[mwelsh]

I'm a SPN right now... what inspired me was the NICU nurse who took care of my son when he passed on. she was so compassionate and attentive. she was absolutely amazing. the nurse I had in the delivery room that had to help w/ the spinal before the C-section was a nightmare. She was mean, rude, and had no bedside manner....had me in tears. so the combination of the two is what inspired me. I did medical insurance for almost 8 yrs, they closed our office almost a year after my son passed and I took it as a sign from the "big person upstairs" that I needed to pursue a career in nursing and to give back what I had be given by the NICU nurse.

[Tigger Nurse]

It all started when I was 5 yrs old. I had my first ER experience at age 3. I had to have my ear sutured, which was halfway torn off by the family dog, and the only time I cried when it happened. During the trip to the ER, I sat in the back seat with anticipation of what I would see. I never cried during the suturing, but was upset because I couldn't see what the MD was doing. My Dad has a picture of me standing in the lobby, looking around in awe. At age 5, I told my parents I wanted to be a nurse. I started to receive those little nurses kits for Christmas and I would put my siblings to bed and play nurse. During high school I was in the Future Nurses Club and we put in hours at the local hospital doing minor pt care and taking TPR's. We had taken a class with our school nurse and were allowed to have this pt contact, wearing the old fashioned candy-striper uniform. After that, I knew I had to find a Nursing School and entered college the fall of the year I graduated high school. Been doing it for more than 30 years and just recently added some spice by completing a Forensic Nursing course on line. I don't always like who I'm working for, but still love my job.

[tbpmom]

I had no desire or thoughts about being a nurse in HS, but at 25 yrs. old, I decided it was silly not to try Nursing, and I have been at it now for 24years. I tell all the new nurses that hospital nursing is very hard: whether in an ICU or on a floor, and the long hours, poor-pay and lack of respect you get from the general public is all part of it.
But I am damn proud that my daughter is a freshman in a BSN prgram. I am damn proud that I am an RN as well, and I have the bad back of a 20+ years of night-shift and poor-staffing to prove it!
THE JOB IS TRULY REWARDING IN WAYS ONLY A NURSE CAN UNDERSTAND.

[eaglenebula]

Well my story is as real as real can get. I was addicted to prescription pills I was getting from my dr. After two years of addiction I went into rehab. At that time I was a Human Resources Secretary. My first night in detox I was frightened and scared and all alone. I didn't know what to do. I was just standing in the hallway with no direction. I felt like I didn't belong there. I was way better than all of the other addicts in there. I was absolutely broken.

A nurse her name is Theresa noticed my awkwardness and grabbed my hand. She took me to my room, sat on my bed and started talking. She told me about her past addictions and her family and how she pulled herself out of the depths of depression which was exactly where I was at. Our stories were so similar it was too wierd. We went out back and she shared a cigarette with me (I never smoked before rehab, but I do now). Anyway she lit a fire in me and ever since that one night Ihave wanted to become a nurse. I want to work with other addicts or mental patients.

So that's my story.

[castrorn]

Well I really never thought about going to Nursing school, It was way out of my choices then... but circumstances brought me in to it and thats when I found Nursing to be challlenging... THE "Medical Surgical Nursing, Psychiatric, Pediatrics, Geria"....etc... all there is to learn about human..packed in one big package.... but hey... I've been working a little over 7 years and I never felt bored nor made my life miserable... rewarding in all ways...
Have you ever felt wanted?... have you ever felt complete after a whole days work... helping someone is a different kind of experience you'll ever make in you life... and my life too.. :Melody:

[anniev]

From the time that I was a little girl and asked santa for my Nancy Nurse doll I wanted to be a nurse, Life got in my way and a father who believed that "woman went to college to just to get a husband " and that was just" a poor investment" I married had a son, worked in factories then I decided to look into the LPN program at 35, with my husband and a great mother in law who would give you the shirt off her back encouragement, I quit my factory job went to school got my LPN and have been with the same local NH since I love taking care of so and so's grandma. aunt , mom, dad ect and knowing that the community I am from feels the same way, things have changed so much since I first started but Im happy that I gave it a try, no matter how hard some days can be, I know I get to touch special peoples lives everyday, It is so rewarding.

[doddlebuggin]

What wonderful stories..Mine is simple ..At 32 y/o i went to school and became an aide and after 1 year I thought I can not see myself doing this at 50 so I took the ACT and applied. The day before my interview I dreamed that when they interviewed me and asked me Why do you want to be a nurse? My reply was "because I think I will look good in white" I sat straight up in bed sweating and believe me that was NOT my response during the interview..

[gassrn]

My story is similar to some people here, but yet still different. When I was a little girl we were farmer's in the mid-west (IL),I had lots of horses and all the other little creatures running around in the country. When the vet came out to tend to the animals I was always there to be his helper (nurse) . In HS I decided nursing was the job for me because I knew there would always be sick people to take care of. In College I started a nursing program and because we were poor my family gave me no financial support and I ended up working too many hours and not enough hours of sleep so I failed the first semester of nursing school twice. The program only let you try 2 times then you were not allowed to enter that program. However I was not about to go back home so I started respiratory school at the same college and passed with A's and B's. I was a RRT for 6 years and then finished an AS degree in nursing in 2001 and have been a RN ever since Aug. 2001 when I passed my boards. There were several nursing instructors at that school who told me that maybe I should try something else besides the medical field. Well, I am now an ICU RN who works in a trauma ICU at a level one trauma center in east tenn. and if I say so, I am pretty darn good at it!!! I now have aspirations to try flight nursing. Thats my history!

[dmarie (GA)]

My mom was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 4 years old. After she was institutionalized and I grew older, I was horrified at the treatment she received. (this was in the 70's and early 80's). Because of my experience, I developed a compassionate heart for people who are ill -- whether it be physical or psychological. I always knew I would end up in a "helping" field, but my first choice was social work and/or teaching. After talking with various teachers and social workers, I decided my best bet would be nursing. I'm still in nursing school, but I feel like I'm on the right track!

[snursemate]

my daughter died from a brain tumor and made me promise to become a nurse to help other people. She was ten when she died.

snursemate