Hey guys, I was just wonderin, since I'm realtively new here, who you guys are, and what made you choose nursing, and what you guys do to pass time and relieve stress while in school?
Let me start, My name is Mike, I'm 20 and from Ohio, fresh outta highschool I chose engineering, following my dads steps, except for mechanical, I chose software. I attended about a semester of the program, before I realized that it just wasn't right for me, I've always been drawn to the hospital, but I knew absolutely nothing about it. Well in May I had an accident while training for an MMA fight (ufc style fighting) and I spent sometime in the hospital, where I had the coolest nurse take care of me, before that I was always like "me a nurse? yeah right" but I politely asked him about his job, and the schooling, and he gave me a paper to fill out and allowed me too shadow him, after two days I was hooked. After I recovered and regained mobility in my shoulder and knee, I enrolled for my pre reqs, applied to nursing school, and haven't looked back since. I'll never forget the look on my parents face when I told them what I did (I kinda flew under the radar with the whole process) my mom was in tears she was so happy. All my friends are still tryin to find themselvs, while me never being a big fan of highschool, I absolutely love every moment of this, even the pre-req portion (cept math lol) when I'm not at school, I wake up at 3am, and work at McDonald's till 1...but that has to stop this coming fall, studying is more important, and I know it's going to be a real hard semester. I like to golf, I went to states in Highschool for golf +3 handicap, I love MMA fighting, playing guitar, and lifting.
I think it would be interesting to get some replies please?
My turn. I am 40 and started an Accelerated BSN program this summer. I'll graduate next summer. I worked in social services for 16 years, most of that time in developmental disabilities. My last job was in administration, cushy but really boring. I have had an interest in medicince since junior high school, and when I discovered a program that would allow me to get a BSN in just over a year, I decided to go for it before I got any older! I have really enjoyed the training so far and I think I made the right choice.
I have to start off my saying that as someone who just finished up with college a year ago and was stressed out about "not having it all figured out" it is cool to hear other people's stories about their career paths. And, as bad as this sounds, it is very reassuring to know that not everyone knew exactly what they wanted when they got done with college. I first got exposed to nursing about two year's ago while my girlfriend was going through nursing school, she would always bring home the most interesting stories about patients, procedures she saw and coworkers and that first sparked my interest into healthcare. At the time I was finishing up an engineering degree and had recently finished up some co-op experience that made me not so sure that I wanted to work in corporate america for the rest of my life. Soon after, I started volunteering at the Surgery/Recovery unit at a hospital nearby. I loved every week of it (even though all we could do as volunteers was fold and warm blankets, make patient packs and take case carts around the hospital). I met the chief CRNA at the hospital and next week I plan on doing some job shadowing with him. Right now I can't say I feel 100% that Nursing is THE career for me, but the more I learn about it and talk to people in the field, the better I feel about making a possible career change.
My name's Tom. Born and raised in Seattle, WA, but lived for years in Portland, OR. I just passed my boards about 2 weeks ago after finishing my ADN program in May. Now I'm in the job hunt and hating every moment of it, just ready to start working.
I went to a 4 year university out of high school, left with a BA in BS (otherwise known as Liberal Arts...). Ended up working as a load master and manager for an international airline. Post-9/11, I realized that there was no future to be had with the airlines so I packed up, moved to Arizona to go back to school. Which was the best and worst thing to do. My wife and I ended up moving back to Portland after the loss of our little girl as nothing was keeping us in Arizona anymore, so here I am.
Eventually, will go back for my BSN and possibly further, but I'm not ready for school again. Besides going on-line, I spend time biking and trying to work on my '73 VW, and am a recovering video-game addict
Oh jeez, where do I begin. My name is Fred. I'm 32, still in nursing school for another 3 semesters. I can't really say what got me involved in medicine in general. My mother had one of those family doctor in a book type of books that I would read constantly when I was barely a teenager. I loved Latin class, which I took mostly because my mother had taken it when she was in highschool in the late 50's.
I spent 10 years as a hairstylist which began as the idea I would work my way through college to become an English teacher. That never panned out. I jumped at the offer to join the local ambulance corps just a few years ago and became an EMT, then partway through that class decided I wanted to be a nurse, and to get the experience I took a CNA class at the local nursing home and have been there for a little over two years.
Now believe it or not, my desire for the moment is to get into hospice nursing. I can't explain it, but I feel a swelling of honor to provide for someone's care in their final days.
Tom, what area of Portland do you live in? I'm out in IL, but planning to make the move to the portland area after obtaining my BSN in 4-5 years. I was out there 2 years ago, spent time doing survival school in Mt. Hood national forest, met a woman who showed me around Portland for a week, and really fell in love with it.
Enjoyed the japanese gardens, the view of the west hills from the top of some hotel, and just the atmosphere of the city.
