Your decision to pursue nursing?

J2016 · Aug 1, 2016

I've always had some sort of inclination to medicine since my mothers meningioma removal in 2005. I've played back and forth between many different healthcare related careers, including clinical lab science, coding and billing, and even did something as crazy as get my degree as a Certified Medical Assistant. Now that I've been working in Assisted Living and Memory Care I know that I need to be a nurse, and that is now where I am headed â˜ºï¸

Aliareza, BSN · Aug 7, 2016

I have a business degree and started out in that area when I graduated. I felt horribly unfulfilled doing it and knew I hated it. Plus it was very hard to find anything with "just a 4 year degree". Everybody wanted me to go back and do my master's before I'd get one of those good stable jobs I'd always looked forward to.

I said "bump that" and started looking for other things I could do. If I was going back to school, it was going to be for something I actually wanted, not just a safe bet. I never would have thought of nursing, but my sister pushed me toward it since it was what she had chosen to do. It was only two years (same way a master's would have been) and all I had to do was take anatomy I & II plus pharm to prep for it. I researched it, and I decided it was a good way to help people in a short amount of time. I was sold.

Funnily enough, I think my sister only pushed me toward it because she was a little scared to do it herself. I became the pathfinder of sorts. I started working at a hospital as a nurse aide; a few months later, she drummed up the courage to leave her nursing home job and work at that hospital too. I jumped all the hurdles to get into nursing school, and encouraged her to do the same; a year later, she finally got over her fear of the HESI entrance exam and followed suit. She did even better than I did, the whole way through school! Now we're both nurses and I couldn't be more proud :).

Erythropoiesis · Aug 7, 2016

I don't have a romantic story about it. Of course I've always felt a pull towards medicine, and nursing was always in the back of my mind. What it really comes down to is that it's a stable, safe job. The money will be decent, and I'll never have to worry about not finding work. My entire childhood was spent with parents who consistently lost their jobs and at one point we even lost our house. That's what drove me into nursing. That knowledge that I'd be financially safe. My goal is to work towards being a FNP and get into the diagnostic aspect of things.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 7, 2016

I was 23 years old in 2004 when I had been working as a factory worker at a paper products plant for three years. During my factory work stint, I became a homeowner. However, I had no education beyond a high school diploma and few workforce options if I were to ever lose the factory job.

Well, the beginning of the end was being initiated. My condescending manager was going to issue a written warning to me for 'safety issues,' and he discussed the issue out in the open with my coworkers rather than being professional enough to keep the disciplinary action behind closed doors. The next day I went on stress leave under the care of a psychiatrist and psychotherapist.

While on stress leave, I applied and was admitted to a 12-month fast track LVN program. It was time to ditch my dead-end factory job and obtain a career. I obtained my LVN license in early 2006, then my ASN degree/RN licensure in 2010, and BSN degree in 2015. I will complete my MSN degree at the end of next year if all goes well.

So, in a nutshell, I entered nursing since I was in the precarious position of being a factory worker who lacked formal education beyond a high school diploma. If you've been watching the news, the fortunes of American working class men and women without degrees have been decimated in recent years. I took action instead of suffering the same fate.

cleback · Aug 7, 2016

I was looking for a career I could support myself and my family with. Growing up, I joked my second home was the hospital as my dad was frequently sick with heart issues. Nursing seemed like a natural fit.

Honestly, if money for the family was not an issue, I would have majored in Russian literature, my first love. . And I would also be unemployed right now. Lol. I guess some financial hardship worked to my advantage in the end!

NightNerd, MSN, RN · Aug 7, 2016

I can't say that there was one specific moment. I have always wanted a job that would somehow vaguely "help people." I majored in English and Psych, thinking I would go on to get my Masters and become a counselor, or work in Forensic Psych.

While saving money for this, I worked as a receptionist at am inpatient hospice, and all those nurses seemed very happy and fulfilled (including my mom, also an RN). I became a CNA, discovered that poop and things weren't so bad, and went to nursing school instead (it was also cheaper than a Master's).

I worked in hospice first and now I'm a month into a med-psych job. I have mixed feelings about my ability to do this forever. I love the opportunity to learn, which is another great thing about nursing. But the extraordinary amount of detail in this work is something I struggle with, especially when I'm naturally more focused on, "What will fulfill this person? What will support them best in this moment?" as opposed to getting into the nitty-gritty of their assessment, labs, etc. I think hospice was a great fit for that reason, but probably with time I'll adapt to the precision required where I am now. But I've been thinking a lot about that Master's in Counseling lately. We'll see where this goes, but in the meantime I'm very grateful for the direction my career went in. It led me to a lot of wonderful friends, a great guy, and a job that supports me, makes me feel like my work matters, and teaches be something new every day.

NOADLS · Aug 7, 2016

I was drawn to this career by a close friend. This friend explained to me that every two weeks, you would receive a piece of paper which you could take to the bank and exchange it for this green paper which you could exchange for material goods. I look back at this explanation and think to myself, "best career advice ever."

Nursing has satisfied my materialistic desires and more (see: candycrush)!

allnurses Guide · Aug 7, 2016

I had a friend that I worked with in retail, who was about to graduate nursing school. He told me that he was getting ready to go to work in a psychiatric hospital. I thought that sounded just about like the coolest job ever.

Since then.. I've been through school, I've worked in psych, but also in Med Surge, LTC, and home health. Right now I have landed on a small Med Surge unit that I LOVE, and I plan on staying as long as possible!

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Aug 7, 2016

My dad made me do it.... Literally! That was for the LPN. The economy made me do it for the ASN. Nursing trends encouraged me to get the BSN. I decided on the MSN last year, but pulled out after being accepted into two programs. Rethinking that more than I thought I would lately....we'll see.