why did you become a nurse

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Help with my daughter's school project - questions for nurses :D

My daughter is in a focused high school that directs all of her studies toward her future career. She wants to be a Pediatric Nurse. One of the projects she has been given is to ask nurses why they became a nurse in the first place. Also she needs to know what being a professional healthcare provider means to you. Any help would be appreciated.

Originally, for steady income. I remain a nurse because I've grown to love my profession. I can be stressful at time. Actually left the profession for a while. Came back, though, when I found myself missing the care I used to provide. However, this time I picked a place to work which fit my needs in terms of hours, scheduling, pay, etc. In return, I give the best darn 8 hours of my time. And the patients seem to appreciate my care.

wow....what a loaded question huh? :chuckle

i'm in the home stretch of nursing school now and i simply cannot imagine myself doing anything but nursing.

from the time i could bandage my baby dolls and cats, all i can remember is that i wanted to be a nurse. of course, life got in the way and i'm a "late bloomer" going into nursing but i'm finally doing what i've wanted to do for the last 30 years.

being a healthcare professional to me means "giving." i give myself to my patients and their families for a time. a loan of sorts. by the time i get patients, they are at a time in their lives when they need someone to give to them. what many of my patients may not realize is the gifts they have given to me. to hear someone say "thank you" means the world to me when i know i've helped them in some small way.

best of luck to your daughter in following her dream. :)

I never wanted to be a nurse....My girlfriend and I attended a "career day" presentation in high school. We both planned to go to college to be teachers. I had also had an interest in becoming an attorney. We heard an RN speak about the Nursing program at a local hospital (diploma program) and we decided that nursing was better pay than teaching (we didn't quite grasp the benefits of steady dayturn Mon-Fri and summers off!!! we just looked at the money at the time). Anyway, we both went to Nursing school and loved it. Later, in my career, I realized I had been "called" by God to be a nurse as I had several family members with long-term illnesses that I cared for. What is really neat about professional nursing is there are soooo many diverse areas of practice within nursing. Guess what...later in my career, I worked in IV Home Care and became a "teacher", educating patients on how to administer IV medications at home. In the past 2 years, I have become a Risk Manager, therefore fulfilling my interest in the legal field. Even after years of midnight shifts and weekends, I am glad God led me to be a nurse!

well Ichoose tobe a nurse for a weird reason io guess:)

i had once though of being a doctor but family discouraged me said only the smartest people can be docs,well i got married had a variety of different jobs and careers .but what really triggered me to be a nurse is when we had our first child the nurses were so horrible,cold and unprofessional that i decided to do something about it. well i tryied to change some things eventually decided to go and become a nurse and set an example for others. now i am glad i need I have found my true calling and can think of doing nothing else.

over the yrs i have meet and worked with many wonderful nurses. and i think we need more of them( wonderful nurses that is)!

In my 20's the people who had the greatest impact on my life .... were nurses!!! They had supported my mother and I through the death of my dad, held my hand as I pushed in labor, and sat at my bedside through a summer long hospital stay with pregnancy complications...

I was in awe... total awe... that these "strangers" had mad such a huge impact in my life and made such a difference through the toughest and happiest times in my life.

I had to be part of this profession.

I'm still in awe of the trust placed in me... the stranger, as I care for patients, and their families go home and rest feeling comfortable that I'll take care of their loved one.

I feel WHOLE as a nurse... It's not what I do... it's who I am.

Specializes in ICU, nutrition.

I originally wanted to be a high school English teacher, then I got to college and realized I didn't like English as much as I thought I did. I changed majors several times, gravitating toward "helping" professions (elem ed, social work), then one day I just woke up and realized I wanted to be a nurse. So I busted my butt to get in all those science classes in one year and apply for clinicals.

I took the long way about doing things though; got cold feet on the first day of the fall semester of nursing school (after attending summer nursing classes), so I dropped out and went back the next fall. The second week of school I found out I was pregnant with my son, so I dropped out (again!!) at semester. Then we moved to another state, and I had to retake some classes (that wouldn't transfer) before I could start nursing school again. So it took me 9.5 years (6.5 years fulltime, 1 year parttime, and 2.5 years off) to get my BSN. Was it worth it? Absolutely! And I wouldn't change the way I went about it either, because I am a different person from all the lessons I've learned over the years.

I enjoy both the technical aspects and the caring touch of the profession. I love research and learning new things. And it's an adrenalin rush like no other to save a life, and an amazing gift to hold the hand of someone leaving this world after a long fight.

I know now that teaching and nursing have a lot in common, and one of my favorite aspects of the job is teaching patients and family members about their illness and treatment. I love explaining things and I can't wait till I'm experienced enough to start orienting new nurses. I want to be just half the preceptor mine were!

Of course I'm saying all this after having been off work for six days. ;)

Specializes in critical care, med/surg.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life until I was 19. A friend of mine had started working as a CNA in a local nursing home and seemed to enjoy it, so I decided to try it out. I didn't have anything to lose, being a single mom and a waitress at the time.

After taking the CNA class, I worked in long term care for about 3 years before taking the plunge into college. I realized that alot of the nurses that I worked with weren't as passionate and caring as I was, and seemed to "go through the motions" instead of being genuinely concerned for the patients they cared for.

I am now an LPN (as of July) and am currently in an ADN program (only 8 months until graduation!!!!). I work in a cardiac stepdown unit and LOVE every minute of it! It brings great joy to me to watch patients recover from cardiac problems that greatly affect their well being. There are trials and tribulations, but I cannot imagine being anything else but a nurse.

:nurse: :nurse:

Gosh,

Thanks for all the great responses!!! My daughter reads these often. I think nursing is great in that it draws so many returning adults back to a second, third, or fourth career. Our diverse backgrounds are astounding. I myself worked as a large metropolitain area police dispatcher and then as a jail supervisor before returning as an adult to get my BSN in nursing. My collegues laugh when in private conversation with them I refer to one of my patients as "prisoner". Oh well, maybe a Freudian slip?

Specializes in NICU, Infection Control.

I decided to be a nurse when I was about 4--I liked the hats!! Somehow, I never changed my mind. Don't forget, this was LONG time ago, women didn't have that many choices. But I still thing that it was the right choice for me, and I don't have any regrets.

Back in high school, early 70s, I really wanted to be a Veterianarian.......but my parents didn't have money to send me to college. Women's acceptable jobs back then still were teaching or nursing.

I belonged to the Future Nurses in high school...I felt it was a calling.......helping people. Unlike many others here, I went to Nursing School, a Diploma program straight out of high school.

It was the hardest 3 years of my life! But I learned more about life and death, and people in those 3 years than I ever imagined.

Almost 27 years later, I have few regrets. Nursing is an honorable profession....I have learned to savor the little moments as victories......seeing a patient improve or understand.

I became a nurse because of the flexibility and many opportunities you can have. What job can you have where no matter where you go you have a job and you do not have to limit yourself with floor nursing if you do not want to. You learn so much from different people you can't beat it. :-)

I got sick of being a bean counter (accountant), and thought this would be "fun".

Even with all the BS that goes on with this line of work, I truly enjoy this a lot more than crunching numbers and wearing ties... hehe....

-eddy

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