Wow...

 I haven't posted in a really, really long time.

*brushes off cobwebs*

 Part of it is inertia. I'd like to blame social media, but I've foregone it for quite some time, only popping in on Facebook periodically to check on peeps. Maybe I have nothing to rant about? Or nothing funny to share?

Nah, that's not it!

Regardless, here I am again, for the 2.5 readers I have left. Hi!

I've been travel nursing for just under two years now, and for the most part I really enjoy it. Weirdly, I really love the logistical aspect of it, finding housing, purging my belongings (yes, I have to do it EVERY MOVE), efficiently packing and then loading the car, planning my trips and booking hotels. Yes, I actually love it!

As a person whose baseline is ANXIETY, I certainly struggle a bit at the beginning of each new contract, but over time, it's gotten much easier. I mean, one of the reasons I decided to do travel nursing to begin with was the challenge, and to confront my anxiety by completely jettisoning my comfort zone. That's been a success, as far as I can tell!

New things I've experienced outside of work: 

-horseback rides on or near the beach

-hiking in many different types of terrain and landscapes, and dealing with the aftermath of faceplanting and hiking out (slightly) injured

-lots and lots and LOTS of different foods!!!

-learning to enjoy road trips, thanks to a new-found love of audiobooks (my lifesaver!)

At work, I've become semi-decent at starting IVs and phlebotomy, something that most nursing programs don't address or teach at all anymore. Doing predominantly oncology nursing, most of my patients have really shitty veins, so I think overall I might even be better than semi-decent!

I've found that I really hate certain EMR (electronic medical records) programs, like Meditech and Cerner (especially Meditech), I'm an Epic girl all the way, and that some hospitals really, really overdo the "necessary" charting. It consumes SO much of nursing staff's time.

Also, I had a contract doing outpatient infusion (that was in the Minneapolis area in summer of '21), and really enjoyed it. I haven't had the opportunity to do it again, but would really like to. I'd like to alternate inpatient and outpatient contracts, just to prevent burnout, so I need to get cracking on my search for outpatient opportunities, maybe widen my search scope.

I've been using the Duolingo app to learn Spanish, and I've been able to use it more and more at work, which really makes me happy, and the Spanish-speaking patients appreciate it, too. Yeah, my fluency in German serves no purpose here in the U.S.!

Speaking of German, I recently discovered that I might be able to obtain dual citizenship (German/US). It's a somewhat laborious process, since my German mom died quite some time ago, and I have none of her documentation. It would be pretty amazing to accomplish, thought! Think of all the opportunities!

Also, I'm finally pulling the trigger on something that I've wanted to do for more than a decade: Live and work in New Zealand for at least a year. Now that I'm an experienced nurse, I qualify for a particular work visa, though they've been changing and modifying the visa requirements far too frequently, in my opinion. I really need to get a move on, though, because there's a legal age limit that I'm rapidly approaching. The process of getting my NZ credentials is expensive and time consuming, so I really need to get a move on.

Well, this has been quite the info-dump! My apologies. It's good to be back, though. Hopefully, I'll be posting more, but I make no promises (I've learned my lesson about those...)!

Take care, y'all! Stay safe and healthy out there.