Monday, August 4, 2008

Thanks God for listening and answering


Well, as you know from my last post, I was in quite a pickle with my work situation. I was praying, and hoping for a solution to arise. I thought that I was being spoken to from above when a flyer came from a local hospital offering a great benefit package, and jobs available for just weekends. After a couple of lefted voice messages with no call back I was starting to get discouraged. Ryan and I decided that I needed to look into working contingent, or also known as casual for you Canadian RNs, so I called HR at my hospital to get the low down on the contingent contract. During my conversation I inquired about any other open positions in the ICU. I had signed up for a part time job about a week and a half prior to that, but was 3rd on the list for seniority so I figured it had been acquired by someone with higher seniority than me. I was told that the position had not been filled but I could not be offered it because I was still on leave. In order to be offered a position you have to be at work within 2 weeks of the job posting to be taken down. That meant that I had to be back to work on Wednesday July 30th, rather than Sunday August 4th. I decided that the difference of 4 days was worth the chance that I could get the part time job. I talked to my manager that allowed me to come in for a 8 hour shift to allow me the possibility of receiving this job if the RN ahead of me decided to turn it down. By noon that day, I had been officially offered the part time position. Thank you God! This means that I only have to work 2 - 12 hour shifts a week rather than 3.

For you that are not mothers/parents, you are probably asking yourself - part time - what is the big deal? You still have to work 2 days a week. Well, let me help you with that. I work 12. 5 hour shifts. That means I get up at 5:30 and don't get home until 8:00 at the earliest. That is 14.5 hours that I am not at home, 14.5 hours that I am away from my babe, 14.5 hours on my feet, 14.5 hours that I have to recover from and that I will never get back again. This also is going to allow me to work a lot of weekends so I can be home during the week. I wasn't going to work 3 shifts in a row at this time so this allows for me to work 2 shifts in a row and then have a good chunk of time off. This is a much better situation for our family. It is much better than contingent as well, because with contingent you are not guaranteed shifts where as with part time I am always going to work 2 shifts a week and if I ever wanted to work more it would be overtime. Lyla is only a baby for such a short period of time, and I want to be with her as much as I can, and this will allow me to be with her as much as I can as well as allow me to continue my job and have some social interaction for both Lyla and I. Check out this cutie, and you can understand why I don't want to leave.

I have to work the next 2 weeks as a full time employee than my contract as a part time employee will begin on August 17th.

On the first day of work last Wednesday I did not sleep past 3:30, I was so nervous about going back to work, and nervous about leaving Lyla and nervous about the part time job. And oh the tears. But I got myself pulled together before I got to work. It was nice to see everyone and nice to be welcomed back, but when my time to go home came I was running out the door to see my family. I was fortunate that Ryan was able to look after her for both of my first shifts. She got to see her Hewlett grandparents this weekend which was nice for her. This week Ryan's mom is coming to look after her. So , here starts the life of a part time nurse and full time mom.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The little princess has sure changed a lot in the month since I saw her. I love the little cheeks, can't wait to kiss those!! Who is she looking like???...

Anonymous said...

prayers answered!! So happy for you Kel!

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear things worked out Kelly!
It sounds like the perfect mix of home and work.

Unknown said...

SO SO SO glad you got your prayers answered See ya real soon!!
Love cousin Emily

Kat said...

Kelly way to go! I am so happy for you and Ryan and especially Lila :)
Things always work out for the best! Ryan's father's message in reply to your last post was one of the nicest things I have read in a long time - what a fantastic family that little Lila has. All the best,
Kat

Anonymous said...

I'm really happy that it is all working out for you!! It sounds like the perfect arrangement because you might even enjoy getting out of the house a couple of days a week:)

The Rebelo Family said...

So glad to hear things worked out. They usually find a way of doing so! I hear you about leaving kids for work - that's part of our great debate in moving to Woodstock because if we don't then we're away from them for more than 12 hours a day. Both of us. Boo. So I'm happy to hear you're able to be with Lyla more than you would have been!