Driven

Nurses are made through studying.

This article took me back many, many years. I always wanted to be a teacher. My father felt women did not need an education. We were here to get married and have babies! We had nothing and it was in the early 60's and there were no student loans etc. So I had no way to go to college. But... to go to Nursing school to be an RN only cost $ 350 at that time. I begged, I cried, I did everything but stand on my head. My dad finall agreed to cash in a life insurance policy he had on me worth $ 400. I graduated as an RN in 1965 and will retire this summer. I have been everywhere in nursing, hospital ,public health nursing, oncology and administration for the last 19 years. When I walk out the door for the last time this summer, I can truly say nursing has been good to me and I would do it all over again. So hang in there and you will be a good nurse.

You sound like a real trooper. Best of luck to you. I am sure you will do an awesome

You sound like a real trooper. Best of luck to you. I am sure you will make an awesome nurse

There's nothing at all wrong with being "driven." I PROUDLY describe myself that way. The challenge is to be driven, while retaining a strong sense of humanity - it's not all about "me, me, me" - remain a team player, advocating for your patients, while NOT being a "back stabber." Push yourself, share your self with others, have fun, constantly learn & remain open to new things.

Nurses are born and made. When I was a kid I always picked the runt of the litter to care for, when I was an adolescent I always dated the guy that no one else wanted....(I know thats sick and later found out this is a diagnosis called Codependency. A lot of nurses are afflicted with this!lol) I digress....

Anyway, I had no desire to be a nurse when I went to nursing school. I hated poop, puke made me puke, sputum still makes me puke....but I loved taking care of people. I cried about 3 times a week in LPN school, I was 19 and everything was just "so unfair" {I SAID STOMPING MY FOOT AND POUTING AS ONLY A 19 YEAR OLD NURSING STUDENT CAN} Now my emotional maturity is somewhat better- even though I can still see the unfairness in it all.

Im an RN now and still cry on occassion.... out of frustration, sadness, or just being in awe of the human condition and our unified struggle for survival no matter what we are stricken with. It amazes me to see people at their worst, no matter what their plight, and help them through it the best I can. Just to bring the daughter of a dying man a cup of tea, or hold someones hand as they are recovering from surgery, or comforting a young girl who cut her wrists a little bit too shallow to die but still wants to die, just to be there and be apart of that moment. Its inspiring and heartbreaking....through all the crap that we go through just "being nurse" its so rewarding to just be apart of those moments.

Being Driven is an awesome state of being. We all need that drive to remember what it was like for us in the beginning and to retain some of that eagerness with new eyes. Thanks

It seems to me that a lot of nurses were going down a different path before nursing took them over. I wanted to be a lawyer, but my older sister told me that that career just wasn't for me. I was appalled and asked which career she thought was better. Of course, I said it sarcastically. She simply said, "You would make a really good nurse. Prove me wrong." Her words stuck in my head for a long time, but I didn't really act on it. It wasn't until I was pregnant with my first child at 18. I was in labor and my L&D nurse was right there beside me. She stood up for me in more ways than I deserved. She told the substitute doctor to back off because he was treating me very rudely, and she comforted me and my new husband. She was a saint in blue scrubs and a long braid. I've never forgotten her to this day and that was 15 years ago! You're right. Things do happen for a reason. Sometimes, things are said for a reason too. If my sister hadn't challenged me to think about a different career choice and if that nurse wasn't there to help me deliver my baby, then I think I would've been a very unhappy lawyer or paralegal, thinking about switching careers. I'm now in nursing school, with another year to go, and I absolutely love it! I've had several setbacks to my goals, but they are not out of sight. It's just gonna take me longer to get to my goal, but I'll get there! I am too determined and 'driven' to see it through.