The Times Are A Changin'
I have an announcement to make. After doing the same job since 1993, I quit, no really, I did. I waived the white flag and got a new job. As of July 20, 2015, I will be the Community Liaison for St Peter's Hospital's Cancer Care Center.
I have been a Chemotherapy Infusion Nurse forever and up to a few years ago, I loved every minute of my job, but then as life changes, so did I. The irritations of management and, I am sad to admit, the patients, started to eat into my empathy. I felt sucked dry at the end of the day and needed everyone of my days off. The very same patients that I found courageous and remarkable, were kinda on my last nerve. I no longer wanted to hear that they hated needles, didn't want to get on the scale, and checked info on the web and felt it was more reliable than me. But more than anything else, I don't have ONE MORE DEATH TALK left in me. It was time. Twenty three years working giving chemotherapy is enough, I paid my dues. God bless those nurses who can do this forever, they are truly remarkable people. A patient asked me years ago, how much of myself did I have to give to amend for the cancer death of my Dad? I am still not sure that's why I picked Oncology or how I lasted so long, but Daddy would have been proud of me no matter what my job was. But the answer might be 23 years.
So I put on Facebook one day, if anyone knew of a job vacancy to please let me know. My old boss, Barb Knapp (a rock star to work for), contacted me and after the world's longest two months, I got hired. And as soon as I put the phone done after the job offer, I knocked my head on my desk and thought "WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I DONE?" So instead of going to lunch, I went for a walk and for the first time in years, I took a 45 minute break. When I came back to the office, I called them and accepted the job offer. The next day I hiked Mt Marcy and for 16 miles, I thought of nothing else, but by the time I finished, I was at peace.
A leap of faith, a change..................so scary, but in my heart, it was time and the right thing to do.
I have been a Chemotherapy Infusion Nurse forever and up to a few years ago, I loved every minute of my job, but then as life changes, so did I. The irritations of management and, I am sad to admit, the patients, started to eat into my empathy. I felt sucked dry at the end of the day and needed everyone of my days off. The very same patients that I found courageous and remarkable, were kinda on my last nerve. I no longer wanted to hear that they hated needles, didn't want to get on the scale, and checked info on the web and felt it was more reliable than me. But more than anything else, I don't have ONE MORE DEATH TALK left in me. It was time. Twenty three years working giving chemotherapy is enough, I paid my dues. God bless those nurses who can do this forever, they are truly remarkable people. A patient asked me years ago, how much of myself did I have to give to amend for the cancer death of my Dad? I am still not sure that's why I picked Oncology or how I lasted so long, but Daddy would have been proud of me no matter what my job was. But the answer might be 23 years.
So I put on Facebook one day, if anyone knew of a job vacancy to please let me know. My old boss, Barb Knapp (a rock star to work for), contacted me and after the world's longest two months, I got hired. And as soon as I put the phone done after the job offer, I knocked my head on my desk and thought "WHAT THE FUCK HAVE I DONE?" So instead of going to lunch, I went for a walk and for the first time in years, I took a 45 minute break. When I came back to the office, I called them and accepted the job offer. The next day I hiked Mt Marcy and for 16 miles, I thought of nothing else, but by the time I finished, I was at peace.
A leap of faith, a change..................so scary, but in my heart, it was time and the right thing to do.
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