Deep in the bowels of this website, nestled in the cobwebs of time away from public view, are the archives of a blog that began in 2003 and was last updated in 2012. Can’t claim to remember the exact reason I stopped updating this lil nook of the interwebs, but I’m certain it had something to do with tryna make it through life right then.
Ya see gentle readers, I’d decided it was a good idea to become a nurse. After many years in financial technology, I was laid off in 2009 because… well… let’s just say the world made some interesting financial choices. As someone on the receiving end of those choices, my time in that business had drawn to a close. And another adventure began to open.
Fast forward to mid-2012. I was a little less than a year away from sitting for my nursing boards. Loved the experience to date, enjoyed many of my cohorts, and figured out that nurses, well, good nurses, are adept project and program managers. I’d been refining my PM skills for many years, so organization and prioritization were nothing new. Medicine isn’t easy, but the learning and doing was exhilarating, and I was good at it.
What you permit,
you promote
What I wasn’t good at was working three weekend overnights and going to school. Financially, I didn’t need to work. When I was laid off, the severance was lovely. Rent, food, and all the etceteras were taken care of, but I wanted to work my way into healthcare to learn. And I did, clerking in hospitals where I had the opportunity to absorb a ton of information going on around me.
Met some absolutely horrible people who hated their jobs, and met some incredible caregivers that made their intensely complex work joyful and seemingly effortless. Note: It’s never effortless to work in healthcare. Some people are just so good at it that the behind-the-scenes business of engaging, assessing, deciding, and treating is seamless. The good ones never need to be told how good they are at their job. Everyone just knows it. Everyone also knows the bad folks. Time and time again I meet them, and a favorite quote rolls around in my head: “What you permit, you promote”
Those three overnights began to take their toll. I quit my job and became a full time student. Absolutely loved every moment of it. After taking my nursing boards, I felt good about the exam. When the news of passing came, I was happy and sad. I needed to get back to the reality of work. But damn, I was a nurse. Then it crept into my foggy noggin; oh damn. Dafuq did I just do?