Why do you want to be a nurse?

Lots of reasons, but the ones most important are: helping people and being in a challenging career, learning the body systems/diseases and medicines that can help, earning potential, and flexibility. My MIL retired as an LPN and she kept talking so postively about her job and the way the nurses would chip in and switch shifts if something came up. Now my MIL volunteers at the Red Cross answering phones; which she loves, so she's still doing good work.

I even plan on applying to 3 different nursing schools bettering my chances of getting in. All within an hour drive. I want it that bad!

The reason what got me to decide to become a nurse was getting to see my nephew being born. I thought that was the most awesome and most beautiful thing to see. So I want to work in the nursery and maybe help in delivering.

I've always wanted to be a nurse, I was going to join the army alongside my husband and be a field medic, but decided two parents in the army with a small child wasent' such a good idea. then years later my son was born & was born very premature at 27 weeks, which just got my heart even more determined to become a nurse. now that all three of my children are at an age I feel like they can do without me as much, 14yrs, 8yrs, & 7yrs, all in school, I started my schooling. I'm 32yrs old and feel I have plenty of time ahead of me still!!

nurse2b_amy

Long story...will attempt to be brief:

6 years ago I was actually going to start pursuing an MBA. Had a rewarding career in business/marketing for a major No.California company, but was already thinking of volunteering as a birth instructor or lactation consultant after attending several difficult births, and then having my first born with a mid-wife, and experiences from helping many friends thru nursing their babies.

Then I had to leave that whole life behind to help my mother die of cancer and help my son live with a misdiagnosed seizure disorder. My son's complex medical care and insurance issues somehow lead to a job offer as a pharma rep. Think it would've been a wonderful job and I would've stayed there if I hadn't discovered I was pregnant with my third a week after I accepted the offer.

A year later, I discovered a lump while trying to nurse the new baby. Breast Cancer. Then, helped my father to die a good death of cancer while I was in the thro's of chemo.

While I loved my "other life" It seems like a memory of some other person now. I've risen from the ashes of my life to feel, for the first time ever, that I've finally discovered what I was really meant to do with myself.

Plus, I need all the hell I was put through for the last 6 years to mean something good and positive. Currently, I volunteer with the local hospital in the NICU and Mother/Baby and feel like seeing all those babies recharges my batteries. Helps me focus on the big picture and see every day as a blessing.

Thats a really great story thanks for sharing your life experiences! You will make a fantastic nurse. I wish you all the happiness and success you deserve.

I hate to sound selfish but Job security and pay is #1. 2nd is taking care of people. Why because there are other jobs that can help save people's lives. Nursing is just so diverse and there are different fields to specialize.

A nursing degree is so versatile. For example: my cousin has a master's degree in social work. It's crazy to me b/c she believes that a high school drop out could do her job. She deals with child protection. When children are being abused what profession is more qualified to assess the wounds of an adolescent. A nurse would be more qualified to do so.

Here's my story: I'm active duty Air Force; hubby's a teacher. Our daughter was born May 9, 2005. A flight on Dec 3 (to meet her aunts and uncles for the first time) landed us in the NY Hospital of Queens. Rachael stopped breathing while the plane was circling La Guardia; she had aspirated on the plane when I had given her a bottle for the descent. We were rushed to the hospital, and a 1.5 hr connection turned into a 9-day stay with a diagnosis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1; before the Air Force medivac-ed us back to Utah. (SMA is a type of Muscular Dystrophy and the only type that affects infants. SMA is also the leading genetic killer of infants. Most babies affected with SMA 1 will not live to see their 2nd birthday.)

After the Air Force arranged for our air ambulance back to Utah, we spent the next 11 days in Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. We finally got to take our little angel home Dec 21 and we had a wonderful Christmas with her. We tried to make it as special as we could since it was likely her only Christmas. We basically had a hospital room in our bedroom with BiPap, suctioning (oral and nasal), oxygen, Cough Assist, oximeter, feeding tube... But pneumonia hit as it often does with SMA kids, and she got her angel wings on Jan 6.

Through all of our "adventures" with Rachael, I realized that I am a stronger person than I once realized. Medical equipment didn't scare me; I enjoyed doing what I could just to make her comfortable. I've always enjoyed taking care of people, but I love the fields of science and medicine too. And more than anything, several nurses along the way made such an impact on me, they will never understand what their presence meant. I remember their faces, and the kind words, and the many times they went out of their way to help us, comfort us. The nurses took care of Rachael AND us.

So, now... I want to do for others what they did. I want to take care of babies in the NICU and Special Care Nursery (where I currently volunteer). I want to help patients be more comfortable, and I want to support those parents when they need it most. I'm more interested now than ever about medicine, and the body, and how it works and how to improve it.

I already have a BA but have 2 pre-reqs to go to apply to an accelerated BSN program...so I'm on my way.

I always thought medicine was interesting. When I was little I wanted to be a surgeon. I also wanted to get married early and have three children. Well the second came true . I met Mr.Right and married when I was 20 (after three years of dating) and are still happily married 9 years later. In that time we moved a lot (he graduated Tulane and then went into the USN) and had three children. I had completed two years of college before getting married and had some other classes at the different places we were stationed. I wanted to be a nurse but I didn't know when the time was right and I didn't have that drive yet. I lost a baby before my first was born. After that I grew closer in my faith. I am and was a SAHM and loved it. I also knew that it was my calling to be a nurse I just didn't know when. I felt like God was telling me it was the right time last year. I know I am supposed to work with women after they have babies especially those who have had difficult pregnancies/deliveries/losses. I just know. It is just this unbelievable peace in my heart. . Its awesome. I love being able to be a mom and a nursing student!

...because I'm very interested in the medical field and the human body, and what I like about the nursing field is that your opportunities are so broad. You can move up as high as you want and choose from so many different fields, whereas in other occupations you always do the same thing every day until you retire. In nursing you can move around, and I think you'll never get tired of it. And if you do decide to do something else you can go anywhere in the medical field with a degree and experience in nursing. This is my main reason since I am a person who needs and likes change a lot and love to do different things all the time. Plus, I also enjoy helping people, and the money is good too

For the money. Good pay, benefits, and flexibility. Abundance of jobs (something my old career simply does not offer). Gotta support all these kids of mine somehow. Certainly I have interest in the field, but if the pay weren't there I wouldn't go for it. BTDT. Being poor is for the birds.

Eh, some'll say that's a horrible reason to go into nursing and that one should have unyielding love for their job. To that I say that passion doesn't necessarily pay the bills. I don't advocate going into any career solely for the love of it.