Orientation: Day 3

Today was day 3 of orientation. I am feeling more confident today, feeling more like I belong here. The reality of the whole cituation is starting to set in. I worked so hard to get here, that I didn't actually think about what it would be like to not have a job, to commit two years of my life, and to be back in school. I'm excited though. I feel very prepared for the upcoming semester. Already having some knowledge and experience in the medical field is going to help a great deal. Some of the other students I have met have backgrounds in Spanish, Education, Graphic Design, etc. I'm amazed at the variations in the people coming in. There are 41 different States represented in our class; many people moved this past weekend to be here.

Someone stated during orientation that something was missing in our lives and that is why we were all there. We wanted something more. I know my own story and it makes me wonder about everyone else's. What is it that is missing in our lives? Will becoming a nurse fill that void?

While practicing as a Registered Dietitian over the past 3 years I have felt that I wasn't living up to my potential. I felt that I had more to give. I felt burdened to do more. I wanted to be more involved in patient care. I wanted more responsibility. I wanted to make a bigger difference, a bigger impact in my community. I believe that being a Dietitian is an incredibly noble and important profession, but I haven't always felt that it completed me. So I continued working and began taking night classes to refresh my transcript and meet some prerequisites. Taking classes was tough, especially after working all day. I would often think to myself why am I doing this, why am I killing myself?? And a little voice deep inside would whisper back to me, "because you want something more, because you have more to give, because you can do more than you are".

So here I am, 3 days down - doing something more. We had a stethescope ceremony today, comparable to a medical student's white coat ceremony. They discussed the function of the stethescope and the value it would give us in assessing our patients. Then they discussed the importance of listening to our patients not with just the stethescope, but with our hearts and minds. They instructed us to use our new tool as a reminder to listen to our patients and not just assess them.

So I'm armed with my stethescope, now I just need to learn how to listen and what to listen to.