In which Meriwhen starts worrying about things that are 2+ years off...

A bit of nostalgia last night caused me to look at job listings back East.  After all, I want to see what's waiting for me if/when we return there.  And not much is waiting there.  The psychiatric nursing market in our last place of residence isn't great.  For medical nurses, it is fantastic...in fact, it was a real turn-around from what I started my new grad job hunt a few years ago.  Most of the postings had experience as preferred and not required, and only a few were anti-new grad.

For psychiatric nurses, not so many pickings.

Number 1 hospital from way back when still has the best psychiatric nursing job offerings but they've gotten tougher to get into.  One of the best places to work at as a psychiatric nurse seems to prefer hiring agency nurses; while that means it may be easier to get in there, I lose the chance to rack up a pension.  I could always return to the hospital where I cut my teeth as a new grad, but from what I hear on the grapevine, that's a ship that's sinking fast.

So I started having an anxiety attack over not being able to find a psych job and whether I should switch to a medical specialty, and then how would I able to switch to a medical specialty.  But I was good.  I recognized that I was having an anxiety attack, pulled myself off of the computer, and had a serious talking-to with myself about it.

I am getting worried over a job market that hasn't happened yet...in fact, who knows what it will be like in 2 years?  Maybe there will be a lot more psych nursing jobs.  Maybe the sinking ship will have fixed itself.   Maybe the market will really improve and nurse recruiters will be willing to work with me more than they did when I was a new grad.

Who says we'll be going back there in 2 years?  It's not guaranteed...the other half is still active duty and has at least one more tour to go.  We may end up back there, we may end up staying here, we may end up somewhere entirely different.

And speaking of which, even after the better half retires from service, we may not even decide to settle back where we were.  There's no strong attachment to the area...I mean, I do have friends there but there's no family, nor are there strong emotional attachments to the area itself.  In fact, we've talked about living in other areas since he said where we settle will depend on where my job takes us.  We both really loved Texas, especially South Texas, and would go back in a heartbeat.  The Pacific Northwest has also held appeal for us too.

I'm building an excellent resume.  I have loads of inpatient work, outpatient work and specialty certifications to add to it.  I plan to get some volunteer work in there.   More importantly, I'm enjoying where I am working out here--both places.  I could easily stay at both of them for the next two years, or switch things up.

About the medical itch...yes, part of me thinks a year of medical nursing experience would be invaluable towards the MSN/DNP.   But I still don't want to work medical for the rest of my life, especially when I return east and lose the protection of staffing ratios.  Plus I hear too many horror stories about medical/hospital nursing that make me glad I'm in psych, where I'm not a glorified skivvy (waitress) inserting tubes and dealing with entitled family members,  but where I feel I'm actually making a difference in a patient's life.  Granted, with the high rate of relapse and return to treatment I have to make that difference several times...but it's better than being the slave to the call bell.  "Nurse, I want another pillow and my boyfriend wants a cold drink."

And as I've learned out here, working for an agency isn't bad at all.  It's actually rather nice.  And not having a pension isn't the end of the world...I've been working on my own IRA and retirement portfolio since 2001.  The better half will have his pension, which will help me to build my own, since I won't be the only one bringing in the income when he retires.  I can keep saving and planning for my financial future.  So I won't exactly have nothing when I retire from working.

I think the fact that my BSN completion was pushed back though my own stupidity (I didn't realize I needed to register for the politics class in January even though it didn't begin until April, so I missed my chance to take it), helped exacerbate this panic attack.  I just want this degree over and done with.   I was playing with my course map and have managed to improve things so I finish in May instead of March.  Two months longer...*sigh*...still things could have been worse.  Some of my course maps had me finishing in October 2013.

So I calmed myself down and put things in perspective.  My old therapist would have been proud of me.

I put my two nursing classes to bed yesterday--as of right now I have one guaranteed A and one probable A.  So now I can enjoy a couple of weeks before the two politics classes begin in June.  And all weekend the better half and little one have been spoiling me for the holiday.  It's been nice.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  If you consider yourself a mom in any way, shape or form, this day's for you!

Worth it

So I did some math...I found out that as an agency nurse (at least with my agency) I get paid a little less per hour than the core staff does at the agency facility.  I don't get benefits, whereas they do get them.  I do not get paid time off, whereas they do.  I am not guaranteed hours, whereas they are guaranteed them.

On paper, that seems very unfair...especially the being paid less as an agency nurse than as a permanent employee.

In reality, I have complete and utter control over my schedule, whereas they do not.  I can not be mandated to work extra hours or overtime, whereas they can.  I can choose to work extra if I wanted to, whereas they can be told they have to.  I can not serve as a charge nurse, whereas they can be made to.  I can take off as many days as I want and still have a job, whereas they can't.

So in practice, I really have the better end of the stick.

Money isn't always everything, and the highest salary doesn't always bring happiness.

80

As I'm sure a lot of people know, the weather in coastal California is beautiful. Today is going to be sunny with a high in the upper 70s. Lows get into the 50s, maybe 40s. It's delicious weather, though it does mandate more frequent leg-shaving. Meanwhile, back where I used to live, it's 54/30 and sunny albeit soggy from a few days of rain. Where I grew up, they just got hit with a snowstorm.

