New Beginnings

In 3 days I start my new job. I am full of anticipation - my stomach full of both butterflies and wasps.

How will I like my new employers, my new colleagues? How will they like me?

I've been thinking a lot about how I can make a good impression. How I would like them to see me? I would like to be seen as highly skilled, eager to learn, helpful, friendly, and positive.

I also worry about what it will be like to be new? Will I be able to live up to the expectations of my new workplace? In my present job I have become used to being one of the more experienced, the person my colleagues come to for proffessional advice and guidance.

To prepare I have gone through 12 online introductory courses - everything from fire safety to blood draws, the layout of the hospital, security procedures, and procedures for documenting medication administration.

One of the reasons for taking the new job is that I will be salaried as a nurse anesthetist. So I think a lot about how I can let my competency come to expression in the ER setting.

Finally there is the question of the commute. It is an hour by train, pluss 10 or 15 minutes by bus. I look forward to the time on the train and am thinking of how I can make the most use of it: studying? surfing the internet? doing my meditations? relaxing with a good book or napping? After plotting my workday into google calendar I could see that I will not have time for activities before or after work, so in order to still get some fresh air and exercise I have bought stud tires for my bicycle. It really doesn't take longer to bike down to the train station (3 km) where I can chain my bike at the bicycle park right next to the platform, than to take the car out of the car port, drive down and around to the parking area on the far side of the station, and then go back under the underpass in order to come up on the right side again, where the platform is. Once I had decided to bike the distance, I started thinking about the stuff I will have to lug around, like my unwieldy laptop, and so I decided to order an iPad. The tires came yesterday, husband will be mounting them this weekend, so I should be all set to bike to the train station by tuesday.