Nurse Joc, Not Jackie

Quick look of the past month: Christmas, knitting, new job, new dog.

I got my first job at a non-unionized location. There weren't a lot of people hiring when I was looking for work, so I accepted the first job offer that I recieved. The pay is the same as unionized facilities, the staff are amazingly nice, and the place is well kept, so I'm pretty darn happy with the place! I've already learned a bunch since I started two-three weeks ago. I'm still on the hunt for some work in the hospital as well as more casual positions.

I want work in a hospital because I get to utilize all of the skills I've learned in school. In long term care facilities, there aren't many opportunities to perform skills outside of morning and night-time care, the occasional stoma-related care, and the far-and-few-between catheter insertions and irrigations.

The nice thing about working in a long term care facitity is you get to learn all the resident's quirks, likes, and dislikes, plus you get to meet the families and create a relationship with them as well. They put their trust into you as a nurse and you get to give them updates on their family member. This is especially true for dementia units.

I managed to finish my very first pair of socks. I ended up finishing two pairs for Christmas -- one for my mom and one for my brother. I'm now going to start a pair for my daughter, since she's been asking me for a pair since forever :(

I got a new dog, but I won't go into too much detail about that since this update is long enough as it is. Wheeler, the new dog, is a beautiful mutt. He's a cross between a bernese mountain dog and a golden retriever... The perfect blend. A family dog with a docile temperment crossed with a snow-loving cuddler. Wheeler has fit right into our family and it is just amazing having a dog in the house again :)