While I am enjoying my current weather, I am missing the change in the seasons. Everyone says that there really aren't seasons out here. But I grew up with the seasons. I love the feeling when the weather starts turning cooler. I love when the leaves turn into fiery colors before they drop off. I love the smell of snow in the air. I love the snow itself even more. I love rain. I love being able to enjoy a freak warm day in the middle of the winter. I love the lazy days that the weather can force--or encourage--on one.

But seasons are not in my future for the next few years...oh well. Can't change that, can only accept what I have.

There are nice things about California weather, though. It's always a nice day to be outside. The nights get chilly enough that my knitting gets put to good use. I rarely have to worry about things being rained out. The weather is rarely grey and depressing, though there does tend to be stretches of foggy mornings where it's overcast until noon or so. And if I really want different weather I'm only an hour away from the mountains.

Need to clean out my car today. The little one tends to think of it as his own personal toy depository.

The job search begins...at least part-time

Today I start looking for that next job...at least on a part-time basis. The little one isn't in school yet due to the school having fall break until next week (I must get used to these year-round schools), and there's still a lot to be done around the house. So my efforts aren't going to be full-time just yet. This week I'll get the resume brushed up, find facilities to apply to, and get my RN-BSN program squared away. Once the little one is in school I'll step things up.

To be honest, I like being able to spend time with my little one. We're going to have a couple of outings this week. He's been dying to ride the tram system so we're going to plan a little trip somewhere for our train date.

The one thing I must do today is get that kitchen tackled from top to bottom, and get the extra packing boxes into the spare room, so at least the living room looks finished. While I'm a packrat at heart, even I can't stand this mess.

We are home, and the job hunt begins

We've been in the house since Wednesday. The basics are set up (read: utilities and the beds) and now it's a lot of unpacking and organizing. I'm currently taking an unpacking break to have some tea.

The trip across country has not been kind to my waistline...in fact, my weight is downright hideous. A lot of driving (no physical exertion involved in that!) and dining out has caught up with me. So as of yesterday we've forsaken eating out and have been eating in. I've given up diet soda and been drinking more water and herbal tea. I've been watching what I eat, both the types of food as well as the portion sizes. I'd like to say it's been working so far, but I seem to have put on 2 lb since then! I'm hoping it's just water weight. Once we get things organized in the house I'll start getting exercise in.

So...

I applied for a job here--inpatient psych at the local hospital. It was a spur-of-the-moment application: I wasn't really ready to begin the job hunt in earnest, but the job itself sounded so perfect and exciting that I was swept up in the rush and so I did it. What a drastic difference from the first nursing job hunt two years ago! I have a detailed resume at the ready...and the resume actually has some meat to it. I've also got references in hand, both written and telephone. I've got certifications and memberships to back up my credibility. Last, I don't feel as hopeless as I did the first time. I feel more confident in both my interviewing and nursing abilities, and less desperate to grab anything that comes my way.

Last, looking for work gives me more motivation to get this certification exam scheduled and done with.

So the move to 2731 is completed

Well, almost. We're still living in the motel that we've been in for the last three days. Tomorrow we should get the keys to the house. In a few days after that our furniture and stuff should arrive. Next week I will get the little one enrolled in school. And then, perhaps then...I can start looking for that job.

I'm scheduling my certification exam for November. I had really wanted to tie it all up before I started the job hunt so I could add that extra RN-BC bullet to the resume, but I've got too much going on with setting up a new household from near-scratch. I can't stop and spend all that time studying. Besides, with the way the job market is, it may take so long to find something that I'll have that RN-BC bullet before I go on actual interviews.

I started making a list of the psych (and non-psych) facilities in the area. I really haven't done much more than that: my internet connections are so sketchy right now that I don't want to start an online job hunt that I can't keep up with. My printer is in storage so I can't print out the resume. And my interview clothing is in storage too...though I have been debating about making an investment into a suit for interviewing. I was smart enough to keep my RN portfolio with me during the trip so I have all my important paperwork. If I was truly smart, I should have printed out a few copies of an updated resume before we left. Oh well.

We should have internet in the house by Friday, so I can start doing more job-hunting work online. Worse comes to worse, I'll find an OfficeMax and bring them my resume on disk, and they can print out some copies for me.

Part of me keeps saying to relax and enjoy this time off, since Lord knows when I will have this opportunity again. My better half says that there's no rush for me to get back to work, because we really want to get the little one settled. He's been through a lot with this move, and then we have to get him set up in Special Ed once we arrive, so the better half would rather we (me and him since his new job will have him home more) focus on that. We've even talked about possibly having a second little one while we are here...but I'm neither one way nor the other on that one. There's plusses and minuses for each side...though I did tell my better half that it will only happen after I drop some weight and get to my pre-pregnancy weight because what I'm at right now is not good. That's only 30 lb.

The weather is beautiful...well, it rained today. Everyone said it doesn't really rain out here in California, and I'm here to say they are wrong. In fact, it rained as we crossed the border three days ago: we were driving through sand dunes and no vegetation whatsoever when the skies opened up and a deluge fell. Go fig.