Time flies.....almost RN2!

Tomorrow is the final shift of my grad year. As my first year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting a lot. Have I become a "Real Nurse?" Have I earned the title RN? I really don't know. I do know that I have gained confidence and knowledge, so much more than I ever learned at uni. I think I've evolved into a fairly competent nurse, at least I hope so! I don't get an awful lot of feedback, but I guess the old "no news is good news" kinda fits. Most of my colleagues speak to me on the level now, and I haven't heard the term "just the new grad" in a long time now. The next eager graduate is about to start, and I am embarking on my next challenge - student midwife! L plates on again!

I was just thinking the other day how things have panned out for me. Moving my family 400km from everything familiar, out into a small town, with a small rural facility was daunting to say the least. The first few months, as you can tell from the nature of my posts, had me thinking "what have I done?!" and wanting to just go back to my comfort zone. But you know what? I'm glad I didn't. My city friends don't know how easy they've got it - and I've experienced so much more than I ever would have in a big hospital. I've been in the thick of it with critically ill patients, where a MET team would have taken over in a big hospital - some made it, some didn't. I've helped resus a child (frightening). I've helped bring babies into the world. I've been on my own in ED with the doorbell going nuts. I've done transport duty to escort patients. I've worked with the retrieval, RFDS and NETS teams, who are just amazing. I've helped people leave this world how they wanted to. I've been part of a research study. I've been the only RN on the ward, with all the responsibility that entails. All these things that I bet few of my classmates would have done! It's this constant challenge of not knowing what you'll have one day to the next that is exciting about rural nursing. It's a world I never really understood until I arrived up to my neck in it. And what a ride it's been!

My grad year has been more than consolidating and learning skills. It's also been about finding myself, finding my path in this world of nursing. And I think I have. It's far from concrete, but it's more than a scrubby bush track ahead of me now.