Maybe a new job

I received a call from Vancouver Coastal Health recruitment yesterday requesting I come in for an interview for the Tertiary Mental health unit staff nurse position I applied for a couple weeks ago. With this interview comes a great sense of relief at the possibility that I will only have to go back to work at Detox for four weeks when I return from my maternity leave in January. It's amazing how work actually effects me even when I'm not at work.

I'm greatly enjoying this time off from Detox. I was not really thinking about work at all until a coworker who is temporarily filling in my line facebook messaged me to ask when I'm retuning to work (I guess she was under the impression that I was taking the entire year of leave and thus that she would have a temporary full-time line for an entire year). This was a reminder of the deep anxiety that I constantly feel at work. This in turn triggered some anxiety about actually returning to work in a place that I find detrimental to my love of nursing and also my home life as I tend to vent to Kelly a lot. Have you ever had a job that instills so much anxiety in you that even the night before work, as you're laying down to go to bed the anticipation of having to wake up and go the next morning keeps you from sleeping well? This is certainly not a way to live. Unlike some of my nursing peers that I have encountered in the past I understand that there are many many other positions that I would enjoy much more that would positively contribute to my quality of life. Although tempting to trade off job satisfaction with schedule flexibility I can't do it. A third of my life is spent at work; the ill effects of that 1/3 impact the other 2/3.

I am a nurse and I am not trapped in a job I do not like. I have options. Seriously, be thankful that we have this type of freedom and exercise it.

Love,

Michelle D.

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