NursingZen

Lesson learned: Apply for that job you really want, even if you don’t think you meet the “minimum qualifications.”

My new job as a per diem triage RN at the community clinic has been exciting and overwhelming in many ways. Clinic triage involves fielding phone calls and drop-in visits involving everything from simple prescription refills to ambiguous complaints of “I don’t feel well” to “My chest hurts” to “I think I’m having a baby.”

The majority of the patients speak Chinese, the remainder speak Lao, Mien, Mongolian, Korean, Vietnamese, and English. I’m quite certain that in just a few days my listening comprehension has improved 100-fold and my vocabulary has doubled. It’s thrilling! Not only is my brain working in hyperdrive to process the Chinese into English and English into Chinese, I’m also learning about a multitude of medical conditions, how to make quick assessments of a patient’s condition, how to ask the right questions about signs and symptoms, and about what nursing interventions are appropriate.

Although the job description asked for a year of acute care experience and good Chinese language skills, the nurses are training me with patience and enthusiasm. Over and over again they say to me, “Don’t worry, the more patients you see the more conditions you’ll recognize,” “Don’t worry, when I started here, my Chinese was terrible but now everyone says I sound like a native speaker.”

Sometimes I laugh at their confident proclamations, but I try to trust in their experience and I try to believe in myself. Sometimes I feel badly because I know I’m not doing the patients justice yet, but most of them have been incredibly forgiving. I don’t mind that some of them laugh at my American accent and poor grammar; I laugh–and groan–with them.

When a patient does speak English, I get so excited and speak with such confidence and enthusiasm that I’m sure I come across a bit manic.

So far, I’ve been leaving work with a slight headache, my brain stuffed to the brim, but I have a feeling it’ll be worth it!

It all happened so fast. One day, I was worried about finding a job, the next day I got a call and interview, and then this week I started a per diem triage job at a community clinic where the majority of the patients are from low-income and underrepresented communities. Working for this clinic and with this population has always been one of my dream jobs, one that I didn’t think I could be hired for until I had more experience and better language skills. All week I kept wondering if they made a mistake…

I have much to talk about regarding this job, but will do so after I return from my camping trip.

Joy!

After breaking it to my high school kids that unlike what our parents had told us, our world isn’t a meritocracy, I forced myself to put on a Type A thinking cap to help me figure out how in the world I’d find a job in this dismal Bay area market, because obviously no one had read my resume in the previous few months.

The thinking cap told me that I’d have to  network like never before. For two weeks recently I gradually descended into an unnatural, feverish state as I churned out letters, e-mailed connections from two years ago, hovered around nurse manager’s offices, and called managers until someone picked up. It wasn’t a pretty time. I imagined my eyeballs bulging from the sockets and blood vessels bounding in my temples. You see, I grew up with the belief that it’s a big deal to ask anyone for favors, such as recommendations or referrals, and it’s unseemly to talk about ourselves, much less say how great we are, so even after 10 years of playing the game, it doesn’t get much easier.

After I had put my application in every pipeline I could find (except openings that require night shifts (I’m not going there yet)), I was hell-bent on writing a tirade about the Bay area job market for new graduates and what it takes to land a job … But I’m happy to say that I’ve since recollected myself, reestablished my balance, and am now waiting to see what the universe has in store for me…

About a month ago, I took the NCLEX, surprised myself by how long it took for me to complete it, left feeling like I had flunked it, and found out 2 days later that I had passed.

I didn’t write about this initially because a) I was really pissed off at the test (for example, the NCLEX will try to trick you by making just one word be untrue in an otherwise long and correct sentence) and b) my whole being automatically switched over to a non-nursing related mode after the test was over.

Now, however, I’m starting to pick up from where I left off. I might have lost some readers, but hopefully new ones will come around as I transition my entries to being A New Nurse and  Nurse Practitioner Student.

Oh, but I’m jumping the gun — first, I need to tell you about the job hunt in the SF Bay area, which has given new meaning to the words frustration, dejection, and connections. To be continued…