The Setup

I am going to wear a hole in the hardwood.

I can't sit still

and

my cellphone is sitting here as quiet 

as a paperweight.

Honestly,

how long does it take to give someone a call

and let them know yes or no?

Well to keep me from damaging the floor too badly

let me tell you how I got into this predicament

and then we can take bets on 

who thinks I'm in or out.

The Setup 

  At this time it had been a week since I had written (and passed) the NCLEX which I swore I had failed when leaving. I had about 50 or more politely worded rejection emails from various hospitals saying something along these lines....

  "Thank you for applying but you are totally unqualified for this job and we are not interested in training a new graduate on this unit at this time. Please feel free to apply again when you have some real nursing experience, but please do keep trying you might get lucky"

  I can't sleep, so when my phone goes off at 6:30AM, I am thankful for the excuse to get out of bed and check the message. The text is from a family member letting me know a local hospital is having an open house, no time or place, just that little nugget of info. I check on their website, nothing, random internet search reveals nothing, so I do the one thing that I never do...turn on the morning news. Ugh! And there it is being read by a way-too-cheery-for-this-time-in-the-morning-before-my-coffee news anchor. I scribble down the time and place and while walking the dog, dial up my Best Nursing School Buddy (BNSB from here forward) and convince her that I am doing her a favor by taking her if she drives. 

  

 BNSB arrives and we head out to the Local Hospital wearing our professional-but-not-trying-too-hard outfits, mine is the only pair of slacks I own, grey wool and a green knit shell over top a collared shirt. We arrive at the "event" and are greeted by a recruiter who asks us if we have filled out an online application, of course I have, BNSB on the other hand has not. The recruiter shows BNSB to laptop and she get settled in for the long haul. If you have not yet had the pleasure of filling one of these things out the only piece of advice is get ready to be in one place for a LONG time. These apps ask for your last 10 years of employment history, the last 10 places you lived and a sample of DNA, slight exaggeration....but only a slight one.

  While BNSB is trying to remember her last 5 addresses, the recruiter finds me in the system and hands me off to a very pleasant lady in scrubs who ushers me to the back room to talk. After a few of the usual interview questions we begin to chat a little and I loosen up and become more of a person. I like her, long time vet of the profession who has done just about everything and then she asks me what I would say to surgery. In the back of my mind I was laughing, here's the big joke...I am NOT about surgery. I have had the privilege to stand in on a number of surgeries through nursing school, and if you get the chance kiddo's I highly recommend jumping on it, but I have very little interest in doing the job of a surgical nurse. I pause then recover and admit that surgery is very technically interesting, and of course would jump at a chance to do it. Honestly I would, it's a job that gives you experience, not my first choice but hey New Grad can't be picky. She also mentions in an off hand manner that ED and ICU are also looking for candidates, but more importantly she tells me she likes me and thinks I could work out well in her department. We end on that note with a handshake and she escorts me back outside into the lobby where she hands over my resume to the recruiter and tells her she would be "very interested" in pursuing this resume. The recruiter puts my resume into a little pile and lets me know she will be in touch with me by the end of next week. With that being said I go check in on BNSB.

  She is at a laptop looking like she's going to give up, so I kick her chair and whisper to her that they have Surgery on the table. Now unlike me BNSB's dream is to end up in the OR in someway other than a patient. So she settles in and gets that sucker done, and then finds out there is an online personality test to take, I totally let that one slip my mind!  So I settle on grabbing a soda from the buffet table and attempt to sit down with it. Bad decision. True to form I bobble the can and end up dumping the whole thing into my lap in front of all the interviewers who turn to look when the can hits the floor. Wishing I could crawl under the chair I grab some napkins mop up the mess on me and the floor as gracefully as possible and then grab a spritz of sanitizing foam before finding a quiet seat to retreat to.

  BNSB finally gets done with that blasted laptop and is ushered back with my pleasant lady for a chat. They are gone for a short time and when they come out BNSB is positively floating, she has a huge smile on her face and out pleasant lady gives the recruiter her resume which goes into the little pile. We both say our good byes to everyone and head out to the car where no one inside can hear us squealing like giddy school girls. On the ride home we spend the time trying ti figure out if what just happened was real, what it all meant and what the heck we do next. 

  So the waiting game begins here.....