Did you choose nursing because it was your "calling"?

[Corgilicious]

Hello :) I'm a first year in college interested in pursuing nursing.

Did you feel "called" to be a nurse? Did your expectations of nursing fit reality?

I read that people who choose nursing because of their desire to help others, rather than the actual enjoyment of the job, were more likely to burn out quicker.

Any thoughts on this?

I'm trying not to see nursing as a profession that is always "rainbows and butterflies" and to not let that cloud my expectations of nursing.

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

No, I don't consider it a "calling"....I'm not a nun. I'm not religious at all, in fact I'm an atheist, so the whole "calling" thing doesn't mean anything to me. I was drawn to it, sure. I wanted the excitement of the ICU and emergency medicine. I wanted the knowledge and to be able to know what to do in a crisis. I literally fell into nursing by accident, but just realized it was something I wanted to do. Honestly, if I wasn't as well paid as I am now I probably would have gone into something else by now. It's been too hard a road.

[Supernrse01, BSN]

Not really. I chose it because I wanted to become a midwife. Of course, life happens and plans change. I've been a nurse for 16 years and I'm still not a midwife. I do enjoy being a nurse but I can't say it was my calling.

[sweetmissdixie]

I think it is wise to get realistic expectations about the profession before entering it. Seeing nursing as "glamorous" or through rose-colored glasses is, in my opinion, how people get burned out quickly. Because the reality is that it is not glamorous. It is hard and demanding work - mentally, emotionally, physically, and, depending on the type of person you are, spiritually.

There is so much more that affects your success and happiness in nursing than caring for patients. Everyone will have a little different perspective, but in general, most people I've talked with share complaints about the financial/billing side, the pressure from the "higher ups" to chart a certain way, to hit core measures, to round hourly, to meet satisfaction scores - all while short-staffed. You'll find that many patients and family members are NOT appreciative of what you do and some are outright abusive. You may also face abuse from physicians and even other nurses.

I say all this not to scare you away from nursing - we need more fabulous nurses. But I want you to prepare yourself for the possibilities that my colleagues and I lived through but weren't ready for when we graduated. I don't feel this way, but I have heard colleagues saying they would not have gone into nursing if they knew "it would be like this."

On the flip side, I have helped many patients the way I envisioned when I was a new nurse. I have had many wonderful, appreciative patients and family members. I've worked beside fantastic nurses and doctors that lifted my spirits and made me a better nurse and individual. I've done good and life-changing work despite the barriers. I know my fellow nurses have done the same. It's those moments that keep many of us in the profession.

I'm not going to lie - most of the time it is a ****-show (excuse my language). It took about a year before I felt like I knew what I was doing, even though I graduated top of my class. I cried a lot in the beginning. But I love being a nurse. I love my patients. You'll learn to laugh about the hard things.

I've worked in many different areas, perhaps to help with burnout. I went back to school and became an NP (again, perhaps to help with burnout). That is one nice thing - you can move pretty much anywhere and have a job. If you don't like one area of nursing (or your coworkers, or you commute, or whatever), you can try something new. And you can keep advancing your degree if you like school (I do). And that brings me around to your original question (gee, I talk a lot): No, I didn't feel called to nursing. I chose it for those reasons - job security, decent pay, flexibility. I was good at the sciences, like a challenge, and wanted to help people.

If you have the opportunity, I would see if there is a program where you can shadow a nurse or maybe volunteer at the hospital and get to know the nursing staff. See what it is like in the "real world." I hope some of this was helpful and didn't completely run you off :)

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

I've chosen nursing (I'm in school) because it's a relatively stable job, the pay is decent, lots of flexibility in my schedule and the never-ending challenges and educational opportunities.

It absolutely wasn't a calling.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I have never felt called to become anything...

Nursing had never been a 'calling' or childhood dream for me. I never yearned to be a nurse. I entered nursing for the steady middle income pay, career mobility, flexibility, and opportunities for educational progression.

Some people insist that those who are in it for the pay and flexibility cannot possibly make the cut. Well, this is my eleventh year as a nurse. I have lasted longer than many of those who were 'called' to the profession.

Nursing has bestowed upon me the steady pay, career mobility, flexibility and educational advancement that I initially desired. However, never in a million years would I do this job for free.

[al3x117, RN, EMT-B]

Awesome!

[al3x117, RN, EMT-B]

Get ready for a rude awakening. ..deep conversation !!! Too funny

Thanks man. Ready for the challenge.

[melissaholder]

I knew I'd be a nurse by the time I was 6. I have always referred to it as a calling because nobody told me that is what I would or should be. I was the type of kid that would help others with their boo-boos; I would wash the sores, bring out the bandaids and treat them with"monkey blood" (what I called Mecurochrome) or campho-phenique every time I thought I could help. I've been a nurse since 1986 and still love learning and treating patients.

