First Day At Work

Hey guys! I don't know if anyone noticed, but I have gotten pretty quiet today. It is because I started my first day of work today at Fresenius Kidney Care. It is a dialysis clinic with several locations around the world. To be honest with you I was so nervous to go to work today. Firstly, because I have no experience in dialysis  and secondly, because I have been off work for so long that I feel quite rusty. 

On the upside, since it was my first day, my manager told me to come at 9:00 AM instead of the early 7:00 AM. I have prepared my lunch and needs on the day before so that I won't be late for today. I am not used to having a structure yet, as I have not worked for 4 months, so I gave myself an ample snooze time. I snoozed the alarm 3 times before I got up. First things first, I texted my boyfriend to let him know that he's the first person I thought of as I woke up. Then I boiled water for my coffee and headed straight up for the shower. I didn't really have time for a proper breakfast as I snoozed too much but I packed a big lunch. 

When I arrived work, it looked like no one was manning the reception. But a dialysis assistant spotted me and let me through. It seems like I've arrived at a busy time, so the manager told him to show me where my temporary uniforms were. After I changed into my uniforms, I then joined in for the handover. Straight away I was overwhelmed as they seem to know all the patients well. Because it is a dialysis unit they get to know their patients quite a lot. They were also talking about things that aren't normally talked about in general nursing. I was ready to run away. 

Anyhow, after handover our manager, Gigi, showed me around the unit. She also printed the induction pack and we started going through it. We then had our break and I learned that they provide free snack bars and hot drinks. So grabbed a granola bar as I didn't have breakfast and chatted away. It is a very multicultural team and I was actually glad as my manager is Filipino like me. 

After break was the busy time of day as the morning dialysis were finishing and they were now getting the afternoon dialysis patients in. I was shadowing Gigi as she was busily removing the dialysis lines. I felt quite guilty not being able to help, but I am not allowed to do anything yet until I've read some documents. I was not even allowed to help with the cleaning of the beds. I keep offering to help that Gigi gave in and taught me how to set up lines for the dialysis machines. It was a hard job. I have never seen so many lines and attachments in my entire nursing career. She showed me once and she let me do the rest. She was handling 4 patients so I did 3 machines. To be totally honest, I didn't know how I managed to do it but I did. Initially, with some reminder and prompting and on my own eventually. I am not sure I would remember it tomorrow though but I have got a week to learn it. 

After the new patient's were hooked to their dialysis machine, it was back to being chilled again. We did the afternoon rounds and I was getting introduced to all the patients. They were quite curious about me as well as I am a new face but they were all lovely. After that, it was time for another break. After the break, my manager gave me things to read. They were mostly risk assessments. I read 3 of them, each 7 pages long. When I finished that I was finally allowed to go home. Thank God as I have so much headache after reading. I think it was a combination of knowledge overload and the oxygen deprivation from wearing the mask.

As I was walking home I was silently thanking God for this job and the opportunity to earn money again. I was also thankful that my new colleagues and patients were lovely and friendly, for now. My first day was not so bad. The walk home was pretty lovely too. I saw some scare crows along the way and I would write more about them when I've seen them all. Now just relaxing and waiting for my headache to subside. 

Bottomline, being a newbie can be very stressful but with the right attitude and the right people it can be a good journey too. I look at this as an opportunity to grow career wise and to learn new and exciting things. Thanks for reading guys! Cheers!