So...

I've been thinking a lot about being a nurse and what that means that I am now a member of a profession. It's kind of crazy but all the social networking sites and different things have made me think about what I put out there for people to read. It's not that I never thought about it in the past, it just wouldn't have really affected anything then. A recruiter at one of our illustrious hospitals here told one of my friends that he looked at her facebook page and that she parties too much so they couldn't hire her. However, the pictures that he was looking at were from either a birthday party or New Year's but there was only one bottle on the table...I'm sorry, how is that partying too hard??? Ironically enough, she saw him the next weekend at one of the bars trashed, so who's a hypocrite now??? I just get tired of that kind of crap. So, my facebook is private and I don't ever use myspace so I think I need to just delete that...but still, it makes me think, do they really have a right to check how I spend my free time? I'm completely aware of my responsibilities as a nurse but I don't necessarily see what it has to do with my private life.


We have two hospitals here in our town. They each have their own set of "standards". One of them doesn't "allow" their employees to smoke. I don't really think they have a right to make that call but they actually test for tobacco! Granted, I don't smoke and it's not my favorite thing and I wish people didn't do it but I don't think that anyone has the right to tell them that they can't, ever. I think that's a personal choice. This same hospital also gives a bonus for being under a certain weight...really? I'm all about people being healthy and granted, right now I'm overweight but I think that might be going too far. I have applied for a job at said hospital and now I'm starting to think about everything that I do. I think twice about what I'm wearing when I leave the house and about everything that I post. I had made my blog private and then I changed it because I feel like this should be my outlet to say whatever I want and not have someone, especially an employer, judge me for it. Then I realized, I'm going to be judged for something so I guess my blog isn't the worst thing to be judged for...and if it costs me a job then perhaps that wasn't the place for me to begin with. 


I don't know, it's just something that has really been weighing on me. I see the world very differently now that I am a professional. Is that normal??? I'm not second guessing my choice to be a nurse at all, it's confirmed to me on a daily basis that this profession is where I belong. I think twice about everything that I do though...so I guess that's just how it will be.