Did you always want to be a nurse?

[Divest]

(Title)

Did you always want to be a nurse? I mean, when you were little, did you dream of becoming a nurse? Was this what you day dreamed about while you were in High School? Did you always know this was the profession that you wanted to get into? What about the medical field in general? Maybe it wasn't nursing, but something else in the medical field that sparked your interest initially.

Second part: How did you end up becoming a nurse?

[lpnstudentin2010, LPN]

1. Yes I have always wanted to be a nurse. Since I was 5 years old. When I was a freshman in highschool I was told I could not do it, and I gave up. I am now going into my senior year, and after I graduate I am going to nursing school

2. Here is my plan:

BA in Psychology - 2010

LPN - 2011

work 2-3 years (have already been told if they are looking at the time I have a good chance in one of my docs old offices, if not there I have many contacts in the medical field due to medical issues I have had

The go back and get my RN

[teapot289]

Well, I'm not a nurse yet. Still a student, but no. My job desires went somewhere along these lines:

Age 5: Prima ballerina

Age 10: Dolphin trainer

Age 13: Told my parents I wanted to be a psychiatrist and was told I'd have to deal with people coming to me and saying they murdered people and/or wanted to murder people and know what to say to them...scared the hell out of me at age 13 of course.

Age 15: Astronomer

Age 18: Editor for a major book publisher like Penguin

Actual job at 21: Editor for a medical publisher because I figured I had to start somewhere and that was available.

Fell head over heels in love with medicine and everything about it.

Now age 25: Pursuing a career in nursing!

[Sensoria17]

In elementary school, I wanted to be a veterinarian. In high school and the first few years of college, I majored in accounting. Then I switched to sociology with the intent of going into social work. I finally finished that and after a lot of thought, I decided on an LVN program. I think I was scared off by social work because whenever states start making budget cuts, social services are always the first to be cut. My dream job would be to just own a lot of land and grow my own food.

[melmarie23, MSN, RN]

No. When I was younger, I wanted to be a teacher. Then in high school, I fell in love with Biology and decided I'd major in that in college (and I did). While in college working towards my Bachelors, I toyed around with going to grad school get my Masters in Education so I could teach Bio or go on to med school. But then I realised I was scared of the MCATs and I really was burnt out from school and decided to work for a while and then decide what I wanted to back to school for.

So after graduating with my Bachelors in May 2005, I got a job in genetic research. It was about a year into that job that I realized that I did not want to be in a lab for the rest of my life and realized that I wanted to work in the hospital setting. One of my best friends from college worked at Children's Hospital Boston and one day when I met her there for lunch, I realized that I wanted to be a nurse.

I then registered for my prereqs in a local community college (on my employer's dime no less! BONUS!) and then started applying to schools. I am now going into my third semester in a direct entry Master's program. :-)

[breaktime]

Never even considered it growing up. I wanted to be a computer programmer but I ended up partying too much in college so I joined the Air Force. I actually did all sorts of work with computers in the military, and came to realize it was boring as hell and not what I wanted to do at all. After ten years my time to get out was fast approaching and I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I thought maybe I wanted to teach...

Well just 6 months before I separated from the Air Force, I broke my back in three places. My girlfriend (and now wife) was also military and was deployed, so was most of my unit, and nowhere near any family. While I was in the hospital after surgery, waiting to see if I would be able to walk again, the only family I had were my nurses. They were absolutely amazing and I know without a doubt that I would not have done well at all without their support. That experience changed my life forever, from that moment forward I have known that nursing is what I want I want to do. Now I'm 3 semesters from my BSN and while I can't say I love every minute of school, I can say I love the fact that I'm on my way to becoming a nurse!

[Music in My Heart]

Past dreams: Fly for the Blue Angels, pilot the space shuttle, 747 captain, flight surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, FBI agent, firefighter, Coast Guard Captain...

Circumstances and choices denied me all those.

For me, nursing is a practical choice that also offers the intangible satisfaction of making a difference in the lives of the patients that I care for.

[craziechiq, BSN, RN]

Well when I was little I wanted to be an artist and a dolphin trainer too. lol. When I was really considering my future career in high school it came down to the question, help animals or people? I figured out really fast that I would be too sad working with sick animals. I know that probably sounds awful. Then I wanted to be a Pharmacist and saw how much schooling and chemistry and math were involved in that, and that's around the time I figured I wanted to start nursing. I saw the labor and delivery nurses at my nieces birth and thought that was something I could do. So here I am today, just finished my first day of nursing school.

[emmalou*]

Nope. I was always going to be a Marine Biologist until I learned that I couldn't stand being in water that wasn't teal blue with a cement bottom.

