Nurses

what kind of a person would be a nurse? well, it turns out, it takes all kinds. one thing i have noticed about working in such a female-dominated profession is the number of women who work because they are the only support for their families or the best support. it's actually what's making it very VERY hard right now for new nurses like me to even get jobs. i graduated from little dinky-but-soooper-expensive accelerated private program, and feel uber lucky to have a job, while i've heard that half of the graduating class of Local Well-Respected University doesn't even have jobs right now.

so, with the economy tanking, many women who had been working part time or per diem went back to work as their husbands lost their jobs. also, hospitals quit hiring as many agency nurses or travel nurses, so those nurses got regular jobs.

the thing about working with some of these nurses is that they don't really want to be working. there is a different level of ......dislike? discomfort? associated with them that is palpable. one of my co-workers has four little girls, but she's always working extras and worried about extras and how can i get extras. not only that, but she wears this look of disgust on her face that is just ugly to watch. it's like she's just hanging on, waiting for..........something. it's got to be hard, having these little girls and this family you want to be with but can't, because you have to kill yourself to try and work 3 or 4 or 5 12 hour shifts during the week.

i've found that my wife needs a break every once in a while. she needs something to look forward to, something to anticipate. we took a recent trip to costa rica, and i'm waiting for the glow of that trip to wear off and her gentle requests for another trip to begin. she needs some light at the end of the tunnel, some kind of joy to latch onto when things get rough during a shift.

when you have to give lactulose or kayexalate, and your patient has pooped the bed for the 6th time that day................yeah, let's just say it's absolutely necessary to have a happy place to run to.

the sad thing about these women is that they probably don't have anything to look forward to, no happy place to run to, no end of the road to hang on for. if you are a nurse and your husband is a student, there is light. but if your 40-50 year old husband doesn't have a job, or has lost his job......yikes.

and yeah, newsflash, lots of people don't like their jobs, i know. but it's a weird thing for me to be so excited about learning to be a great icu nurse and starting this career...........and be working in the same place as someone who is doing the same job but hates the job and wishes they could get out.

my wife is due to have our second kid soon, and after that she will no longer work full time. i hope that is some pretty good light at the end of the work day tunnel for her.