Would I do it all over again?

Hell Nah! 

NOPE. 

NUH-UH.

Return to SENDER. 

I DON'T WANT IT...TAKE IT BACK... SECURRRITY!!

This would have been my response 3 years ago if I had to do it all over again. Matter of fact, you would've had some eye roll'n and a cocked head to the side with that "Hell Nah!" (IGL).

3 years ago, I was only 2 years strong as a nurse. I did one year in pediatrics and was wrapping up my one year as postpartum Mother/baby nurse, moved to two different cities in Texas and was on the verge of  changing my whole career. I was tired, over worked and I was going through the motions of "another day another dollar" (side note- I hate that phrase) which were all the clear signs that I was heading down the burnout road. Was this really all nursing had to offer me? I mean..I was getting thank you letters from patients for all my compassionate work. I was actively a part of Committees in my hospitals trying to spearhead change, I even took on a leadership position as a president for a local chapter in a national nursing organization and yet...I felt unfulfilled.

I wanted to do so much more but I felt limited by what it meant to work at the bedside. I was working nights at the time, which started off fun and exciting right out of college but soon turned into me dreading the thought of continuing this cycle in the future. 12 hour shifts? pssh..more like 14+ hours and that's if nothing dramatic happens right before I'm  about to give report to the incoming nurse. I was ALWAYS tired, never had energy to do things I liked on my off days except sleep, eat and poop. If I did attempted to participate in something fun on my off days, one of two things would happen....I would either force my sleep deprived body to go, pretending to be "LIT" or I would get a call from work offering time and half pay to come back in to help our "always short staffed"unit. Take a guess at which one I usually picked...(IGL) this was my cycle for 2 years and I was over it.

I didn't want to leave the nursing field because I truly loved taking care of people and I didn't want to go back to school to be a Nurse Practitioner due to the fact it wasn't my dream nor did I want to rack up more student loans! So what do I do?  Well, after a few travel nursing assignments, two city relocation later and some networking...I found my Niche. I found a role in nursing that not only allowed me to use my license to practice as a RN, I was able to impact patients, advocate for nurses and have a normal flexible hours of working. I didn't give up nor did I succumbed to false information that I had to have a certain amount of years at the bedside before I could do something else in nursing.  I stopped listening to the lies and stayed true to myself, I placed myself in places that my age, gender, color would say I shouldn't be in but that didn't stop me. So to answer the question "Would I do it all over again?"

Hell yes. 

2 years ago...this was a real post. But I Made it tho!!!