"Who are you?"

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and one half of today I sat through a boring, litigious hospital orientation. I learned about policy and procedure, computer programs, statistics, and the "chain of command"...yuck. Then today, after lunch, I stepped off the elevator onto my floor, the NICU. I swiped my new "RN" name badge that gets me into all the doors that my student name badge did nothing for.

And I knew what was waiting for me on the other side: Overworked ICU nurses (who won't hold your hand or coddle you or remember your name), Doctors (who are often dismissive and rude), the complete chaos of all the monitors dinging away (a gentle reminder of impending doom), and...the babies. The babies are why I came.

I love the hospital. I love that when I stepped onto the unit and found the charge nurse who I was supposed to report to, she had no idea I was coming, or who I was, or what to do with me.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Rosie, I'm a student, I mean I'm not a student anymore, I'm a new grad....a new hire. I'm an RN." (awkward)
"Oh, you were our student nurse from a few months ago"
"Yes. I'm supposed to have Unit Orientation today"

She was in the middle of starting an IV on a baby. "Well", she says, "There are fire extinguishers by the doors, the valve to shut off the oxygen supply over is over in that corner and the code to the break room is 1734. Any questions?" (sarcastic).

"I guess that was my orientation", I think, as a shake my head.

She must have took a liking to me (despite the less than warm welcome) because she found me a really interesting case and a really great nurse to follow for a few hours until she could properly deal with me. My first patient, as a nurse, was a baby born with an omphalocele. PLEASE google it. AMAZING. I cant figure out how to link it, but basically it is a baby born with all it's abdominal organs (stomach, liver, and intestines)in a sac OUTSIDE of it's body. They were able to surgically repair the defect and now the baby has a long recovery ahead of him, but I could not have asked for a more amazing "first patient".

I know it's not going to be easy. I've got a lot to prove to people who are generally hard to impress. At this point I can't pick my own nose without a critical eye watching me, and you know what? I love it.