Does nursing have to be your "calling" for you to be a great nurse?

[WantAccel.BSN]

I'm a second degree/second career student. I got my bachelor's in psych. and had intended on going to law school. I did, and I hated it. Hated the people, hated the aggressiveness. After a year, I felt convinced that arguing all day every day would break me. I have always wanted to help people and advocate for them, but I didn't feel like the legal arena was the best place for me, personally, to do that. After leaving law school, I took the first job I could get because of the educational loan debt I was in, and have been working in community mental health since that time.

I've wanted to pursue nursing since before I left law school. My mother is a nurse, and I really believe that I possess the same qualities that she does that have made nursing a good fit for her. So my question is, does nursing really have to be your first choice for it to be the best choice for you? Does it have to be your "calling"? An acquaintance of mine recently insinuated that I wasn't "called" into this profession because it will be my second career/second degree. Maybe I was called, just in a different way then others. Regardless, it seems like no one can accept that I simply changed my mind. I feel like I'm perceived as a quitter. I took a chance and tried something, and it didn't work out. I've researched and put a great deal of time into getting information about nursing in an attempt to be sure that this is, in fact, the right path, but I'm so sick of people like the one I referenced above. How do you second degree people out there deal with questions and statements like this?

Thanks everyone so much for any advice! :bowingpur

[The Purple Smurf]

I don't think it has to be "your calling" whatever that is suppose to mean, but I do think to be a great nurse you need certain personality traits. You need to be respectful and tolerant of others. You need to have compassion, for both the patient and his or her family members. You need to be kind to your patients and patient with them.

It doesn't matter how or why you ended up in this career, just as long as you do your job well and treat your patients well.

[Jarnaes]

You do not have to have a "calling" for nursing anymore than you need a "calling" for any other profession. The calling is for the birds.

[Reno1978, BSN, RN]

My motivation to become a nurse came via text message. Who calls anyone these days?

[HappyBunnyNurse]

I taught school for six years. I didn't feel called to nursing. I just wanted a change. Now I love it. But if I didn't, I would just find something else. Life is too short to stay somewhere you don't want to be. Also don't feel you have wasted time; your law school and work experience will really help you in this profession.

[inland18mempire]

No. However, if you have a passion, it'll probably be easier. A lot of the nurses I work with work because they need to pay their mortgage. They don't have a "passion" to work, and yet they still do their job well.