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I've been whittling away at my 8 12-hour Capstone night shifts on the Transplant ICU at Gargantuan hospital. As of this morning I've done 5 of the 8. I'm back again for the next 2 nights, and then a chaser shift on the 7th. At that point I will have completed all the requirements of my nursing school for graduation.

Transplant ICU has been interesting. I have a really great preceptor--so laid back--we fit perfectly. I've felt good about my contributions to the unit, and it's been great learning another aspect of ICU nursing.

In fact, this morning as I was leaving from shift #5, I found myself reflecting on the state of my life at this point, and a sense of well-being washed over me. The air was chilly, and the sun was just coming up. I was snuggled inside my college of nursing hoodie, and walking to the remote parking felt good.

I suddenly realized, I love my little ICU world. I love micro-managing my patient's care, and controlling every vital parameter. I love that the difference between doing well and crumping can be just a few mg/dL, or a few mmols. I love things as simple as writing vitals every hour, putting my mark on the chart stating, "I assessed this patient this hour, and things were good," or "things weren't so good so I..." I love that when patients go bad on the floor, they come down to me. I love the look of relief on the floor nurse's face when I take over responsibility for the patient's care. I love that docs ask me what I think the patient needs, and 9 times out of 10 they're on board with me. I love these things.

I love that I'm almost done with school. I love that the school and professors have thrown their worst at me, and I've met every challenge head on and succeeded. I love that I've excelled not only in classes, but in clinicals even more so.

I love that I have a job waiting for me. That I beat out 758 applicants that had been screened over the phone. I love the tone of respect in other people's voices when they hear which hospital I've been hired into, because it is truly a fantastic organization. I love the tone of respect in other nurse's voices when they talk about my home unit. I heard a Transplant ICU nurse say that on my home unit, "All the nurses are oddly intense."

I love that my wife truly gets what I'll be doing for a living. I love that I can complain about docs or nurses or lab or RTs and she understands why I'm frustrated. I love that I can throw out a set of vitals or lab values and she's appropriately shocked or mystified without me having to explain it.

Most of all, I love that my little, beautiful family is still gathered tightly around me despite the journey I've been on. I love that the kids still scream "DADDY!!!!" when I come home. I love that my wife kisses me and says, "Good job."

Life is good.