The Lord is Good!!

Hey everyone!

Hope you all are doing well! I've really enjoyed reading all of your updates and being able to rejoice with all of you as the Lord has brought work and new changes to your lives :) (Yay to Anna, Marla, Mary Ann and Geoff most recently!!! Total Praise the Lord!!!! :D)

Quick history and praise of my own :)

Since we've graduated in May I worked two jobs...neither of them RN jobs but they have definitely been God-given stepping-stones...

1) I worked as an Office Administrative Assistant/School Nurse over the summer. Basically one of the most exciting thing that happened was a little girl passed out after cutting her finger on a box knife. (Fainting looks a lot like a seizure for those of you who haven't seen it...eyes roll back, body gets stiff and they shake.) She was fine, though I did call her parents to have her be taken home and go to the doctor's for some stitches... Mostly, I got LOTS of practice of dealing with parents, 648 students, staff, teacher assistants, paramedics, and other craziness this past summer. Fun stuff and good practice :)

2) Unable to find a job after applying to I-don't-know-how-many-hospitals and getting told that the hospitals were overwhelmed with graduates (I hear ya, Mary Ann), I realized the Lord was making it clear that this was going to be a time of waiting, trusting, and resting. Needless to say, I slept a lot during those couple months! Then the Lord had a family friend whose a family practice doctor approach me at the end of November and say that her medical assistant had to leave suddenly and she asked if I would fill it until I could find a RN position. Not exactly what I thought I’d be doing after 5 years of school—but hey, it pays loans and allows me to keep my foot in the medical world! I accepted and have since then become more proficient in phlebotomy, immunizations, EKGs, and have had the chance to interact with all different types of patients, everything from neonate to geriatric :) It has also given me the opportunity to see what happens to patients after they come home from the hospital—after the nurses remind them to “follow up with your doctor.” It’s given me an appreciation for the larger picture and given me lots of practical clinical practice :)

3) Lastly, just in the last couple weeks the Lord made it clear where I am to work as a RN--I was offered an ER position at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and I am to start work February 7, Lord-willing! SOOOO grateful and amazed at how the Lord has molded and shaped me for His glory! Definitely in amazement at the wonderful works of His Hand! Not only that but one of the preceptors at Holy Cross knows my preceptor from my ER preceptorship at St. Joseph’s in Orange! The Lord is SO kind! I am so encouraged as I look back and see God clearly guiding my path each step of the way! How grateful I am that He did it HIS way and not mine!!!

A couple prayer requests: Holy Cross is a Level 2 Trauma center—aka I’m going to see and be exposed to a lot. Though only 10 minutes from my house, it has one of the toughest populations—lots of gangs and prostitution. Please pray that the Lord would continue to keep my heart soft and my mind sharp as I help people. I desire to be used by the Lord and not obtain the ER nurse “hard edge” that a lot of nurses get when continually exposed to violence. The Lord is SO kind and has given me as a preceptor one of the KINDEST and most PEACEFUL ER nurses I have ever met. I am with her for 6 months so I am grateful for that! :)

Sorry for the length but I just wanted to share with you the wonderful glory, kindness and power of our Ever-Loving Father!! :) Excited to hear more stories as the Lord brings them! :)

God bless you all!

Amanda

100 applicants/5 positions

Hey everyone!
First I have to say, that I miss you all even thought I DO NOT MISS SCHOOL! It makes me really happy to know that spring semester is about to start, AND WE DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK!
So, I am not much of a blogger, in fact I don't think I have ever blogged before. So, I'll give it a shot!
So much has happened in the last seven months. First off, I'm not working yet. BUT, I'll be starting a job February 14th at Children's Hospital Orange County in the oncology unit. So stoked and so thankful to God for his provision and perfect timing in finding this job. As some of you know, I was working at Glendale Adventist Medical Center as a nurse assistant while in school, in hopes to transitioning for an RN position. I won't go into alot of detail, but I was offered a spot in a medical/surgical unit, only to have that offer revoked until March of this year. At that point, I decided to try and apply to other places. Not an easy task. Just to give you an idea, one friday I drove from Northridge all the way to Oceanside to turn in a paper application to both places (yes, some hospitals will only accept hard copies). CHOC was one of the places that called me first to set up an interview, and with the help of a fellow student (thanks so much Sharayah!) I prepared for the interview. As I was leaving the interview the person asking questions told me that there were 800 applicants total being interviewed for the entire hospital, 100 applicants for the oncology unit, and only five spots available, and I would be contacted as soon as she had made her decision. I left the interview not sure how it had gone, but thankful for the experience regardless. The part that I still can't believe is that that same night, (three hours after the interview!)the nursing director for the new grad program called me and offered me a position as a nurse in the oncology unit!! So this Friday I go in to have a physical, fill out paperwork and get a nursing badge to start this new job! Praise God!

Another big thing that happened last month was that James proposed!!! We planned a day trip to go rock climbing at Malibu Creek, and he asked me to marry him on top of the rock we were climbing, overlooking a beautiful view. Was I expecting it? No. Was I extatic? OH YES!! :) Oh, and to the ladies who planned a wedding while in nursing school... props to you. Seriously. I am trying to get almost everything done before starting CHOC, and it's not an easy task.

So, if you can remember me in your prayers, please pray for this new job that I am about to start. I am nervous, excited and at times fearful. Please pray that God will give me strenght and courage and grace. Pray that I can time manage wisely in the next few weeks, and please keep James and I in your prayers as we prepare for this new phase in life. Miss you guys.

Praise God with the Dykstra Family

Greetings Friends!

It is with much praise and thanks to our faithful God that I can share with you today that...

I worked my first official day as a nurse today!

I was hired today by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department, I will be working as a District Public Health Nurse - serving out of the Whittier Health Center.

I can also share with you that the award that our class gave to me still rings true, in the 7 ish months since graduating, I still have more children than patients/clients!

Though that will change soon (more clients - not more children, at least not yet ;-)

I look forward to hearing how y'all are doing as I check back to this blog...

Geoff Dykstra, PHN (for reals now!)
on behalf of the Dykstra Family