Lost Item

[FalconFlight]

Hi,

First time posting here.  While I was shadowing a nurse at a potential employer, I lost an item that was of sentimental value to me.  I had been hesitant to take this item anywhere out of my house because I feared losing it.  It had ventured with me on outings but I never let it leave my car.  Well on this particular day, I took it with me, not really thinking anything about it and then a few days later I realized that I hadn't seen it.  That's when I had this sinking realization that I had just lost it.  Sure enough, I haven't been able to find it.  It mysteriously vanished, no one turned it in to security, cleaning staff does not remember seeing it, the nurse with whom I was shadowing also, did not see it.  In short, it's gone and I feel terrible.  

I shouldn't have ever taken it outside but I did and I cannot replace it.  I tend to be a bit superstitious sometimes so I'm wondering if this is a bad omen.  I've since been offered the position and accepted it but I can't get it out of my mind that I will have this negative experience associated with this new job.  This particular organization seems so genuinely caring that it's hard to imagine anyone there would see it and throw it away or worse steal it.  It has my name visibly printed on the side and you can pretty much deduce that the item belongs to a healthcare provider.

Another thing that happened is that my start date has been pushed back since the recruiter let me know that the hiring manager has not secured a preceptor.  This is another bad sign in my book.  I was really excited about starting this job but losing this item has cast a gray cloud that I cannot get rid of.  Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Your perception seems such that you will create your own bad luck/omens, I.e. read into everything and selectively perceive the bad (and then tie it into your loss.)

Things are just...things. They only hold as much power as we allow them to.

[JKL33]

17 hours ago, FalconFlight said:

I've since been offered the position and accepted it but I can't get it out of my mind that I will have this negative experience associated with this new job.  This particular organization seems so genuinely caring that it's hard to imagine anyone there would see it and throw it away or worse steal it. 

There will be someone, no matter where you go in life, who isn't really operating on a level of kindness and ethics. You can't judge an organization by that.

One night I was called to one of the ICUs to help with a (nursing) procedure they didn't happen to be familiar with. I went there and did the procedure and left that unit and as soon as the doors closed behind me on the way out I remembered I'd left my stethoscope. It had been a gift and was inscribed with my name. I immediately went back to retrieve it and it had disappeared. Just gone, in the span of under a minute. No one had any idea about it. It's possible that even the patient squirreled it away somewhere. Who knows.

These things happen. It's up to us to secure items like this that are important to us, and in general not place inordinate value on them. We either have them to use and enjoy or we lock them away where we can never really enjoy them.

How you choose to feel about things like this is sort of up to you. Wouldn't it be something if some day you looked back and could associate your lost item with the place that you began your nursing career and learned a ton and grew as a nurse and person?

[Emergent, RN]

I think you're being superstitious. You probably lost it because you had a lot on your mind. I used to wear my nursing pin to one job that I had, and I left it on top of my car or it fell off in the parking lot and it was gone forever. I just accepted it and moved on with my life and that job was fine. 

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

I'm sorry that you lost something of sentimental value. While you feel it is most likely that it was misplaced while at this particular facility, there is always the possibility that it could have gone missing at some other point. By your own admission it was a few days later that you noticed it, perhaps it was lost elsewhere. 

I wouldn't attribute such an incident to the staff at any facility due to this experience. I hope that you find a position that you're happy with. Good luck.