Why I have a job...

About an hour into nursing school, we were informed that the market was flooded with nurses and new grads would have a difficult time finding a job. This was pounded into our heads from day one. By the start of second semester, I decided maybe it was time I started looking for a job...so I could have a foot in the door. I briefly looked, but nothing came of it. I became concerned. I started praying. And I decided to start fasting. I fasted every Sunday for over a year. After a lot of thought and prayer, I decided that a job was not right for me, but maybe volunteering was. So, I applied at four different hospitals. One hospital was extremely rude and I decided I'd rather die than work there. There were no openings at another hospital and one other wouldn't return my call. I finally had some luck with Community Regional Medical Center. I started volunteering basically taking discharged patients from their hospital room to their vehicles and running labs and stuff back and forth. It was pretty dull. I didnt' feel like I was making any progress towards getting an in. And then, there was a new opportunity opening for "cuddlers" in the NICU. I signed up! I interviewed and got a position (volunteer) and started doing that job. It was hard. Nurses were not very cool about letting us hold their babies. But there were a few who were receptive. Whenever I got a nurse who would let me hold her baby, I made conversation and let them know I was a nursing student. After several months, I got tired of not being able to hold babies very often. Then, a nurse stopped me in the hallway, asked if I was Michelle Edwardson, and if a particular supervisor had found me yet. I was sure she was mistaken. I left the supervisor a note and gave her my contact information. I heard nothing from her, so I made an appointment with the Director. My intention was to get her to talk to the nurses and let us hold the babies! However, when I walked in her office, I heard myself say..."I want a job. How do I go about getting one?" She offered to create an extern position for me, which she did. Unfortunately, it didn't work out since my school didn't have a contract with that hospital. I was very discouraged...very discouraged. But, I kept volunteering. Meanwhile, a very coveted position came up at Kaweah Delta Hospital as a student nurse intern. I knew it was an opportunity to get in the door. I did NOT want to work at Kaweah Delta, mainly because they start at 6:00 AM and I live an hour away. Not cool! Getting up at 3:45 in the morning for school clinicals twice a week AND working as an intern would have been VERY difficult. However, I had an in! The position was in a unit where a former instructor of mine worked and she offered to give me a recommendation! So, I applied and got an interview. I prepared A LOT for the interview. I knew all the answers to all the questions they could ask. And when I went for the interview, I CHOKED! Really choked! Like I've never choked before! What the...? In the end, I was sad that I didn't get the job because my interview SUCKED! However, I was RELIEVED not to have to drive down there an extra day or two every week because I knew my family would have taken the brunt of that deal...and it wouldn't have been pretty. Fast forward to graduation. I graduated! And I took the boards three days later. I made an appointment with the Director of the NICU the day after I took my boards. I made the appointment and planned on asking how to get a job there. However, when I was greeted by the Director, she basically sent me to the nurse supervisors. They explained the terms of the job to me and I had a job! Just like that! No interview. No stress. Just a job. Five days after graduation. Unheard of. Blessed. It was no accident things happened as they did. It was no accident that I started volunteering at this particular hospital. It was no accident that they created the NICU cuddler program when they did. And it was no accident that I befriended the nurses that would eventually ask the supervisors to hire me. Heavenly Father cleared a path for me...right where I needed to be. When I went to nursing school, pediatrics was of interest to me as was labor and delivery. But NICU is where I belong. It's where I fit. I feel so blessed to have been directed along this path and given such a huge blessing of a job in a really difficult economy for nurses. Fasting works. And Heavenly Father has a plan for us. Whether we know it or not, he does. We're really just along for the ride. Now if only I could relax along the ride...life would be a lot more pleasant!