In 9 months time...

...I'm not about to announce a pregnancy, don't worry! 9 months from now I will be a fully-fledged qualified Children's Nurse, hopefully with my first job as a staff nurse on the wards. This scares me... A LOT! Now that we're in the same year that I'll qualify in and the talk of applying for jobs bounces around it's beginning to become much more real. I'm facing the realisation that I won't be able to say 'I'm only a student' forever and that I will be a staff nurse, along with all the responsibility that comes with it. As much as I want to qualify and work, trying to imagine myself in 9 months time fills me with slight dread!

Each placement that I've had as a student I've realised more and more what it is to be a staff nurse... the pressure, the responsibility, the knowledge, the skills... Especially my most recent placement where I had a bit of melt down moment as it all overwhelmed me a bit. However, it's not all bad - if it were then I probably wouldn't have made it into my final year. I think nursing can be one of the most rewarding jobs, and placement taught me this too.  It makes it all worth it when you build up relationships with patients and families, when you see children get better and go home after hours, days or even months of being in hospital, when you can be that person that the family can chat to and even when all you can do is go on the journey with the family.

As scary as the thought of being a staff nurse in 9 months is, I know that I can trust God that this is His plan for me. This week especially, God has been laying on my heart the idea of surrendering to Him. Surrendering aspects of my life to Him, giving God all the control. Again, something that isn't easy but is most certainly worth it. So I'll leave you with this song - which I think is hard to truly mean all the words, but definitely something to work towards :)