This week was the same as always. I worked from 12-4 on Friday. I feel more comfortable than ever in the NICU. I recognize a lot of the nurses and I've memorized a lot of things like phone numbers by now. I only learned how to unlock the desk drawers with the keys I have a few weeks ago. Even after a few months, I'm still learning every shift.
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Because I missed two weeks in a row, I worked two shifts this week. I volunteered on Wednesday from 4-7 as well as my normal 12-4 shift on Friday. It was interesting for me to see the different crowd in the evening. The NICU lounge got very busy at some points, and was empty at other times, which probably had a lot to do with families eating dinner. Every now and then, kids who can’t visit their siblings because they are too young will stay in the lounge with me, either with or without another parent. On Wednesday, I got to know one of the dads and his six-year-old daughter. I learned that he was from the Phillipines, and that his daughter’s mother had passed away. They were with what I’m assuming was his second wife visiting their newborn in the NICU. On Friday, I spent some time with another six-year-old, and she told me that she’s the oldest of three kids, and that she had another younger sibling who had passed away. I was so sad to hear these stories, and they really inspired me to be thankful for my loved ones. This article about things that must stop happening in order for happiness to occur was very inspirational to me. I connected most with the last entry about procrastination. The way that the author talked about time being a bank account with only a limited amount of seconds really made me think about how I spend my own time and the different ways that I could make my time more useful. The hardest thing for me is making sure I have everything I need to do done for the day by the time I am ready to go to sleep. I often lose many hours just because I’ve pushed my obligations to the side until it’s almost too late to take care of them. I am often up late into the night and losing vital time to sleep because I don’t use my time efficiently. This week, it will be my goal to make sure I am more mindful of the way I utilize my time. Since this week was the pep rally, and it happened when I work, I couldn't go to my volunteer position this Friday, either. I wanted to go, but I was coaching powerbuff volleyball and I chose to stay and make up my shift another time. On Monday, I have to call the hospital and figure out when I can work to make up for the hours that I lost.
This week we had to make paper plate awards for our employers. Although I didn't make one for my employer since I don't know her that well, I helped my friend Lauren make her bosses one each, since she has two and I had none. I didn't go to my career field experience this week. I was sick and I didn't want to risk anything at the hospital, especially since I work in the NICU with the babies who have the highest chance of getting sick.
Here's my letter of appreciation to my employer. I don't really interact with her, so writing it was a little difficult at times, but definitely doable. I'm not really sure if she'll even have the chance to give me a sticky note back. She doesn't work on the days that I do, so it will be hard to get one back from her. |
Natalie S.I am a senior at Lake Shore High School and I go to Macomb Community College through the Early College program. I play volleyball, basketball, and softball, and I will play softball at Hillsdale College next year. Archives
May 2017
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