Beginnings

I graduated nursing school last March. It has been just over a year since then and almost exactly a year since I passed the NCLEX board exam. The day after I took the boards I had an interview at the hospital I had done my preceptorship at. I had been lucky enough to be placed in the ICU as a student and even more lucky that they were one of the few, if not the only hospital that was hiring in the area. Yes, yes I know...there is a nursing shortage. Well, unfortunately in California that couldn't be farther from the truth. As a matter of fact most of my fellow classmates still do not have jobs. New Grads, even ones with a B.S.N or M.S.N are having a hard time finding work.
At any rate, I remember being completely elated to have the opportunity to even interview and so thoroughly relieved to be done with the NCLEX. Life was finally starting to settle and the years of hard work were about to pay off. I ended up getting that job and three days after my interview I got a call from one of my best friends sometime around 1:30am. "Andi, CONGRATULATIONS!"

"Wait, wait why are you saying that?!" I yelled loud enough to wake up every roommate in the house.

I had been up all night, waiting for the BRN website to update its list of licensed registered nurses. My friend had found my name on the list miraculously before I did and had the glory of being the first to tell me I was, officially, a Registered Nurse. Moments later I get a message from another one of my best friends. She was crying because she knew how incredibly hard nursing school was for me. Working full time, school full time, 18 hour days, five to seven days a week, studying non-stop. In that moment I took a deep sigh of relief and knew my life would be completely different from then on out.

A year later I can confirm that my life has changed so much in so many wonderful ways. The ICU can be stressful, hell, being a nurse can be stressful! Still I am so thankful to love what I do and I hope I can share that with those that are on this journey through nursing as well. I don't know much being a new grad, but I definitely have some good stories and I hope you will come along for the ride. Whether you are a nurse or not I believe the basis of my profession is something we all need a little piece of...caring, compassion, encouragement, laughter in the hard times and an appreciation for the life we have been given. Welcome to On Call RN!