School Days

11/13/09:

My life is upside down. At least, that is how I feel this morning. Having decided to go to work part time after Christmas, I told my good friend Nancy, and she, being the “get ‘er done” person in my life in so many ways, got on the phone and found an old friend we worked with years ago. Carol is the director of one of the area hospice facilities, and we spoke on the phone. She wants to hire me!!

Now for the really ugly part. When I went to my file drawer to fetch my nursing license so I could fill out a job application, I found it had expired nearly 2 years ago. While I was taking care of Clint, I either didn’t get the notice that we professionals are no longer receiving renewal forms in the mail or I simply failed to do it. It doesn’t matter how it happened, it matters that I don’t have a current license. We are responsible for making sure we renew on time. That makes a lot of sense to me, and I am 100 percent at fault.

It’s just so fucking maddening that I kept that license current all these years so that I could work if I wanted to or needed to. Now I must apply for reinstatement and get some classroom and clinical experience before I get it back. The application
fee was $90.00!

Maybe it was meant to be. I have always liked school, though at my age it’s a little daunting. I can do my clinical rotation at a hospice facility (where I want to work) if I so choose. After my application is accepted, I will be give a temporary permit to practice while I work on being officially reinstated. So, it’s not as bad as it seemed at first. Just writing it down has given me a clearer focus on just what it all means.