Happy New Year!

Oh boy...I know it's been awhile.  A long while, actually!

I come back after almost 6 weeks off to several new followers and subscribers...so thank you and welcome.  Sorry for the lack of blogging, probably right after you subscribed!!  And if you asked questions via email or in my comments, I promise to address those very soon!

But now I'm back!  I've been on a blogging hiatus not because I've not been working and didn't have material to talk about, but mostly because work was working me in December, and it's taken me the beginning of January to work things out with a glorious week off.  Wow, lot's of "work" in that sentence.

Part of my lack of blogging about work was because the end of November and all of  December was just crazy.  Our 40 bed PICU was jammed full with sick kids.  We had many deaths...far more deaths in a 5 week period than we have ever experienced in my 8 years of working there.  And to top all that, we are short a few (ok, more like 10!) APNs.  And our fellows that should be providing coverage in the PICU 24/7 are having to provide cross-coverage about 50% of night shifts in the Cardiac ICU leaving a bigger staff deficit.

So that leaves a full unit of very sick kids, with overworked (and underpaid depending on what practice you are speaking of!) APNs and doctors.

This translates to a highly stressful and more emotional month than I've had in a long time.

But it's a new year which to me a new start with work.  I had almost 2 full weeks off, was able to get out of town to visit my family, and just recharge.  And boy did I need it.

It was ten days full of stretch pants and comfy sweatshirt wearing, only taken off to go for a refreshing walk or jog, lots of great comfort food (to balance out all of those workouts of course!), no make-up whatsoever, game playing, movie watching, and lots of family fun!  That really helps putting a new year into perspective rather than just rolling right into the new year trudging through work.

So I came back in town, and went back to work Monday night...way to just jump right back into the swing of things with going back to 16 hour nights!

I must say, while we still are full with high acuity, there was a calm over me that I did not have in December.  There was a patience that I had that certainly was not there last month.  And while it was a busy night and I had a horrific headache, there was a little voice in my head saying "You can do this.  You will get through this night. Everything will be ok!"

And it was ok.  The night was over soon enough, and I was able to go home and get some amazing sleep during the day (which usually doesn't happen for me).

So I'm grateful for New Starts in the New Year.  No, the PICU is still the PICU. And yes, we still are crazy full with crazy sick kids and just plain crazy parents.  But the new year tends to bring a fresh perspective and outlook that has helped me this year.

With that calm, I am back to blogging.  And once again, to my new readers, welcome. To my old readers thanks for sticking with me.

I hope that this new year has given you a fresh perspective, more patience, and a new outlook that will make you more successful in your job, and more happy in your life in general!