You Don't Have to Start in Med-Surg as a new Grad nurse

In reflecting on my career, I'm reminded of something I heard a lot of as a student: start in Med-Surg. I got lots of reasons. In hindsight, It would've been better to do the thinking myself regarding what I wanted instead of listening to those telling me how it is supposed to go.  Do You Have to start in Med-Surg as a new graduate nurse? No. That is my opinion after working in different specialties of nursing. It is not a bad idea to start in medical-surgical nursing but it is not a requirement or an absolute necessity. If you get the opportunity to work in a specialty you would like to end up in, please go ahead and take that opportunity. Your body will thank you later.  When I was graduating from college, a professor I admired told me to start in med-surg. And back then, it wasn't uncommon to here people say "start in med/surg". One of the reasons I sort of recall was so you can learn the basics of nursing and what not. Another rationale was that because you ar...
Post a Comment

7 Months after FI/RE

 It's been a little over 7 months since I FIRE'd. (Financial Independence / Retire Early)

It's been interesting. First of all, I wasn't expecting to do it at this age but I'm so grateful to God for helping me. It had come to mind to blog but I stayed away from the idea for a few reasons. It's come to mind again recently and I'm interested in it now. I think it would be nice to share my life since reaching FIRE. I've some unexpected things happen but God has been faithful. 

What this blog is not: I'm not here to sell courses or some service. I have no interest in getting a hold of your money or your account. Personal finance is "personal" after all. This isn't a blog about someone trying to reach fire and helping others along. I have already reached FIRE. As in I handed my employer a letter saying that I've decided to FIRE. I'll have to find the letter and post it here one of these days. 

I'm hoping that as I share my journey, it would inspire other nurses and people who don't work high paying jobs that they can also reach FIRE. Even if you are single. 

I have not done Travel Nursing in my career either so you don't have to do that either to reach FIRE. I did work Per Diem though after some years (you've got to hack the pay-scale to your advantage 😉).

If you are wondering, FIRE is an acronym for Financial Independence Retire Early.

Age at FIRE - late 30s. 

My only regret: I felt in my heart and thought it my mind last year that it was time to leave and instead of leaving my job, I stayed for another 6 months. If I had to go back, I would've quit right away. Heck, I spent a moment standing on my last day when the charge said something because I was contemplating walking away because I knew I wasn't going to look for another job so I didn't care if I was blacklisted. But, I decided to keep my good reputation and behave. If I had to go back to that day, I have a feeling, I may have walked out. It was a 50/50 chance. 

My goal here: To discuss life as a FIRE'd nurse. To share some stuff about finance, reminisce about nursing, life in general, travel, relationships, and life in general. Join me and share your thoughts about these. 

One thing I'll say: The Freedom has been priceless and I hope to inspire others to want to attain FI/RE or FI. 

To God be all the glory. 

The FIRE'd Nurse.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Things I do more since FIRE'd

Image
 There's something I've found myself doing lately. I sometimes walk into the bedroom on my second floor and look out the window. I didn't use to do that. I had family there and they would do that. They were retired but they didn't look out always. Still I had to change the blinds so that says something. I was usually amazed they knew who lived where, who was pregnant, who did what when I didn't even know. Or I would ask "is so and so pregnant" and would hear something like "...long time". While I didn't work full-time for the longest time and so was here, I still didn't look out or bothered with what was going on around here. I had houses sell on the block that I didn't even notice were for sale.  Today, I looked out and saw a pick-up truck across the street. The man in it had what looked like a cigarette and the windows was up. I was wondering why one would smoke inside a parked car with the windows up. I was also on my computer havi...
Read more

What I did my first week after FIRE

Image
 Nothing really.  I rested. Lots and lots of rest. Eating, snacking and rest.  It was like a burden was lifted off me. I felt like doing nothing but just living. I relaxed and just enjoyed the peace. I think my alarm still came on but I was under no obligation to get out of bed if I didn't want to. It was surreal in a way.  Another thing I did was start an exercise regimen. I figured it was the least I could do. I just wanted to keep active and I'm happy to say I've kept it up. I'm really proud of myself. For the most part, my goal the first week was to rest and recuperate. I did nothing my last day of work. There wasn't a single patient for us. I worked about 4 hours 3 days before that so it wasn't fatigue but there was some amount of burn out and just wanting to have an emotional rest that had nothing to do with nursing.  One of the things I did that week was contact my 403k custodian. I was told they had me as still active. I thought to myself that maybe it...
Read more