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...
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Do You miss Work after Retiring Early or reaching FIRE?

 This came up just moments ago as I read a message from someone who said work has been really busy today. No, they are not in the nursing field. But it brought back memories - Wednesdays were our busiest days. And I realized I do not miss it - not the people, not the place and not the patients. I miss none of it. 

Honestly, it's been more than 7 months and it doesn't seem like a long time but it's all a blur. It's almost like a part of me wanted to forget and has worked on doing so. I also have to remark that I went from 0 to Burnt out quickly. I realized I could leave and be okay back in September or so. And I was dragging my feet and kinda didn't want to leave. What was I thinking?! 

But between realizing I could FIRE and about 2 months later, I was burnt out. I'll discuss when I knew it was time to leave another time because that is a story by itself. I talked to my manager at the start of February and I'm not sure why I decided to hang around for the schedule that wasn't even out yet. Again, what was I thinking?!

What's kinda funny is that while I aimed to retire early, I didn't anticipate it happening at this age. As I said in my first blog post, I initially aimed for 50 or earlier. And then by early 2022, I saw 45 as a possibility and then early 2023, I saw 40 as a possibility and about 9 months later, I realized that I could do it much earlier and the time had come. So considering I got caught by surprise, I wasn't sure what to do. The weird thing was starting to think that I worked so hard for my degree and didn't feel like giving it up. Nonsense!

My last two months of work, I couldn't wait to leave. I only worked 5 days in February, 3 of which were weekdays. I was part-time and worked Saturdays so the 2 days were Saturday. Yes, back in December, I tallied up my PTO and estimated what I would earn every two weeks and requested time off. I was practically working one day a week so people barely saw me. I'm not the type to hoard PTO. 

Don't forget to plan out your PTO before Quitting your job or getting FIRE'd

Did I have a FIRE number? No. I'm actually realizing that's a thing. I'm glad I didn't because it explains why some people are so anxious on Reddit tracking their net worth and being upset the value of their home went down on Zillow. I don't even include my home in my net worth calculation and I own it outright. 

I left nursing in the hospital and have not looked back. Which is why I mentioned in my first post that if I had to go back to my last day, I would likely have walked out after an interaction I had. Why? Because I knew I wasn't going back and I wasn't going to look for a job to have to worry about references or someone calling the place. That said, I am so grateful to God that he got me out of that toxic place. 

As I've said, Nursing is hard - physically, emotionally, and mentally. It exacts energy from you in so many ways. I don't think the body is meant to do that much physical labor for that long. If I was a new grad possessing the knowledge I have now, I would make a 7 year plan and get out. The Market is your friend😉

Happy Wednesday to all the lovely nurses doing their best to care for patients. My hope is for nurses to attain to Financial Freedom and not be hitched to the hospital.

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