why did you become a nurse

Just out of curiousity, why did you initially become a nurse? I have heard a wide range of answers from people I know, and wouldn't mind getting a few more! :)

[KC CHICK]

i became a nurse because of many different reasons. of course, there's the standard - "i want to help people" that everyone says when you ask this question. there is more to it than that. i was a late bloomer. graduated from high school in 91. you could say 'i've been trying to find myself'. i've had influences along the way that steered me into nursing. my mom is not a nurse but has worked in healthcare as a physical therapist. an ex-boyfriends' sister was an l&d nurse and i was absolutely fascinated with her stories. i also have a very good friend who was interested in nursing and we went through the same adn program -graduated together this may! i now work in the or while my friend works l&d, one floor up from me, in the same hospital.

i also felt that i wanted a stable career that held respect within the community. the steady paycheck wasn't bad either.

the variety of opportunity within nursing is also a big plus. there are not many careers out there where you have so many options! you also can find a job no matter where you go. -inside and outside the us.

so far, it's been a wonderful experience. i've learned a lot and gained self-esteem and confidence. i really can't see myself getting burnt out to the point of hating it like some of the nurses that have made postings to this bb.

what part of kc are you from? i'm a northlander myself.

[nurse s]

Thanks for the insight. I'm from Olathe. It's interesting to hear that you're a "late bloomer", because moving into nursing is a second career for me---kind of. I wanted to go into nursing growing up, and somehow during college got into teaching. I didn't think I'd miss nursing.....but I do, since teaching really doesn't fufill me. There is an ache in me that tells me that nursing is what I'm meant to do.

[Totone656]

Well, one of the reason why I looked into being a nurse, I was sick and tired of working in the office of construction companies only to be laid off during the building seasonal turn down. The trucking industry was just as shaky and we never knew if my husband would have a job.

I raised 2 sons, saw them marry, and knew it was time for me to do something. I knew I could not pay a house note on a receptionists salary (Memphis area business don't pay really well). I took a medical terminology course at a local community college and realized I wanted more. A dear friend encouraged me to go into nursing.

Yes, I can give back to the community with nursing, but I also have a job where I can go anywhere in the US and find a job.

I know the job is not a piece of cake nor is there a lot of glamore in the job, but nursing makes me happy. I only wished I did not wait until I was in my 40's before I decided to get an education.

[debbyed]

I actually never had a desire to be a nurse yet 20+ years later I can't think of anything else I'd rather do.

I was 23 years old, had married my high-school sweetheart and had 2 boys. Just like I thought I was supposed to do. In our neighborhood girls were encouraged to get married and raise a family not go to college. You know "the house with the white picket fence".

Well I found myself divorced with small children. I moved in with my best friend who was in a community college and she suggested I go back to school. Because I hadn't worked since being married I could receive the maxium financial help. The councilor I went to asked my what I wanted to do.

I told him my goal was to get the best paying job I could with 2 years of college. He told me there were openings in the Nursing Department and the rest was history.

I've never had to worry about having a job and supporting my family since and I got the added bonus of loving what I do.:)

[essarge]

My desire goes way back to H.S. (1970). My father's cousin was the school nurse and she tried to talk me into it. Well, being the "rebel" of the family I did several other things. Quit H.S. in my senior year to "find myself", married twice (one was abusive for 18 years) divorced, re-married a wonderful man who told me that I should follow my spirit and do what it was that was meant for me to do. Thus, I am in a university BSN program, just finished up my first year and start clinicals in the fall. I am having the best time of my life. It is allot of hard work, but I am there because I want to be.....not because someone told me I had to go to college.

I am actively involved in the SGA on campus, and eventually want to lobby legislature for better benefits for nurses. I am 45 and have every intention of being the best that I can be, because I did not choose this field blindly. I will take care of people the way I want to be taken care of. I WILL NOT make comments about where I work, who I work with, or the problems with the profession to anyone but myself, my best friend, and (with facts to back me up) the government.

Yes, I want to take care of people, but I also want to continue to learn and I can't think of a better field to do that in other than nursing. The rebel in me will only find the "problems" that I hear everyone talking about a challenge to be overcome, and solved. Not just talked about.

That is why I went into nursing!

[Ted]

At first, for the steady income and health benefits.

Why do I stay in nursing? I love my job . . . I enjoy supporting people though tough times.

Ted Fiebke

[JennieBSN]

Uh, don't really know why. I was actually a theatre major for 2.5 years at the start of my college career. One day, after a REALLY horrible break up, while walking campus w/my mom and crying on her shoulder, I LITERALLY pulled it out of the air and decided to be a nurse. Honest to God. That's exactly how it happened.

