why did you go into nursing?

[nghtfltguy, BSN, RN]

seriously...

why did you go into nursing....

i did it for the respect over being a paramedic...

i still respect paramedics more than most nurses....

no offense to any of you... but.. you might not have been there...

blah blah... i did it not only for that.. but the money is different..

better..

and it is easier to get into med school...

[caloynik125]

I take nursing to earn... (honestly)....

and of course I really want to work in the hospital since childhood...

I admire those person wearing gowns, having steth around their neck.. :rotfl: (not with those 5cc syringe) :rotfl:

[SteveNNP, MSN, NP]

seriously...

why did you go into nursing....

i did it for the respect over being a paramedic...

i still respect paramedics more than most nurses....

-SO... you did nursing because you wanted more respect, but still don't respect most nurses? What's that all about?

and it is easier to get into med school...

- Ah.... there's the answer........good luck with that.

[cpnegrad07]

i knew that eventually i would be too old to be a Paramedic, i like the whole health-care/science thing, my kids finished school, and so did i.

[CPI61]

Got laid off from my old job, considered getting into X-Ray but the waiting list was too long. I was married at the time with children and needed to get in and out of school quickly. LPN school was a good option. 15 month course and lotta jobs available

[GilbertDaddy]

After having 2 kids (well technically I didn't have them), I noticed the nurses did 99% of the work. I began to keep keen on this and I realized nurses were caring for me 95% of the time I was in hospitals and whatnot. I thought many of them were doctors.

I'd done IT and done well, but I hate sitting behind a computer.

I did real estate and loved helping people but hated hard sales.

I've stuck primarily with IT and programming, but I hear songs about a child dying, or a child being without a dad, etc. and I tear up. I always said I'd love to go in and sing Christmas songs for sick children one day but fathering and working never really allowed it. After a lot of thought, I realized how much I was already learning about biology while bodybuilding and that medicine would be a natural evolution of that interest.

Kind of like programming a new language.. human =P

I'm also a social person and find that I just love making people happy and bettering lives. What better career for an eternal optimist?

The money is a bit less than what I make but the opportunities are much more vast. CRNA school sounds nice, but I figure I'll find out more once I've been working as an RN for a few years and have the BSN and required items for CRNA school. May find I like it better doing something else.

[agldragonRN]

seriously...

why did you go into nursing....

i did it for the respect over being a paramedic...

i still respect paramedics more than most nurses....

no offense to any of you... but.. you might not have been there...

blah blah... i did it not only for that.. but the money is different..

better..

and it is easier to get into med school...

i am still an lpn student and will be graduating soon (6 weeks). initially, i was in this for the money. i thought in the beginning that nurses only clean poop and take blood. now i am glad i chose this path because i love helping my patients and all the "dirty" work is ok now. i am excellent at clinicals. i think i am meant to do this even though i didn't really like it in the beginning. i wished i had started nursing right after high school. i hope i continue to like nursing after i graduate because i know being a student nurse is totally different from being a nurse.

angel

[socalpca]

Mother-in-law is a school nurse. I was a beach lifeguard for 14 years. Tore some knee ligaments, my chief would not hold my supervisor spot for me, so I quit that job and started taking the nursing pre-requisites during my rehab. I really enjoy learning medical stuff and educating people on health/wellness. That made nursing a natural choice for me.

[beema]

any thing diffrent in abroad job malenurse and femalenurse

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

I care....period.

I'd probably do my job for a lot less if I got paid enough to pay my bills.

However, I also like dealing with patients who haven't talked to anyone in days, but they talk to me....Seeing patients who stay on the floor for WEEKS, but leave much better than they came in as...

I would rather respect myself in the mirror than have some job that I just do for the money...

[Ace587RN, RN]

People need to be taken care of. Its in my heart to take care of people :)

[bigjim]

Got very tired of dealing with constant layoffs and turbulent job market in the IT industry.

Originally wanted to be a PA. Took EMT to start getting the required patient care experience and decided I really liked EMS and would become a Paramedic then decide when to go PA.

Found out what Paramedics make.

Decided to finish medic and then go right to RN so I can pay my bills.

Will decide on PA/CRNA from there.

In short, I really like patient care, but I also like the absence of layoffs, home ownership, vacations, 401k, and not having to work until I am 75, so I will stay in this field but go as high (license/earnings) as I can go and still keep a job that I like.

A lot of the guys who answer these threads give all/part of their reason for taking up nursing as economic, but sometimes fail to account for retirement savings as more and more jobs do not offer pensions. PA/NPs often get better benefits than staff nurses, including in some cases a very generous retirement contribution. CRNA benefits are often "executive" benefits, not even in the same league as other non-physician employees. This can make a huge difference when the day comes that you cannot/will not/do not want to work full time anymore.