The Interview

I had typed out the story of my interview last night, only to accidently delete it. I guess this really isn't a good excuse as to why it's taken me a whole week to update everyone about what happened! Sorry! And thank you all for your prayers :) Here is everything I can remember about what happened last Monday.

This interview was probably the weirdest and biggest thing I've ever done.

Weird because: It's a big-girl job. It's part of "the real world". It'll be what I do till I'm in my 60's.

Big because: It's a big-girl job. It's part of "the real world". It'll be what I do till I'm in my 60's.

So here's how my day went: I woke up and put on my best black pencil skirt, light blue striped collared short-sleeved shirt, and black heels. Boy did I look professional. I was so excited to be walking back into the doors of Johns Hopkins; it's always a great feeling, less so when it'll be job time and it's 6:00 am (actually still a great feeling, it's the alarm going off at home at 5 that is less than ideal).

It was also great to be back in the NICU and see everyone I've worked with. I enjoyed looking on the boards to see which babies were still there that I have cared for, too :) Such cuties!

The first thing I did was meet with a nurse manager and talk about my ethical issues with abortion and active euthanasia (where the actions taken by the medical team directly cause the death of the patient, rather than the removal of medical treatment and allowing the illness itself to cause the death of the patient [Passive euthanasia]). Active euthanasia, a form of physician assisted suicide, does not happen in the USA except for in one state, but I wanted to cover all ethical situations that I would be unwilling to participate in after learning about them in class this semester. After the nurse manager explained to me how my scheduling would work (work every-other weekend for the first year then every third after that, working half of the holidays, working 8 and/or 12 hour shifts), we headed over to a conference room where there were 3 other nurses waiting for us! I interviewed with all 4 of them, but it wasn't as frightening as I thought it would be because I knew them all and they were kind!

The interview started with me telling about how when I was in middle school, I saw a TIME magazine article about a neonate and the nurses in the NICU, and I told my mom that "this is what I want to do!". I explained how I love children and feel that it is an amazing experience to be able to care for the most helpless. I also told them how I came to work at Hopkins and how I love being a part of such a distinguished team.

The majority of the questions were based on previous clinical experiences or asking how I would handle certain clinical situations. I was able to tell of my missions trip to Guatemala, where I translated spanish and worked all day long (the question being if there were ever a time where I had to move-move-move all day). I wasn't asked to give my weaknesses, but I was asked if there were a time where I felt overwhelmed, and I told them that there has not been a time that I can remember where I was not able to do the work required of me (and I attributed that to the fact that I have had great fellow nursing students and instructors who were always willing to help me if I needed anything, and that in my down-time, I can be of help to others).

An interesting question that ended the interview was if I felt my CNE experience at Hopkins has helped me with my Leadership clinicals here in Lynchburg. I have felt that my CNE experience has been a great help and that I have been able to see both sides of patient care and learn how that care differs when I am practicing as a nurse. I also told them how I would tell myself, when first starting in the NICU here at school, that I needed to have a teachable spirit and be quiet and learn... that there was much I could learn from my preceptor who is an expert in her field and has much wisdom. They asked for examples of how things differed from Hopkins and I told them how there is about 5 patients in the unit here at school compared with the 45 at Hopkins! I was also able to remove an umbilical venous catheter (an IV line placed in a vein in the umbilical cord) from one of my patients (nurses do not perform this at Hopkins) and how I feel guilty eating my lunch with the other nurses in the unit (this isn't allowed at Hopkins!). They thought that was funny, which was a nice way to end the interview, in my opinion.

All-in-all I feel the interview went well; but I do feel like I repeated myself at times. It was weird after the interview feeling that there was nothing more I could do but wait for their decision. They still have 4 more people to interview (I was the first) and they won't know how many positions are available until they get their budget back for the unit. But it really is nice to know that it is in the Lord's hands and that His will for me will be done! So I'm not feeling anxious... there's simply no reason at all to "worry about tomorrow..." :) Plus I've got NCLEX to think about, and actually there is worrying involved with that. Baaah!

Before heading back to school, Matt and I had lunch at a fun Greek restaurant in Baltimore. I tried really, really hard to pay for it all, but Matt insisted. What a nice brother ;)

P.S. - I have some amazing pictures from Mom, Matt, Bryce, and Brandon's visit this past weekend, but I've lost the cord that transfers my pictures to my computer. So until I can get a new one, I'll have to just tell you - the pictures are worth waiting for.