[Corgilicious]

I think it is wise to get realistic expectations about the profession before entering it. Seeing nursing as "glamorous" or through rose-colored glasses is, in my opinion, how people get burned out quickly. Because the reality is that it is not glamorous. It is hard and demanding work - mentally, emotionally, physically, and, depending on the type of person you are, spiritually.

There is so much more that affects your success and happiness in nursing than caring for patients. Everyone will have a little different perspective, but in general, most people I've talked with share complaints about the financial/billing side, the pressure from the "higher ups" to chart a certain way, to hit core measures, to round hourly, to meet satisfaction scores - all while short-staffed. You'll find that many patients and family members are NOT appreciative of what you do and some are outright abusive. You may also face abuse from physicians and even other nurses.

I say all this not to scare you away from nursing - we need more fabulous nurses. But I want you to prepare yourself for the possibilities that my colleagues and I lived through but weren't ready for when we graduated. I don't feel this way, but I have heard colleagues saying they would not have gone into nursing if they knew "it would be like this."

On the flip side, I have helped many patients the way I envisioned when I was a new nurse. I have had many wonderful, appreciative patients and family members. I've worked beside fantastic nurses and doctors that lifted my spirits and made me a better nurse and individual. I've done good and life-changing work despite the barriers. I know my fellow nurses have done the same. It's those moments that keep many of us in the profession.

I'm not going to lie - most of the time it is a ****-show (excuse my language). It took about a year before I felt like I knew what I was doing, even though I graduated top of my class. I cried a lot in the beginning. But I love being a nurse. I love my patients. You'll learn to laugh about the hard things.

I've worked in many different areas, perhaps to help with burnout. I went back to school and became an NP (again, perhaps to help with burnout). That is one nice thing - you can move pretty much anywhere and have a job. If you don't like one area of nursing (or your coworkers, or you commute, or whatever), you can try something new. And you can keep advancing your degree if you like school (I do). And that brings me around to your original question (gee, I talk a lot): No, I didn't feel called to nursing. I chose it for those reasons - job security, decent pay, flexibility. I was good at the sciences, like a challenge, and wanted to help people.

If you have the opportunity, I would see if there is a program where you can shadow a nurse or maybe volunteer at the hospital and get to know the nursing staff. See what it is like in the "real world." I hope some of this was helpful and didn't completely run you off :)

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all that!! It kind of scared me haha! But the reasons why I want to go into nursing are very similar to yours. I still find nursing an interesting and challenging profession, even though I do not over glamorize it.

[brownbook]

As a youngster I did enjoy reading about medical innovations, treatments, etc. I volunteered in a hospital but it was only clerical stuff. My future vision was a white picket fence, rolly poly children, stay at home wife/mom, pies cooling on the windowsill. A little more realistically, maybe be a teacher, maybe some secretarial stuff.

No one in my immediate family or friends was in the medical field. I thought hospitals were where you went to have babies or die. I hated school, did awful in any math/science courses.

Age 30, my husband had a job working with some nurses, after our second child was born he said..."I work with nurses, you should be a nurse!"

I thought.....yeah, I will take one science class, flunk out, and that will be the end of that. Well.....when you return to school at age 28 your study habits are somewhat improved. I loved the science classes, got all A's.

I HATED the clinical aspects of nursing. I was scared to death. I cried driving to work, cried at work (in the linen closet), cried driving home.

After a few years it sunk in that it is really hard to kill a patient, the fears subsided. I found out I was a good nurse. Not really clinically brilliant, but could stay calm in a crises. Deal with the s**t storms that happen.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

For me it was a sense of duty. A duty to take care of anyone in need. I also think that nurses are truly the backbone of healthcare. I wanted to do more than just treat a disease and give the patient some sound advice. I wanted to actually work with the patient and see them improve day by day because people need connection with others. In nursing I can build that connection with people that I care for and truly help them get better. The nursing process in my opinion surpasses medicine because medicine can fail people. Something can go wrong with the surgery, or you have an untreatable disease. Again if you were the patient who is going to be with you when you hear that. The nurse will. As a nurse you have many opportunities to dig deep into people's lives and have meaningful conversations with them so they don't feel that they are alone in the fight against a life threatening disease. Nurses do the little things that make the most difference in a patient's life. This is why I became a nurse.

Hope to be a humanitarian nurse with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) after nursing school.

I'm not sure where you're going to find the opportunities for meaningful conversations or to dig deeply into patients' lives. Perhaps Doctors Without Borders will offer you the opportunity for that, but I'm guessing you'll be just as busy there as you will be on a Med/Surg floor, a LTC or an ICU. Most nurses have too much to do for meaningful conversations with their patients, although meaningful conversations with your night shift colleagues are a definite possibility.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I was looking for a career that was portable (I moved a lot), paid decently (I'm not a martyr) and in which I would never be bored (because I don't do bored).