I’ve never been one to sit still.

My blog and it’s activities should give you a small taste of what my life can be like. I truly never set out to run through the revolving doors. It just seems to happen that way.

I love being nurse. I love the opportunities it has afforded me. Since my inception into this career I have learned a great deal about the field of nursing, learned a great deal about myself, and learned a great deal about where ‘my’ nursing fits.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far about me and me being a nurse:

I DO NOT WANT

• Work on a med-surg unit (A league of their own – my hats off to them; I could never do it)
• Work as a nurse manager
• Work nights (avoiding this as best as possible)
• Down time at my job (being super slow)
• Work as an OR nurse
• To-Be-Bored!
• Lose my critical care skills
• Talked down to, or demeaned by physicians
• Co-workers who refuse to grow up
• Drama
• Back-stabbing
• High school antics at work
• Worry about getting full-time hours or full-time benefits
• Worry about insurance
• Limit my options or opportunities
• An environment that is not team-oriented
• Disrespectful colleagues
• Drive FOREVER to work
• Travel nursing – at least not at this point in our life (my wife and I).

I DO WANT

• Anything ICU
• Utilize my CCRN certification
• Utilize my critical care skills
• Challenging work
• Taxing work
• Being busy
• Work with and be respected by physicians
• A place I can call home
• Learn
• Diversity
• Team environment
• Teaching-hospital type environment (Big-City Hospital)
• Increased opportunity for advancement

So with that in mind. I have decided to leave my current position in the PACU and return to the ICU. I have accepted a Surgical ICU position in a Big City Hospital. It will be a return to the original scenario I left just less than a year ago, but in the end the benefits outweigh my concerns. I’m meant for that environment. The bigger, the busier… the better.

I have oh-so missed the ICU bedside. I’ve missed the ‘craziness’ of the ICU. I’ve missed it all.

And now I’m going back where I belong.

http://friendfeed.com/bethenextstep/febe6453/when-opportunity-knocks-do-you-simply-open-door?embed=1

Carpe Diem

Do you take the road not taken?

When does the benefit outweigh the risk?

How do you plan for the unplanned?

Is that wrap at the door opportunity? Or a guise?

How do you know the difference between the two?

How does one say no to advancement?

How does one say no to a promotion?

Is the immediate reflective of the future?

Where do you see yourself?

Where do you want to be?

Where do you NOT want to be?

WHO do you not want to be?

How do you determine if an unknown is better or worse?

When is the risk worth it?

What to do….

What to do…

Carpe Diem

Image Source: Deviant Art