I suppose it's where I'm meant to be, that's all. SOMEONE had to put that thought into my head, and I suspect it was someone 'upstairs' who did so. Anyway, 4 years out of nursing school later, I'm still here. I toy with leaving to go work at Wal-Mart occasionally, but alas, I toil on. :)

[peaceful2100, BSN, RN]

I am not a nurse yet but I am in nursing school and will graduate in 2003. The reason why I decided to go through nursing school to become a nurse is for several reasons. 1) I explored many options from education to social work to business to journalism to accounting to computers, marketing, advertising, physical therapy, pharmacist, and childcare provider/owner and nursing but nursing seemed to fit what I was interested in more than anything else and seems to be the right fit.

2) Don't get me wrong there is a need for nurses of all backgrounds but there is even a more special need for minority nurse and being African-American myself I feel like people of my background in the minority communities need more minority nurses and some minority people will refuse to open up to anyone unless it is from someone of their own race. Personally I don't care who takes care of me as long as they know what they are doing and care about what they are doing and treat me with respect. I feel that there are special health issues in the African-American community that needs to be further studied so they can get educated and my goal is to play several roles as a nurse 1) as a pediatric nurse when I graduate from nursing school in 2 years because I love kids and 2) I hope to become a nurse practitioner in family public health/community health in the minority community focusing on preventive health because some of the health statistics in the minority community truly scares me and there is a huge disparity that I would like to help change.

3) I have worked as a care assistant this summer in the hospital and the stories I would hear from the nurses have really impacted my decision and realize that nursing is what I really want to do. I truly want to make a difference in all the lifes that I come across no matter who they are but like I said I have my focus areas that I would like to see changed.

[BrandyBSN]

I became a nurse because It was always something that I wanted to do. My aunt has been a BSN RN in Tennesee long before BSNs were common, and I remember thinking when i was younger that she was the smartest person I had ever met. She was always calm and cool in any situation. I wanted to be like that too.

I love being a student, and I love what I do. I have plans to either become a CRNA or go to med school, and I fully believe that the best doctors are those who were nurses first. I love the rush I get from being in a bad situation and pulling through. I love knowing that something I did is a direct result of why someone is still alive. I also love the respect I get from my friends and family. I love being the first one my family and friends call when an accident happens, and I love being able to reassure them, and share everything that i have learned.

I have been at a university since my Junior year of high school. I got accepted to Wichita State University in Kansas during my sophomore year of high school, so during the summers, i moved to Kansas to take more classes. Then the first week of my senior year of high school, I got my acceptance letter to Truman.

Truman is the only school I have ever wanted to attend. Yes, mostly because of the status of making it here. Its the top University in the midwest, and its hard to get in, and even harder to stay in. And it is nice to have people say "wow, you go to truman?" I have 3 years down, 9 months to go. Its been an awesome experience! I am so glad that I went for it.

Now, after I went to the university that i wanted to attend, and will soon have my degree, i get to spend the rest of my life working in a profession that I always wanted to be in. To me, It has all been "my dream come true."

[RNforLongTime]

Since I was 5, I always knew that I wanted to be a nurse. My mother compiled a "school days" book chronicaling my K-12 years. In the elementary section of said book (K-4) there was a section for me to write down what I wanted to "be" when I grew up. Under each grade, I had written nurse. I also wanted to be a ballerina, an artist and a doctor.

Well, nursing won out and after high school(1990), I was accepted into a prestigious hospital based nursing program in Erie Pa. I was 2 trimesters away from completing the program when in March of 1992, I flunked the nursing class. I had a 79.25% when passing was an 80%. My nursing care plans weren't up to their standards either but anyhow, I was accepted to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in June of 1992, started classes there in August of 1992 and graduated with my BSN in 1997. "Flunking" out was the best thing that ever happened to me now that I think about it. I have a college degree which few people in my family have done.

I want to help people. Lame, I know but that is the major impetus behind my reasonings for being a nurse. Every day brings a new challenge(frustration) and no two days are alike. I think that I am doing a good job! Patients tell me that all the time and it is a good thing to hear. It makes it worthwhile. There isn't anything else that I would rather do than to be a nurse!

Kelly:)

[PhantomRN]

I became a nurse because the nearest school that offered Physical Therapy was over 100 miles away. However, I do not regret my decision. In fact I am glad I made the choice as it has served me well. I realize I have many more opportunities open to me as a nurse than I would as a PT.