It feels like a dream...

Friday, February 17th

was my FIRST DAY on the

Neonatal ICU as a Registered Nurse

It was one of the weirdest feelings walking into work on Friday. It just feels like a dream I am going to wake up from. Reality hasn't hit me yet. I have been working towards being a nurse for what seems like a lifetime. Now I am and it is in my speciality!! I couldn't be more grateful. But I feel like I am in this honeymoon period where everything feels like a blur, yet I soak everything I possibly can in. Allow me to tell you about my first day...

First off...I love having my badge!! It gets me into all the restricted areas. While I did my capstone, I was not given a badge. It was SO annoying because every time I left, someone had to let me in when I came back. I felt like a pest. I still get a little feeling of excitement every time I use my badge to let me in. :) To add to this...I feel extremely professional as I swipe it through the time stamp machines.

Secondly...I get to wear the grey scrubs!! They made me feel like I was a part of the gang. Even though I LOVED wearing my Grey Anatomy and nrg Scrubs...it is nice not to feel like an outcast as I would walk around in blue scrubs verses the grey. I am not in love with the color grey but I already have bright undershirts to wear. :)

My first day was crazy...fun...exciting...and new. It was a great feeling to be back working with infants. I had the opportunity to witness a discharge, which I didn't during my capstone. I experienced two controlled situation with infants struggling with respiratory distress...one leading to cyanosis. So many things I didn't have the opportunity to see during my capstone. We were so busy and scrambling to stay on top of everything. Now my capstone was just shy a year ago...so it was the best feeling when the knowledge and skills came back to me from that experience. I felt like the staff gave me a certain level of trust I didn't have as a student. It was both scary and exhilarating because with it became a higher level of responsibility. I am looking forward to the rest of training so I can be more confident with this higher standard. It is starting to feel more like reality. By the end of the shift, I had been there 13.5 hours. We use '12 hours' shifts loosely. haha I am training again tomorrow. Hopefully it will go well and I can continue to learn and grow into the nurse I want to be.