Tom, what area of Portland do you live in? I'm out in IL, but planning to make the move to the portland area after obtaining my BSN in 4-5 years. I was out there 2 years ago, spent time doing survival school in Mt. Hood national forest, met a woman who showed me around Portland for a week, and really fell in love with it.
Enjoyed the japanese gardens, the view of the west hills from the top of some hotel, and just the atmosphere of the city.
I'm out in Beaverton, just west of Downtown. It's actually a pretty nice location for suburbia. It's better than northern Arizona though.
My name is Mike. I live in Ohio (Go Bucks). I am married with two kids. I'm still trying to find my place in life (boy, is time running out, lol). I enjoy baseball and hanging with my kids. I have taken some pre. req.. I start clinicals in Jan..
I am 44 years old. a Gulf War vet. been many things. have a BA in Religion and Philosophy. Tried to second in Biology didn't cut the higher classes so well, so i left and did self-employment work after Grad.
Now i'm recovering from disability that's been going on for 8 years.
While Disabled i had to start learning Holistic Modalities to get beyond the "we've tried all we can on meds and therapy" to get to the point i'm at today of looking at attaining employable skills so i can go back to work. So i have helped work a business from home with the wife in Holistic Health for the last 3 years....
I Signed up for ADN in Spring of '07. I see it as a continuation of what i've already been pushed to do by life. looking forward to it.
Hey guys, let me just begin by stating that seeing this many replies on this topic makes me very proud and hopeful. Congratulations to all of you who have chosen this course of study/career. Not everyone can have guts to decide to go through with something like this. I say this all and I haven't even gotten accepted to a nursing program yet, but at 25 I decided to go back to school, even though I'm only two years out of school with a bachelors in Architecture. This first degree just didn't offer the fulfillment that I seem to crave. Making a lot of money means nothing to me and making money for other people makes even less sense. Architecture certainly revolves around that and something even more sinister; egotism. If it taught me anything it was that at the end of my life I'd like to be able to say to myself, and hopefully others around me, that I made a difference, that I contributed instead of solely consumed.
I know in my heart and soul that this is a noble profession worth doing. However, I think I have a problem. I have no experience in the healthcare field other than as a patient. I've been reading a lot of the posts on this site as well as a book that I bought on becoming a successful nursing student, but haven't really found very many suggestions on how to gain some personal insight into this field. Other than becoming a nurses aide. I've asked about shadowing, but been told that liability can be a problem in a lot of places. Did any of you go into nursing with no direct experiences? Just curious.
Hey guys, let me just begin by stating that seeing this many replies on this topic makes me very proud and hopeful. Congratulations to all of you who have chosen this course of study/career. Not everyone can have guts to decide to go through with something like this. I say this all and I haven't even gotten accepted to a nursing program yet, but at 25 I decided to go back to school, even though I'm only two years out of school with a bachelors in Architecture. This first degree just didn't offer the fulfillment that I seem to crave. Making a lot of money means nothing to me and making money for other people makes even less sense. Architecture certainly revolves around that and something even more sinister; egotism. If it taught me anything it was that at the end of my life I'd like to be able to say to myself, and hopefully others around me, that I made a difference, that I contributed instead of solely consumed.
I know in my heart and soul that this is a noble profession worth doing. However, I think I have a problem. I have no experience in the healthcare field other than as a patient. I've been reading a lot of the posts on this site as well as a book that I bought on becoming a successful nursing student, but haven't really found very many suggestions on how to gain some personal insight into this field. Other than becoming a nurses aide. I've asked about shadowing, but been told that liability can be a problem in a lot of places. Did any of you go into nursing with no direct experiences? Just curious.
I am going into nursing w/out any previous experience working as an aid or anything else exept I have shadowed at the local hospital and i loved it. Good luck!
graduated H.S. in 2000. Worked 2 low end jobs. Went to Utah (late 2002). Got my CNA. Came back to CA for a visit (late 2003). Was in a car accident ( Jan. 2004). Stayed in CA. Didn't transfer my CNA. Have a dislocated "something" on my right shoulder. Another car accident (Aug. 2005). I'm pretty banged up. Haven't worked since goin off to Utah. Time to get back in there. Decided that nursing is what I want to do. Going to get some things situated, then start school Fall of 2007 at the old age of 25.
VJinOK
10 Posts
My turn. I am 40 and started an Accelerated BSN program this summer. I'll graduate next summer. I worked in social services for 16 years, most of that time in developmental disabilities. My last job was in administration, cushy but really boring. I have had an interest in medicince since junior high school, and when I discovered a program that would allow me to get a BSN in just over a year, I decided to go for it before I got any older! I have really enjoyed the training so far and I think I made the right choice.