If so, what specialty?
What do I want to be when I grow up?
That's the million dollar question, isn't it. (Well, ha, I WISH it were worth a million dollars when I do figure it out). But really, a career you love is priceless. I've been talking to a lot of people lately and I seem to get 2 answers when I ask what's important in a job:
-One camp says a job is always just a job, and never who you ARE. You are more than your work.
-The other camp says that if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life
I'm sure a realistic dream job falls somewhere between these two categories, depending on the day. There will always be some days when you hate everything about working. Not that it's happened to me ;-)
The good thing about nursing is that it's so flexible and changing hospitals or specialties is easy-ish. But after the RNC test, I have had this nagging thought: what if? What if I became a Nurse Practitioner?
What if I DID go back to school, now that I have had 3+ years to recover from undergrad? What if I DID pursue an advanced practice degree?
I love bedside nursing, for now. But will I always? I take pride in my assessment skills and I love educating families at the bedside. But if I don't decide on grad school by 2015, I'm out of luck because Advanced Practice nurses will be required to be DNPs (Doctor of Nursing Practice) and let's be honest, I'm not going to get my doctorate any time soon. I have ZERO desire to sign up for a minimum of 5 more years of school. 2-3 years, on the other hand, now seems like a bargain.
I still haven't figured out exactly what my motives are for suddenly really wanting to go to grad school. The time crunch is definitely a huge factor. But I also wonder if there's more to a career than trudging to work, feeling powerless over my schedule, and feeling awkward around my co-workers. I LOVE my NICU babies with all my heart, but I'm a little disenchanted with the NICU itself. The noises, the politics, the drama. Maybe I need to work at a smaller, non-teaching hospital. Or maybe I need to be the one in charge (mwahaha <-- sarcastic evil laugh).
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Have you seen this diagram before? If only I could actually answer the question: what you can the the best in the world at. Nurse practitioner? Bedside nurse? (And no, Ross, princess is not a realistic option.)
If you were to tell Avery Princess wasn't a realistic answer she would probably be crushed beyond belief.
ReplyDeleteYou have sooo much time to sort out what you can and will do with your life, just remember, it's already been planned by the master planner. Your happiness comes first, money comes second or even fourth.
Birthday cards were mailed out today. ;)
Haha she already is a princess! And tell her is she marrys the right boy someday, she will always feel like a princess. It's just not economical as your only job ;-)
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