Jeff Carter has a new job!!!
Yep. We were pretty surprised, too. (Although this is probably old news to you, by now, since I'm still playing blog catch-up).
After three years of struggling with the demands of night shift floor nursing, Jeff landed a job that is Monday - Friday, 9-5, no weekends, no nights. We are elated, and I feel very proud of Jeff. What began as a casual inquiry turned into an in-person meeting, scheduled for the day before we left on vacation and ended up being an actual interview. Three days later, as we strolled toward our rental car parked next to the beach in Ventura, California, Jeff's phone rang and it was HR with an official offer for the job.
Jeff's new title is Clinical Application Analyst/Programmer for the medical records company called Epic. In plain English, he is an experienced nurse working to improve the computer technology used by doctors and nurses for patient records and care. Leaving hospital floor nursing was a bittersweet parting, though, for many reasons. Jeff is a kind, compassionate, extremely competent nurse who is beloved by staff and patients alike. He made lifelong friends and was mentored by an incredible group of seasoned nurses. His nights were filled with stories - funny ones, poignant ones, troubling ones, traumatic ones, joyous ones, sorrowful ones - and he never grew tired of collecting those stories, remembering those stories, sharing those stories. I never grew tired of bragging about my husband, the neurosurgery nurse. And being among the ranks of those who work night shift was a badge of honor I wore with pride. We did it: and we survived it. And yet, the schedule was beginning to take a toll on the health of our family and of Jeff. Change is good, then, even when change is hard, or different, or unexpected.
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." -Anatole France.
Although it is too soon for Jeff to name all the things he loves about his new job, here are just a few I re-discovered immediately:
1. My bed gets made every day, with no one messing up the sheets in the middle of the day.
2. I can fling my drapes wide open, any time I want.
3. I no longer dress in the dark; I haven't left the house with mismatched shoes in one month!
4. I have someone with whom to share my morning coffee. (Oh wait, strike that. Pax, Leo, and I have someone else with whom to share our morning coffee.)
5. I can leave my house, sans children, every evening (And let me tell you, what a hoppin' joint it is at 9:00 p.m. at
Soft Soles - by Nikki Grimes (from this children's poetry collection, which I love).
You walk like a whisper
'long the hospital hall,
tell patients you pass
not to worry at all.
You rush to your ward
on cushions of white
to smooth and fluff pillows,
set everything right.
You bathe fevered foreheads,
give needles with care,
and chat with those patients
who've no family there.
Truck drivers are cool,
and firemen aren't bad,
but Kyle plans on being
a nurse like his dad.
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