So I've Taken My First "Permanent" Job After Traveling

"Permanent" is in quotes because there's no such thing as a permanent job, right? Downsizing happens, people stay home to raise kids, nurses burn out in one specialty and learn another, and workers leave a job for any of these reasons or one of a hundred others.

But...I've taken an RN job that I have assumed will be a job I'll work at for at least a year or more. For me it's been strange to orient at a permanent job after working as a travel RN. My anxiety level is much higher! When I was traveling, if I didn't like the charting system or didn't feel the MDs were available enough, I could always console myself with the mantra: "It's only 13 weeks!" Now, when I'm finding less-than-desirable aspects of my new job, I'm forced to recognize that I'll be dealing with those aspects for the duration of this job. And there's no "Hey, it's only 39 shifts" to make me relax.

New job fun: having my millionth PPD this year placed today. Settling into a job will give me the benefit of only having to do this stuff once a year or so, right? If I can stand staying in one place that long!

What in hell have I gotten myself into?

Before I start the complaining/panicking, let me say: wow, Los Angeles. This was my view on my run this morning:

My apartment is quite lovely, and the people I've met so far have been friendly and fun (people are different all over, but head to a sports bar during a day-airing playoff game, and well...you're going to run into my kind of people).

However, the assignment...gulp. We had one day of on-boarding yesterday, during which we signed paperwork and received scrubs and a brief tour of the hospital. And, that's it. I'll get two shifts of floor orientation, and off I go. No computer training, no policy review, no exposure to any of the equipment.

Experienced travel nurses may think, "Big deal, you knew this was a possibility." And I did, I really did. It's just that my orientation in Seattle was so comparatively hand-holding. I knew during that entire assignment that I was being spoiled, and now it's time to deal with the consequences.

So, here I go. I'll survive, but I'm not going to lie, it's going to be rough at first.

Sick Day

It was bound to happen: working the the night shift has run down my immune system, and I've caught the cold that's going around. Luckily, I have the next three days off. It's kind of a pain to use my time off to nurture my body back into work condition, but, hey, that's how it goes sometimes. However, I'd really rather be working out at least once a day on every free day I have, because I just accepted my next assignment...in LA! That's right, I'm going to be among the beautiful people. So, I have about three months to become one of the beautiful people myself. Cold, begone: this nurse needs to go for a run.

Cable Cave

I finally caved and had cable and internet installed at the apartment. I was kind of hoping that if I held out, the agency would have moved me, and installing cable and internet here would be moot. Oh well. I'm still stuck in suburban hell, but now I have Law & Order: SVU to keep me company.

If the hospital offers to extend my contract, I think I'll say yes. I have to get out of this shitty apartment and boring area, though.