Start of a new week & a sigh of relief

So at the end of last week I had a bit of an internal freak out moment!  I thought it was my last day being precepted in the PICU.

My preceptor who has been my primary since the beginning said she was going to "let me fly solo" and she definitely did.  I felt great at the end of the night, knowing that I provided great care for my patients.  But despite that, I loved knowing that I had the safety net of a preceptor the entire shift.

I will be spending this next week with the Infectious Disease team and I'm so excited! My sister laughs at me when I say this (I think she thinks Infection = Gross!), but I truly am looking forward to learning about "bugs and drugs."  This is one of the cornerstones of the ICU and something that doesn't get taught appropriately in undergrad or graduate nursing school.

So back to my freak out.  The husband and I are taking a vacation/work conference for him at the end of the month.  This meant that I would have a week in the PICU, a week with ID, and then a week off.

Or so I thought!

I treated last week as my last one being precepted, and it was great being independent.

And then I realized there was actually another week in the month! Hello...way to calculate properly!  So I get a bonus week of being precepted and I'm excited about it.  I'm hoping that it will be an entire week of letting me "fly solo" just to prove that I can do it.

And then I can let my safety net go.

Except that's the wonderful thing about the PICU.  There are always safety nets.  That's what the fellow on our service is for.  And the Attending overseeing the both of us.  And the specialty services that we consult.

So despite shaking off my preceptor safety net, I have plenty of others to rely on.  And this is a safety net of its own.

So I will truly enjoy my week off the PICU this week, spending time with Infectious Disease.  It will be nice to have a week of a little less stress...ok, a lot less stress.  And a week of actually getting out on time ( or so I hear).

So here I come Infectious Disease....bring on all the grossness, the bugs, and the drugs!