Why did you go into nursing....

[nurshathaway]

I would like this to be a POSITIVE forum.

1. Why did you go into nursing? and

2. Tell us a couple of NICE things that

have happened during your career.

There are many of us student nurses looking at this bulletins and seeing only the negative, but there has to be some positive experiences you've had. Your responses will not only be greatly appreciated by myself but by many of us student nurses and perhaps even experienced nurses, who may have pushed those reasons and experiences to the back of their mind.

[nursejanedough]

Kiwijangle, I love your response titled "The Crabbit Old Woman". The original poem was titled "An Old Lady Has the Last Word". Your poem was so accurate in describing how the nurses feel. The original poem describes how the patient feels. I have fled many a patient's room knowing they needed someone to talk to

or needed someone to help comfort them in the last few hours of life. I would flee (very reluctantly)to answer a call light that had been ringing for 15 minutes, or to give that pain pill or injection that was requested 20 minutes ago This site has really motivatedmeinto looking for real solutions to real/and getting worse problems in LTC nursing shortage.

[Spellbound]

Well, I am not actually a nurse yet, but I am in college to become one, does that count?

I just completed my first semester of general education requirements, so I have a long way to go yet, but I have worked as a CNA for about 5 years in long-term care, adult foster care, and home health care.

There are a few reasons why I chose this profession. As a child I was hospitalized to 2 weeks with undiagnosed bleeding from my kidneys. I had many wonderful nurses, but the one I remember the most was an angel in a uniform named Terri. She held my hand when I thought the pain would kill me. She wiped my eyes when I cried and just wanted to die rather than go through another test. She went to the store in the middle of the night and bought me popsicles with her own money when the kitchen ran out ( I was on a total liquid diet). Her loving care made an unbearable time bearable, and I have never forgotten her. I met many nurses in the course of my accident prone childhood, and so many of them treated me with loving patience, I thought they were angels or something. When my grandmother died a few years ago it was the nurses who helped me get through it. I stayed with her for 15 hours until she finally let go and left us, talking to her, singing songs, and just holding her hand. At one point I had 3 nurses, a doctor, a respiratory therapist, and the whole family in the room singing "Puff The Magic Dragon". Afterwards, the nurses came to me and hugged me tight and told me that even though my grandmother had been comatose the entire time I was there, that she had heard me and that I had made her leaving easier for her. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to be a nurse.

Because of a now ex-husband who had me convinced that I was too studpid to be a nurse, I did not follow that dream then. It took me many years, but I finally gathered the courage to leave him and now I am going to school to fulfill my dream. I have just completed my first semester of general education requirements with straight A's and will be applying to the nursing school next fall. I have a long way to go, but I know that it will be worth it. I love caring for people, and this is the best way I know to do that.

Thank you to all the nurses out there, it is because of so many of you that most of us who now choose this profession do so. I feel honored to know that I will be joining your ranks in a few years.

Chris

[nurskelli]

Originally posted by nurskelli:

I love my job. I work in Medicare. I am surrounded with the reminders that we are not here forever. The baby-boomers are aging, and together we are dealing with the pain of our parents having strokes, debilitating illness, etc. I see the stress in the eyes of the adult children. I see them there night after night, the caregiver sibling, and those who have flown in from across the country. I know their pain personally...we are all in this together. I see the depression as my patients' autonomy is stripped from them by the onset of dementia, or the loss of mobility, often both. I see them crying, I see the fear and I see their fortitude. We are all in this together...the families, the patients, the nurses...sometimes we even get to share the burden with the doctors. It is what living is about, it is hard. But I love my job.

My mother died suddenly two months ago, strong and healthy one moment, then she was gone. I was spared the agony of the long goodbye, and the blessing of the long goodbye. I am so glad God put me in this place. A place where only the suffering people see me. A place where only He sees me. He said "in so much as you have done it unto these my brethern you have done it unto me>"

When I went into nursing, i really didn't know why. I think it was something I was made to do. I just wanted to help people in a signifigant way. I love my job

HEY DOES ANYONE REMEMBER TH MEG RYAN MOVIE CALLED HANGING UP. IT REALLY WAS ABOUT THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH, THE PATIENTS AND THE FAMILY, WHICH ARE ALSO OUR PATIENTS...DON'T YOU THINK IT IS A PRIVILEGE?

[Iwant2banurse]

Hi Spellbound,

Of course you count. First you are an experienced CNA and second you are a prenursing student.

You brought up some things that all nurses should keep in mind...the fact that we as nurses/nurses-to-be can influence or discourage people in entering nursing. And I believe we need to start working together more or nursing may actually become extinct and wouldn't that be a major disaster.

[nursejanedough]

Spellbound, you sound like you will be a great nurse. If you ask me, CNA's or nurse's aides or whatever they are called these days are the real nurses, especially in Long Term Care. If you were a CNA for five years then you are a nurse. Good luck with school. P.S. The best nurses I know were the ones who couldn't pass college algebra. They passed pharmacology, but not algebra. I think that is pitiful.

[puzzler]

Thank you all so very much!!

It is so good to hear some of "the good things" about nursing. I just got home from an extremely difficult shift. I was tired, frustrated, and discouraged. You have helped to end my day on a good note.

I have been a nurse for 24 years. I do love it and can not think of anything I would rather be doing. I could tell many stories, both happy and sad, but you have all done such a wonderful job already.

May God bless all those in the health care profession.

------------------

Sheryl

If you enjoy word puzzles come visit me at www.CrosswordsForNurses.com

[Iwant2banurse]

Puzzler,

That was exactly why I started this topic. (I have two screennames...Iwant2banurse (work computer name) and nurshathaway (home computer name- totally addicted to this BB).

From these BBs I've been able to more of the effects of nursing on my soon-to-be colleagues. I've been getting really down reading all the hardships that I wanted to bring forth the reasons why the BB participants got into nursing in the first place.

Thank you for responding!