my start date. The Fellowship thing I have to go through (classroom component, etc etc) doesn't start til July, but the director and the manager mentioned starting me sooner since it's not like I am a brand new grad. During training I will be doing 70% day shifts and 30% night shifts, and once I am on my own it will be split 50/50. A little inconvenient? Yeah. But it's self-scheduling, and I'll just clump my night shifts into a few weeks and my day shifts into the others. Once the newness and the excitement wears off (which I assume will be the first shift I cry - we all know it will come eventually) I think my tolerance of the rotating shift will wear off as well, but for now I'm willing to deal with some inconvenience.

There you have it, friends! The (really long - sorry) job situation everyone (including myself) has been asking about for the past month or two. I've verbally accepted the offer and saw the application status online change to "offer accepted," but nothing has been signed yet. I assume nothing will happen for this all to fall through, but wouldn't that be a fun twist at the end? (no).

I actually have an interview for the MICU at Georgetown next week, but I am hesitant to cancel it until I've physically signed my offer letter. If that hasn't happened by next Thursday I wonder if I should just go to that interview?

I guess that'll be a blog post for another day.

Happy Cinco!