Oceanside, California

Sixth Assignment: Oceanside, California
Dates: August 21st, 2006 through December 30th, 2006
Address: 999 N. Pacific Street
Unit B-221
Oceanside, CA 92054
North Coast Village on the Sand
Hospital: Tri City Medical Center

This was a good assignment. I had a beachfront condo. It was very nice. I had a view of the beach from my balcony and an elevator. It was a vacation rental so I had everything I needed, just like Panama City. Of course everything was much bigger in the condo in Oceanside. I had a king size bed and all kinds of beach items. The Harbor and Pier were both in walking distance from my place. I saw two surfing contests while I was there. One in front of the Harbor and one by the Pier. The Harbor had restaurants, shops, and boating activities. It had a small lighthouse and was very nice. The Pier is the longest wooden pier on the west coast. It was very popular for fishing and had a restaurant at the end of the pier. Downtown was also within walking distance. The movies, shops, library and train station were downtown.

I took the train down to San Diego a few times and up to Los Angeles and Anaheim a few times. I went to a Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. I sat right behind home plate, which is fly ball territory. I saw downtown LA and Chinatown. I went to Beverly Hills a few times and went shopping on Rodeo Drive. I tried on a coat in one store that was $1,500. Only $1,400 out of my price range. I also took my mom shopping in Beverly Hills while she was visiting. We went over to Malibu, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, and a few other beaches in the area. We were going to go to Disney Land, but my mom bought a purse instead. I guess Beverly Hills got to her.

Camp Pendleton was the across the Harbor from my condo. I went on base for the hospital Christmas party. It was at a Club on base. It was a very nice party.

I went to two Anaheim Ducks games. They won both times. The defeated Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars. I also explored the beaches of San Diego. I rode around Coronado Island when my dad came out to ride back to Georgia with me. Overall, I had a really good time exploring Southern California.

The hospital was pretty good. The nurses were all very nice. I made some good friends while I was working there. The unit was Mother/Baby. They had a nursery nurse that would go to the deliveries in Labor and Delivery. Sometimes there would be a second nurse taking care of the babies from that days Cesarean Sections. I was able to be in the nursery a few times. I helped out a little with the initial assessments and went to a few C-Sections. It was fun. They had recently renovated a new unit that had about 10 private rooms. The original unit had about 20 semi-private rooms. They used computer charting, which had a good bit of double and unnecessary charting. They finally figured this out right before I left. At least the staff will benefit from it. I stayed an extra 6 weeks there. I did this so I could have Thanksgiving off and would not have to drive to GA and then right back for another assignment in CA.

I tried to get to San Francisco for my next assignment. The holidays put a wrench in that plan, as no one was hiring travelers at the time. So I decided to just go back to Georgia and see what came up for my next assignment. The next day, Durham Regional Hospital in Durham, North Carolina called with a nursery position. My dad flew out to San Diego so we could drive back to St. Simons. We drove the first night to Yuma, Arizona after waiting all day for his luggage to be delivered after being lost.(He's never checked a bag since!) The next day we drove to El Paso, Texas by way of Tucson. Then we drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi and stayed at a casino. We made it to St. Simons by the next night. It was 2400 miles and 4 days worth of driving!