I Love My Job! :O)

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 29, 2007

I am so, so happy for you, Jen. Keep up that positive attitude. I am sure your patients love you-----I really love seeing someone so happy and enthusiastic....

Enjoy your job.

jannrn · Jan 29, 2007

I feel the same way most of the time. (I have been a nurse since '92 and became a CNA in '85) It makes me feel good when a pt. tells me that they can tell that I enjoy my job. I am glad that it shows, and I would rather be cared for by someone who enjoyed it than not! I'd hate it if I knew that caring for me was 'just someones' job'! (even though technically it is).

I have noticed over the years the striking difference it makes on my outlook, stress level, enjoyment of my job etc on how much I work. I work .7 right now and that is pretty much max for balancing work and home life. It changes with life as well and when my kids were younger, then less work was better. (which meant alot less 'extras')

This is why I cringe when I read about some nurses trying to work 2 jobs or lots of overtime for extra cash. It is not worth it, to you, your pts or to your friends and family!!

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 29, 2007

I am happy being per diem and hopefully will never do it any other way. The burnout factor is very high in many of my fulltime colleagues.

jannrn · Jan 29, 2007

I am happy being per diem and hopefully will never do it any other way. The burnout factor is very high in many of my fulltime colleagues.

I agree, I have been per diem 2 times before and actually really miss it! It was great when the kids were little and we could take off for a weekend or vacation whenever we wanted to! but when they call to ask if you can work a shift, sometimes it is hard to say "yes"!!

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 29, 2007

Funny thing is, I became perdiem in a rather involuntary way, out of necessity--- not choice--- back when I had my daughter. I have been a nurse nearly 10 years yet only worked fulltime 2 1/2 (almost 3) of them. My dh was military and anyone who has experience w/the military knows "the military comes first" and it is incredibly hard to have a real career as a spouse, if you have kids to care for and a spouse who is active duty. He was always subject to deployments and being out of town and I was not one to use daycare for my kids. It felt like such a dilemma til I realized I could just go perdiem and work nights/weekends when dh was around.

The "problem" is: I came to love perdiem work so much now I can't do it any other way.

Really, I have no real problems saying "yes" often, because I am so choosy about when I work. I love to help my coworkers out when they want vacations or need a day off and they seem to love me for it. It's so win-win..... I get the lion's share of my hours and money by doing others favors. But I do love being at home cooking and doing things for my family. I really don't want to change it; being a mom is much more what I have been about than being a nurse. Rofl, not that they have not begged me to go fulltime on and off for years. But I always find it easy to say "no" to that.....(grin)

jannrn · Jan 29, 2007

When you go in as Per Diem, isn't it nice to always be the "hero"!?

I agree, priorities change once you have kids, it is something you really can't visualize until it happens to you!! I quit for 3 years after I worked for a year after my first was born. He just really needed his mom home full-time! A friend of mine was so concerned about my career and that I was throwing it down the drain! I couldn't care....what came first was my child!! Of course I knew that with nursing, it is not difficult to get back in, and as it turned out, when I went back, the nurse manager called me an "angel", she was very happy.

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 29, 2007

Then it was certainly win-win for you, Jan!!!! That is great when the rare serendipity situation arises in our work lives. It's something I appreciate more each year.