Member-only story
I had been an OR nurse for over six years the first time I left for a desk job. The horrible schedule, being on-call, the physical demands of the job itself — all played a role in my decision to move on.
However, after another six years of driving a desk, I had begun to feel like an imposter. I missed the work I did as an OR nurse. I missed surgeons. I missed patients who were asleep. I noticed all through those years, I kept introducing myself not as a kidney transplant coordinator, but as an ‘Old OR Nurse’.
They say once an OR nurse, always an OR nurse. So I decided to stop fighting it and return to the OR. This time though, I got a job in our surgical center working ‘regular’ hours. No weekends, no nights, no holidays, no call. I was prepared to settle into this position for the next eight years or so — until I became eligible to retire. Done and dusted.
Unfortunately, the lesson I learned when I returned to the OR was this — whoever you are and where ever you go, you always take yourself with you. Anytime we attempt to revisit our past — we are still us. Our very same selves. Without any significant growth on our part, we will invariably carry the same baggage we had the last time…
