The Last Time

Woo.  Worked my last shift at Hood Hospital EVAR this week, y'all. And I say that definitively because I was thinking about picking up some shifts over there, but yeah, F that noise.  I honestly thought I would feel more upset about leaving.  I felt upset about leaving some of the doctors and PAs, because I really will probably never see them again.  Turns out a few of them also work at my new hospital- unfortunately not the ones I would necessarily want to see again, but oh well.  One of the most poignant moments for me was saying goodbye to big eastern european doc, who has worked there since I was a baby nurse and has yelled at me many a time.  He was always someone whose respect I sought, although I was pretty much convinced he hated me and thought I was a complete moron up until about a year ago, when he seemed to start tolerating me.  When I went to say goodbye to the docs that morning he actually got up out of his chair and hugged me and said he would miss me.  I really had no idea how some of the people here felt until I was saying goodbye and I saw that they actually looked really sad.
Saying goodbye to my fellow nurses was tough too- especially since the two people that I would really say were both my mentors throughout my nursing career thus far were there,  but I know we'll stay in touch.
Fortunately, they put me at triage, which was probably the most solid affirmation possible that I was making the right choice.  Nope, I sure won't miss making sick people wait for 12 hours to get seen, or getting cussed out every time I open the door to call someone to triage.  I won't miss taking care of people in chairs because there are no rooms in the back while triaging 15 people an hour at the same time. I won't miss compromising my license and questioning why I became a nurse in the first place.  I'm sad to leave everybody, but it was past time to move on.  I feel a little stupid for staying this long.  I know nowhere is going to be perfect, but I'm excited to start the next part of my life.