Originally Posted by brian
Everyone has his or her own story about how or why they became a nurse. What's your story?
Please be as detailed or as short as you wish. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's stories.
Growing up, my mother as obessessed with one of us three girls becoming a nurse. She had quit nursing school 2 months before graduation and always regretted her decision. Well, being the rebellious teenager that I was, I wanted to do ANYTHING but what she wanted me to do. So when I enrolled in college back in 1990, I was an Elementary Education major. 3 months into my college career, I was pregnant with my oldest child. I dropped out of school, got married and had another child. 5 years later, my husband at the time was stationed at Ft Hood and we had a friend who was expecting her first baby all alone. Her husband was deployed to Korea and was not going to make it home for the birth. We got to be pretty close and she asked me if I would be her L&D coach. Her due date was approaching and she came over one day and I noticed that her feet and face were pretty swollen. I loaded her into the car and took her in.... her BP was something like 210/140.... In comes the mag sulfate drip and the pitocin to start her labor.
After 8 hours of labor and her puking right down the front of me, her beautiful son was born. Seeing a delivery from that aspect told me right then and there that I wanted to be part of this process. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do.
However, I was married to an emotionally abusive idiot who told me how stupid, fat, ugly, lazy etc.... that I was constantly. Everytime I brought up going back to school he brought up going to get his masters.
A year later, I had left him and was living with my parents and seeing someone else.
This someone else and I eventually got married, had another child and were lving happily ever after.
One night in 1999, we were laying in bed talking and I was telling him how unhappy I was being a housewife. Nothing wrong with it, it just is not for me. I need to be doing something. After being married to the previous idiot, I realized that I was none of those things he had called me. My husband now said to me Do you really want to go to school? And I replied that of course I did.... his words... Then get off your A$$ and do it!!
Within a month I had been admitted back to the same school I had left in 1991. For my mother's 50th birthday I gave her my letter of acceptance to nursing school and she cried like a baby. The a few months later, my husband urging me to go all the way and try pre med (he is amazing that way) I was watching an episode of Maternity Ward on TLC. There was a nurse carrying a 23 weeker to the parents so they could say their goodbyes. He turned to the camera and said The difference between me (meaning himself the nurse) and the doctor, is that the docs treat the illness, the nurses treat the patients. That statment had a profound impact on me and I knew that nursing school was the right choice for me.
When my mother died 2 years later, I almost quit. I could not deal with losing her and school at the same time. But my family convinced me that I needed to continue... she would have expected it of me.
I went to nursing school for many reasons.... To become a CNM (which I am still working on, just graduated in May passed boards in July) To take care of my family, but most of all I think it was to help my mother's dreams come true. I think about her often when I am at work and I hope that she sees me and sees how happy I am (most of the time lol) and knows that I would not be there if it were not for her.
Would you like to comment?
N-u-r-s-i-n-g!: Nursing, Yeah!
