Back after a very long pause . . .

Wow, I somehow made it through the past two months in one piece. I did my five-week, full-time internship in the county hospital ER. Was also working my two part-time jobs and preparing for a move to Baltimore. As of last night, I am finished! Graduating from nursing school on May 10th.

My experience in the ER was great. I learned a lot and got to practice skills (drawing blood, starting IV's) that I didn't get to do in my regular clinicals. I also learned that people who shoot other people in Indianapolis have really bad aim---they always hit the hands, the leg, or the butt (which is probably where we get the expression to "put a cap in someone's ass"). Or maybe they don't have bad aim, maybe they just want to send a message without risking a murder sentence.

Anyway, the nurses I met and worked with there were great---smart, competent, and pleasant to spend time around. There's a spirit of teamwork and cooperation in an ER that you don't find in the other units of a hospital. (OK, maybe there's teamwork in an OR, as well, but the thought of having to stand still for the most part for hours on end holds no appeal for me.) I spent enough years working alone as a librarian, and now I'm ready to work as part of a team.

The move to Baltimore has so far entailed driving out there a month ago to interview for jobs (after hounding recruiters on the phone for weeks---despite a nursing shortage, jobs for new graduates are hard to come by this year because of the economy--new grads cost a lot to train). Got a job at my top choice hospital, in the ER! I will be working nights . . . not exactly looking forward to becoming a sort-of vampire (I'm not a "night person"), but newbies in any ER generally have to work nights. Will grin and deal with it and hope it doesn't last too long.

Two weeks later, drove out again to look for a house. Found one, made an offer, which was accepted. Flew out this past week for the home inspection. Am now in negotiations with the sellers surrounding the (few) problems found during the inspection.

If I could move whererever I wanted, Baltimore wouldn't be anywhere near the top of the list, but it's a step up from Indianapolis, so I'm excited about the move. Haven't lived on the East Coast in 23 years.