Daily writing prompt

Describe one positive change you have made in your life.

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It can be hard to make a change.

I graduated nursing school in the middle of COVID, having gone back after my kids were older and my ex and I had separated. I worked full-time in retail and then hospital pharmacies, going to nursing school part-time. After working for about a year on my unit, I knew I wanted to do something different. Maybe it was the pandemic. Maybe I would have felt that way anyway. But I needed a change.

So after about a year as a floor nurse in PCU, I started looking for other opportunities within my hospital system. There was a position posted for an oncology/infusion nurse at the cancer center right down the road from me. After talking with one of my instructors (who also happened to occasionally be one of my charge nurses on nights) I gave it a shot. Some of my coworkers thought I was making a mistake. I heard lots of reasons why I shouldn’t make the switch. But in my heart, I knew that I had to at least try. I had no idea if it would work or not. But I did it.

It ended up being such a positive change. There are days that are crazy busy, but my team of coworkers is terrific. My patients are very dear to me. It doesn’t mean there are never problems, or situations that are difficult. People aren’t always at their best when they are very sick and dealing with life-threatening illness!

But I have learned so much. It can be hard sometimes, especially when I don’t get to say goodbye to a patient or their family. Sometimes when someone decides to sign on with hospice, the opportunity to say goodbye doesn’t come.

It’s made me realize that I need to try and say hi to everyone while they’re at the center, give them a little wave, stop and chat for a minute if I can. I don’t take them for granted.

And I try to afford the same behaviors to my coworkers. They need some TLC too.

It is a tough job. But I love it. And I’m grateful that I made that change.

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