My First Day at Work

First times are something wonderful if you're in somewhere where what you've been doing is what you've been wanting. We all have lots of first times yet this first time of mine reminds me of the first time I qualified then to a national journalism tilt in high school. I made it to the nationals twice. One in Laguna, one in Surigao. You have to go through a process, metamorphose, hurdle the hardships and be keen to master your craft.

Today is my first day working in the Emergency Department of Southland Hospital. It's not the usual department I saw in structure but the delivery of care is somewhat just the same. Hence, I can say that nursing care is then universal. However, unlike with what I used to, being a registered nurse here gives you a greater scope of practice. You don't need to be confirmed by the doctor to have some blood tests done, it's your discretion to draw bloods on your own and order tests. As usual in any other places, we need to adapt with the new environment. Needs to review haemodynamics, all those rhythms, ACLS protocol and whatnots. Needs to be IV certified anew to do cannulations and also to become ECG competent. Although you can identify basic ECG rhythms, you need  to be certified to interpret them.

I just couldn't help but write something about my first day. It entails a lot of things. My flat is three minutes away from my workplace. Though it's pretty cold down here, I managed to get out to work just with my uniform, no jackets, even no hoodies as I was in a hurry to report at 7am to meet with my preceptor. I arrived just on time. Everyone's set for the handover.

I felt so lucky to have meet nice people here down South. I meet wonderful people. You can see it in their smiles. You can feel it in their eyes. It's just a good feeling to be appreciated. No joke, going out from your comfort zone in the Philippines on your own takes a lot fortitude. How I wish not to leave the Philippines but thinking of career enhancement and personal growth made me left  from my comfort nest and connect myself to the bigger energies I saw out of my zones of comfort.  As my cousin Nang Mary Jane said, sometimes we really need to fly, to stand on our own and continue flying and soon enough we won't regret flying out of our comfort nest. And for this, I thank God for everything. Have so many people to thank for. My family, dear friends in NZ, dear and crazy friends back home, Filipino community in Nelson and Nurse2NZ. The latter's an online forum which outlines the steps of pursuing your NZ dreams. Opportuned to talk with the maker of the forum and thank him for having such heart. Saved me and my parents lots of money from those agencies scattered elsewhere. The forum encourages everyone to process applications just on their own.

Back to my first day at work, well it's great. Met with the friendly and supportive staff, doctors and all the members of the whole ED team. Started with orientation of the setup and the gadgets in the unit. If you come from a tertiary private  hospital the country, the setup's pretty much the same. It perhaps just differs as far as the protocols are concerned, if not the delivery of care. Each procedure here has it's own protocol and policy specific for that unit. My preceptor is a very nice and accommodating Kiwi. Gives much opportunity for me to ask. We're two Asian nurses in the floor, a fellow Filipino named Abner, seems like a diplomatic man.

The first patient I dealt with is an elderly woman in her 80s, a cheeky old gracious woman. She joked with me as I went through with my own assessment. It's just that most Kiwis, especially the older population are naturally nice people. Very cooperative in matters of health care. The very first procedure I did was on her. Deep IM Stemetil injection.

Next patient catered was a former Air Force man in his 80s as well. Loves to talk about war as expected. Asked me about Douglas MacArthur, fall of Bataan in the Philippines and Japanese attack in the Philippines post Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. History is also one of my all time favorites. ED's a fast paced environment so we didn't had the time to chitchat for long for such matters and just told him MacArthur's famous line, "I shall return". When I got back to dress his diabetic toe ulcer, we resumed chatting. Excerpt.

Patient: In which part of the Philippines are you from gentleman?

Me: From Cebu in the central Philippines, Mr Doe.

Patient: That's great. I'm sorry if I'm too curious.

Me: No worries. Curiosity has it's own reason for existing, ain't it?

Patient: (Smiling) Oh, from whom did you quote that?

Me: Albert Einstein?

Patient: Oh boy, that makes my day.

Got another newly admitted patient and assisted in sending them to wards. Had information overload on my first day. Ooops, one more thing, we have things, material or not that keep us stimulated all these years and I know, this makes me anticipate and love going on duty even in the years to come. I am not materialistic. Just giving a little favor. Sincerely, Dodong Me.