Monday, July 13, 2009

The Nursing Life: Reminiscing Once Again

It has been several months now since I've written any blog post related to my life as a student nurse. But even if all I've been writing about is my break away from the "nursing world" I still remember and would never ever forget all the emotions, experience, and people I've encountered as a student nurse. I don't know about the knowledge part though because I feel like I've suffered the rare case of "selective amnesia".

A co-worker of mine asked me why I want to still pursue my nursing career when there are other jobs that offers higher compensation and are in high demand. Well let's just say that I want to enjoy my job and nursing is quite enjoyable: if your patient and other nurses aren't a pain that is.

Sure there are so many reasons I can name why I don't and shouldn't be a nurse but there is only one reason that I need to pursue my studies in nursing: I can never imagine myself in the future as anything else but as a nurse.

Well I have to get admitted to a nursing program first to be able to fulfill my dreams and goals so to the Grant MacEwan Admission Team, if you're reading this, please and I mean PLEASE accept me for this Fall term.

I also would like to give props and kudos to NursingSchools.net for recognizing my beloved personal slash nursing blog and placing it in their Top 50 Happy Nursing Blogs List!


Watching the Beautiful Hummingbirds

I really like watching animals go on with their daily lives on Discovery Channel. I find animals very fascinating and somehow just watching them makes me forget all my worries. I especially love watching the squirrels, rabbits, and especially the hummingbirds that come visit the garden of my grandma.

My grandma takes pride in her garden and her frequent visitors: the hummingbirds. She would always enjoy placing nectar in her bird feeder so that more hummingbirds will visit her garden. This coming August 2 will be her birthday and I know exactly what to give her! The best hummingbird feeder! I just know that my grandma will love her set of feeders!

It's really amazing how hummingbirds can flap their wings so many times in one minute. I've heard that an average hummingbird can flap their wings 50 times in 1 minute. Some hummingbirds can even flap their wings for 80 times in one minute. With all that flapping I'm glad that we can help them energize by providing them with their needed nutrition.

It really is great to have hummingbirds visit your backyard. Having them around makes the garden even more tranquil and peaceful.

On Being Thrifty

Holy molly! I didn`t feel the pressure of having to pay for stuff before because I always get a paycheck every 2 weeks. But now that I`m going to school this September (I hope, I WISH, cross my fingers!) as a full-time student, I have to quit my job (Yipee at last!). But with out a job, that means no pay check either.

I`m really going to learn how to budget my money and I have to learn that every expense even if it is very small will add up. I will try my best not to spend too much on food (Gosh I love food!!! Darn it!).

I`m also thinking of downgrading my iPhone plan... I currently pay $60 per month for my iPhone plan. It's really not that big when I had a job but if ever I quit my job I can only rely on my student loan to survive. Plus I also need to get a car so I have to pay for it too. Yes a car is a NEED because I have to drive several kilometeres around Edmonton for my clinicals.

I can always get a student line of credit ($10,000 per year) but I have to remember that the financial crisis all started from careless borrowing of money.

Well I'm sure I can figure something out.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Being a Traveling Nurse

Do you know what's great about being a nurse? So many job opportunities are open for you and every day is not monotonous and there's always something new.

But if you really want to see new people and work at different places as a nurse then you should try being a travel nurse! Yup, as the name implies you get to work at different places in America. I'm usually afraid of change and I don't know what to expect but I've heard great testimonials how recruiters from Travel Nurse Across America (TNAA) will help and guide you every step of the way. They will help you find a job and secure you a guaranteed number of hours of work with a competitive wage! Plus they will pay for your credentialing, travel expenses, and they will provide you your very own private housing so all you have to worry about is where you will spend your paid vacation! And the best part about the recruiters from TNAA is that they won't pester you with calls or mailers like I've heard from other travel nurse agencies.

I wish that I could be a traveling nurse someday. I get a very generous compensation no matter what happens (strikes, economic slow down, etc), I get to see new places and experience different cultures, it's just loads of fun!

I know friends who wanted to be flight attendants so that they could get free tickets to places around the world. Who would have thought that being a nurse could also bring such perks.