what age did you decide to become a nurse

[Nursetobe25]

What age**

If you were a career changer what did you do before?

[BuiltRNmedic]

26. Former firefighter/paramedic. EMT at 18, paramedic at 19, firefighter at 23. Hated firefighting for many reasons after I finally got into it after pursuing it all my life. I did love the medical aspect so I went to school, finished my pre-reqs and applied for RN and PA school. I took which not only accepted me first but also offered more opportunities. I love to travel so being an RN was the best route and there's plenty of room for advancement.

Finished up at 29.

[BuiltRNmedic]

Noticed that most men in the field start later like higher 20's because we do other things before we smarten up and realize it's not just a field for females haha

[aortas]

i didn't realize my true calling was nursing until after i attained a bachelors of psych and subsequently got a job as a social worker for the county and doing adult protective services. i realized i didn't want to be a clinician and i couldn't see myself being a social worker, i found it too limiting and i didn't like that a big part of the job was to was refer people to other services. though i spent time more time out in the field than in an office, i just craved a more hands on job. i started working at a LTC/SA to see if i liked it, since i had already worked with the older population, and i did, so i went back to nursing school when i was 26. i am still not where i want to be academically speaking in nursing, as i really would like to be a NP/MD, but I'm glad i know what i really am the happiest doing, which is nursing

[bsyrn, ASN, RN]

I Knew I wanted to be a nurse at age 5, my Mom is a nurse. Got a little sidetracked in my 20's and was a paramedic for many years. Became an RN at age 36 :)

[mtskier]

25. After completing my BA in English Literature, I resolved to take some time off and went on an extended climbing trip to Yosemite National Park. While there, I befriended some of the SAR folks and thought that would be an interesting career. I needed my EMT-B to even begin, so I moved back to Montana and took a course that fall. We did our clinicals for the course in the local ED, which was the first time I was really exposed to nursing as a profession. I was sold after my couple of nights there and immediately began taking prereqs.

[bell1962]

19. Only worked fast food and retail before that

[No Stars In My Eyes]

20. Though mom was a nurse, it never occurred to me. I was across the state from home, at a community college, where I flunked out because I quit attending classes. Mom said I could come home, and when she came to pick me up she had our local paper with the employment ads and had circled 4 or 5 five jobs I could apply for. Without even going home to unpack the car she drove me straight to a nursing home to apply for a job as a NA.

Within a year I had asked the charge nurses so many questions one of them, with humorous exasperation, said to me "Why don't you just go to nursing school and leave me alone?!"

Huh. Seed planted. Several months later I arranged to take a pre-entrance exam, aced it, and the rest is history.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

I was 37 when I finished school. So I guess 34 when I started. Worked as a CNA for 5 years previous to that. Before that I was a cosmetologist for several years, I stopped when the business I worked for closed and I had to do something else when the unemployment ran out.

[smalltownhero]

-1. It's my destiny so the decision was made once I became a life form.

[kakamegamama]

I was around 10. I remember clearly the day I knew I would become a nurse. I knew then, beyond a doubt, that I would go into nursing. I haven't looked back and wished I'd done anything different.

[sweetf]

When I was 18, but it took 10 years to finally finished my degree ??

[Bubbly26, BSN, RN]

I was 26 when I decided I wanted to become a nurse. I have a psych degree but I worked in retail before this career change. I'm almost done with my first semester.