Tait

haha, this reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where George tells everyone he's a marine biologist then comes across a beached whale ... :chuckle

With me, I wanted to be a nurse from a young age and 2 things triggered it - firstly my grandmother dying of cancer; I remember feeling helpless that I couldn't do anything to help and wanted to be like the nurses who looked after her. I also remember going to a private hospital in the 80s to visit a sick relative when I was young and watching the nurses (who at the time were dressed in the traditional nurse's uniforms with caps) doing their work. Nurses fascinated me from a young age - I guess the mystery of what they did, the traditional uniforms like they used to wear in the movies and on TV shows, and the fact that they all seemed kind, competent and calm made me want to be like them.

When I left school I had a gap year or 2 of work/travelling, then applied to nursing school - that was pretty much it really.

Even though there isn't any mystery to it anymore, and I suppose reality hit me pretty quickly in terms of how challenging nursing was, I'm happy I achieved my goal.

[mom35]

No, I wanted to write plays, direct movies, act, sing,-the entertainment business. Then I started reading medical books when I was twelve and wanted to be a doctor. My family could not afford to send me to college and I lost motivation as a teen and pregnant and married by eighteen. Just a few years back as I watched how the nurses were in charge and caring for my sweet paw-paw as he was dying of megakaryoblastic leukemia, it hit me that I would cherish living life helping other humans through the life experience. So, here I am 36, moved back in with parents because I am broke and on my way to being an RN. I am thankful that I have this opportunity. I am thankful that my wonderful daughter, 19, is in college and on her way to a Master's in psychology. I am happy for this present moment-:heartbeat:nurse::heartbeat

[countrygonecity]

No, as a matter of fact, when I was growing up my uncle told me to go into computers or the medical field. I didn't think he knew what he was talking about. I was probably ten or younger. Anyway, after I grew up and got married I went to college and started out in accounting, then business management, then computers. I also went into graphic design. My husbands family used to tell me back in the 1990's to go into nursing and I would get mad. I said I wouldn't do it for a million dollars. I didn't think I could do it. Truth is, I didn't have the mind set to do it back then. Now I could kick myself for not doing it sooner. I am currently a LPN and want to be a RN so bad for better job security in my area. So, I also said that after I become a nurse that I wouldn't want to work with the elderly or pediatrics. Well guess what I am doing? I am working with the elderly everyday...and boy, did I ever eat my words. I have fallen in love with the elderly. I have learned never to say never. I became a nurse back in 2006. Still have lots to learn and who knows maybe I will become a midwife like my grandmother. I never realized that I would be walking in her shoes, not in a gazillion years! I love nursing, it is stressful and hard at times, but I have grown to love it.

[countrygonecity]

Oh I have another thing to ad to my previous post, my cousin and I used to play school when we were little and she would also play doctor. She decided that she would be the nurse and so she would act like she was giving me shots and one day she hurt me with a stick...it's funny now that I think about it, but now she is actually a RN herself and I am a LPN...so comical.

[Mayer1771 LPN]

No, I wanted to be a vet, but I did not have confidence in my math abilities and frankly, high school was really hard for me. In 11th grade I became interested in nursing after a field trip to a local NICU. My senior year I was granted a small scholarship for nursing school, but my guidance counselor convinced me I would never make it in nursing school (this was 1989). I got my AS in liberal arts and went through a couple different "careers" with moderate success. Every thing changes after the birth of my second child. Even with all the proper prenatal care and excellent doctors, my son went from Apgars of 5 and 9 to the NICU, and then to an emergency transfer to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in under 10 hours. I have never been quite as scared as when the doctors had us sign the consent to transfer and then sent the priest to my room. When I first saw him in then CHOP NICU he was surrounded by huge machines and very, very sick children. When the Doctors received report my husband and I heard them talk about how "Baby boy Mayer had de-compensated during transfer had to have his vent tube removed due to a blockage caused by thick secretions. A new tube was inserted and resuscitation efforts had proved successful, this time". Our hearts fell. How can you be strong when you want to scream and cry? It was then that the nurses came to us, explained the technical, medical, and hum aspects of life with a sick child. The showed use how to hold him and not set off alarms, how to change him, and how to enjoy his first terrifying days of life. About a week into it, I realized "I can do this, and I'm o.k. with this". I made a deal with good that no matter what, I would find a way to comfort people in need, the same way the nurses had comforted me. Four years later, my healthy happy boys were at my graduation from nursing school. Every time a client says thank you to me, I am reminded of the kindness we received in our hour of need, and how the nurses touch our lives. Other than being a Mother, there is nothing else I would rather do.