Nurse Jessica Has Left The Hospital

Disclaimer: I have NO CLUE why this text is underlined, nor do I know how to undo it, so deal with it...

WTF?!?! Why isn't this underlined?!

And a big thank you to Manuel the Photoshop King for this fun fun fun picture.

Now, as for the title of this post, it's not definite yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I applied for a job as a nurse in a OB/GYN clinic downtown. It would be my job to take the histories of the patients who come in newly pregnant. I would tell them what to expect with the pregnancy, tell them which labs and ultrasounds to get and when, and follow-up to make sure they did them. (Basically a lot of patient education, which is one of my favorite things about what I do now.) Then I would make sure the hospital gets the patient information. I would also do tests called NSTs in the office, where I hook the baby up to a monitor and make sure it's happy. I would start IVs when necessary for IV hydration. I would field incoming calls from patients who think they're in labor.

The clinic is still part of the company I currently work for, so I wouldn't lose my seniority, my PTO, things like that. I would get my own office. I would work Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm (or 730am to 430pm), weekends and holidays off.

Why am I doing this, you may ask? My schedule now is very flexible - 3 days a week and I pretty much pick them. Manuel's schedule as a Realtor was flexible too - he didn't have to go into the office every day, so if I had a Tuesday off, he could take the day off too and we'd hang out together. The jobs he's looking for now are Monday through Friday jobs, and I have a really hard time imagining going to work during the weekend while he's off, or being off during the week while he's at work. I want to be on the same schedule as him. It's not like I aim to spend every waking moment with him, but even now it sucks to go to work while he's at home, and when I'm at home while he's at work, I'm bored. I just really think it'll be easier on us (me mostly) if we keep the same schedule.

Plus, and I'll freely admit this, I am inherently lazy. I'd rather have the controlled pace of a clinic, where I know what the day has in store, where I know I can sit down, where I know I'll have a lunch, where I know I'll have time to pee, rather than the unknown, uncontrolled pace of the labor and delivery unit, where the above luxuries are never guaranteed.

The pay is less, about $3.50 an hour, but I'll be working 4 more hours each week, so it makes up for it. The commute is longer - about 10 miles - and traffic will be worse. I'll have to pay for my benefits, whereas the hospital covers them now, but it's not a ridiculous sum of money - about $45 each paycheck for Man and I both. I doubt I'll be under a union contract, like at the hospital, so I won't have dues taken out of each paycheck, which will mostly cover the benefits.

I called the HR department of the clinic this morning and the position is still open. The HR lady asked me some questions, including why I want to change jobs, what skills I have, things like that. It seemed like she liked me. She said she'd forward my application to the hiring manager, who would call me, so we'll see.

So, what do you think? I've given the pros and cons, and unless my vision is clouded, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I'd appreciate any insight...