Let me introduce myself!

Hello, my name is Jennifer Hoar. I became a nurse in 1998. After a very short job in long term care, I started on an Oncology unit where I spent about 1 1/2 years working 12 hour shifts (mostly nights), weekends and holidays. After I had my first baby in 2002, I moved to an Oncology clinic where I could have a more “normal” Monday to Friday lifestyle. Turns out what is normal to most didn’t work for my work/life balance at all. It was an hour bus ride each way, and we rarely closed at 5. You couldn’t leave if there were patients left to be seen or treated. I never saw my husband or my new baby. I made a big switch to labour and delivery and back to 12 hour shift work. After having 2 more babies I settled into the overnight shift. I would work while the kids were sleeping, be home in the morning to see everyone off for the day, have supper as a family and help with homework and had more days off than most. What a dream, to work in the happiest place in the hospital. Or so I thought! I would occasionally have patients experiencing the best day of their lives but more often than not (especially after I gained more training and experience) I would have a very high risk patient having a preterm baby or severe complications of pregnancy. I gravitated towards the sad side of labour and delivery I think because of my oncology/palliative care experience. Perinatal bereavement became my passion, what I felt I was born to do. After 18 years in this job cases seemed to be getting to me more, I didn’t feel like the care I was giving was my best anymore and I cried a lot. I felt like it was time to take a little time off and focus on my mental health. It has now been over 1 1/2 years and the thought of returning to a hospital setting is very scary. Therapy and trial and error on a few medications has certainly helped but I’m not sure I’ll ever be the nurse I used to be. I came across a website (RN2writer) that talked about becoming a nurse freelance writer. I thought that this would be perfect timing, while I am off, to try my hand at something new while still being able to be a nurse. Heck, maybe even an effective one reaching more clients than I ever could in a hospital setting. If