Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Awful vs Awesome

Last Friday I went to a Nursing Leadership conference on top of working my 3 shifts that week. Instead of just telling you about it, I've decided to do a breakdown of the awful and the awesome...because there were plenty of both!

Awful: Being in the car for an hour and a half to get there...and 2 1/2 hours to get home!
Awesome: Now knowing by heart every single word to Moves Like Jagger, Party Rock Anthem, and Rolling in the Deep because I heard them about 7 times each!

Awful: Making the weirdest, most awkward face as I was standing to be announced as the recipient of the Pinnacle Nurse Leader award from my institution...and holding it for the entire 6 minutes that other names were being read!
Awesome: The fact that I won the Pinnacle Nurse Leader award- score for putting something really good on my APN resume!

Awful: Steamed carrots for lunch...ugh, no matter how many times I try to like them, I just can't!
Awesome: The rest of the lunch- great salad and cheese platter, some really awesome yellow stuff that I want to call polenta but nobody really knew what it was, and chicken
REALLY Awesome: The dessert plate! Whoa mama this one was incredible!!
Awful: Having our table assigned to be in the back...by the nurses that are chatty. And the one's that are apparently hard of hearing b/c they kept saying "What did he say!?" And the ones that despite 2 reminders still did not put their phones on vibrate- no I don't want to "Get Jiggy With It" right now...maybe later.
Not quite Awful, but not Awesome either: The fact that the keynote speaker was a physician...at a NURSING leadership conference, really!?!?
Awesome: The fact that the physician giving the keynote speech kept saying he never could have done his job without his nursing and nurse practitioner colleagues. Yes this is OH.SO.TRUE! Brownie points for that!

Awful: Not getting paid for my 4 hours of drive time...yes, sorry, this again. It was dreadful!
Awesome: Getting paid for 4 hours of eating great food, getting an award, and listening to one speech.

Awful: Having an uber awkward introduction to the Chief Nursing Executive who I met/had conversations with the entire shuttle ride to the conference from our hospital...we sat right next to each other. Why neither of us didn't interrupt the person and say, "Yes, not only have we met, but we know what we had for dinner last night, our favorite vacation spots, and what our weekend plans are" is beyond me!
Awesome: Having the Chief Nursing Exec ask what my plans were in regards to finding an APN job, and her telling me she would make sure that I got a great job in an area that I want!

Awful: The fact that as much as I want to be a "nurturer," that word only applies to me in the PICU...because I kill every plant (and most animals, unfortunately) that find their way into my house.
Awesome: The fact that I won the gorgeous centerpiece- a beautiful stainless steel pot that matches our kitchen housing an orchid. Not that orchids are hard to keep alive or anything! Still, this was totally awesome! I almost jumped out of my chair fist pumping and screaming "Oh Yeah Baby!"...but luckily, refrained!

So there ya have it. That was the Nursing Leadership Conference in a nutshell...both the awful and the awesome!

What has been awful and awesome for you lately!?

1 comment:

  1. Congratulations on being recognized for being the leader you are.

    Great blog post, enjoyed reading every word!

    ReplyDelete