I have a few questions for all of you; how did you choose nursing as a career? What was the thought process and time line behind your decision? What was your family and friend's reaction to your decision? Are they supportive?
I think I would make an excellent nurse and have toyed with the idea for quite some time. Only recently I decided to make it my main focus and pursue my RN, full steam ahead. The issue is that my loved ones have watched me pursue things and fail (like teaching) in the past and are a bit skeptical, but still supportive. I really feel like this is my last shot. I know nursing is a long path - I'm afraid I'm going to get discouraged and give up, just like in the past. I have never put 100% into anything, and this path definitely requires 110%. I feel like I can do it, but I am scared. I really want to do this. I think I want this more than I've ever wanted anything. Have any of you ever experienced anything similar? Thanks in advance.
I decided to pursue nursing after working at my current job for 19 years. I watched as all these older people would come in to apply for our job openings and I felt so bad for them because they would have years of experience doing this or that and yet they were applying for the low paying position we had open. I decided I didn't want to be in that position if any thing ever happened to my job and since we had just been bought out a huge corporation I knew there was no telling what the future would bring. I started looking into things that I could do that I could be proud of and still earn a living. I kept coming back to nursing and so I'm going to give it a try. I'm finishing my pre-reqs this semester and have been accepted into a ASN program beginning in the fall. Hopefully I can swing it!!
When I was younger I vowed I would never work behind a desk in an office all day long. In high school i was in a CNA class and was also doing an internship with a fire dept. Loved the fire/rescue thing and hated the CNA so I went and got my EMT-B. Loved doing all that but moved to a place that I couldnt get my FF1 so i started in Rad-Tech which was really fun, but was really boring to me. I remembered how i liked working in the ED and that I made friends with a lot of nurses there and they convinced me to do the nursing school thing. Could not be happier with that decision. Do I still wish I did my FF1, yeah sometimes, but I love being a nurse(almost)
I "decided" to become a nurse because I lost my job and I needed to get some type of training under my belt that would give me job security in the future. I kept hearing about the so-called "nursing shortage" and found out that an LPN program was only 15 months long, so I thought "hey, why not?". Oh, and I really liked the idea of wearing scrubs!
It wasn't until after I started school that I realized that this was my calling, and absolutely without a doubt what I was meant to do with my life, and I've never looked back!
Specializes in Near Future: ED, Future Future: ACNP!.
I have spent 9 years as an analyst in marketing research in the pharmaceutical industry and I love the medical field! I have a BS in criminal justice and a Master's in Forensic Science (that I never used). I will make it come full circle by at least getting certified as a forensic nurse.
While working in pharma, I got to work with many, many physicians and nurses and I can absorb medical info like a sponge. I was laid off 15 months ago and decided that I should give it a shot. I thought about going to med school because I am very good at the diagnosis/drug treatment part of it, but I decided I dislike the medical model and prefer the nursing model of care that encompasses the entire patient. My plan is to become an RN and then evenutally an NP.
I took my science prereqs last April - October and got into a program that starts this July! My darling husband has been extremely supportive!! I just wish I would have known what I wanted to do when I grew up 15 years ago )
I was in the hospital a lot while growing up and I used to watch the nurses work from my hospital bed. Not only did they provide great care to me, they worked with everyone well (or so it seemed to me). I told myself that one day I would be on the opposite side...I would be the nurse and someone else would be in the hospital bed. I started by taking one pre-req at a time (I still struggle with health issues so it is very difficult for me to handle a full course load, plus I knew I needed A's to get in anywhere), until I finished them all and applied to a local university's nursing program. I am now a second semester junior and I LOVE what I am doing. For me, this has been an eight year process, and a life lesson on having patients and never giving up on my goal. If you want it badly enough, you will work hard and keep pursuing your goal. One thing I did was make a collage of rewards I would get when I finished nursing school and was finally making some money--ex: I could get a new car, save up to buy a house, go on a vacation, etc. It helps me to look at that and get motivated when I need it. However, the "rewards" started with my first clinicals...the pride I felt when I finally put on my first uniform, the satisfaction of knowing that I've made a difference to my patients, watching women become mothers, etc. You can't put those things on a piece of paper, but they will motivate you to keep going as well. Good luck to you!
I was sitting with my mother in the cool clear Medina River in central Texas bemoaning the fate of an English major looking for a job. Mom asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to to practice the ethic of good work, be employable anywhere city or country, be able to travel lightly, make a decent income, and work within an organization or independently. She thought for a moment and suggested nursing. That was 1987 and I have never looked back.
I've always wanted to help people in some way - my original plan was to go to the University of Alabama for their RN program...I had talked to this woman I knew (this was when I was 18) and she was an RN and she told me NOT TO GO INTO NURSING FOR THE MONEY! At the time as a high school senior money was all I cared about when choosing a major. So then I ended up going to the University of Montevallo and my first major there was pre-dentistry...then I overheard an advisor telling "pre-dentistry majors" that "there really isn't a pre-desntistry program here"...WOW! So then I changed my major to Psychology and even considered a minor in social work...and even considered to change my major YET AGAIN to education!
All that to say, it wasn't until I finally prayed about it...my grandfather had passed on sometime before this, and I just put everything together that I had recently then noticed:
1. I love to take care of people when they're sick
2. my grand-father was always telling me "you should be a nurse, they're always looking for nurses in the news paper"
3. I've always wanted to go into the medical field BUT I also thought I wasn't "smart enough"
But when I prayed about it and thought about it, I had peace about going into Nursing (RN). It all made sense that being an RN is what I REALLY wanted to do! The money REALLY wasn't my reason for choosing it. I worked really hard over the past year plus at my local community college which is EXTREMELY competitive and got my GPA to a 3.5 and finally got 196 points out of a possible 200 points to get into the RN program (ours is a point system based) I had gotten all A's in my science's but I had to take both Anatomy's over again and I took them both for the second time AT THE SAME TIME! All that to say, I never thought I was "smart enough"...and I never stick to anything really (I can't tell you how many times I've tried to lose weight, start out strong then slack off....) but this I have because...
1. I know it's what I want to go
2. I believe in myself finally (my grades have proven to me I really can be one of those smart girls who gets great grades - I've leaned how to study after watching "Where there's a will there's an A (the college one)"
3. Another motivation is that I'm 23 now...I should have technically graduated in May of 2009 since I graduated high school in 2005 - I want my real career and I want it now! LOL
But anyway, I hope some of this has helped... I'm still working on sticking with stuff I want to do (like working out and eating right... saving money, etc.). I know when I start nursing school this summer we have to all hit the ground running and can't let anything stop us - it's TIME CONSUMING (that part I'm scared about)...but there's a quote I was told by my adviser at my school (she's also my Delta Gamma sister) ----
"If you think you can, you're right. If you think you can't, you're still right." YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN DO! I would literally say to myself during tests "Think SMARTER not harder" and I constantly said the above quote to myself.... and I believed in myself...and now I'm starting school in the summer and should graduate with my ADN in December of 2011 and go onto UAB for my bachelors.
Just remember: Believe in yourself that you can do it - and you WILL!
BEST OF LUCK AND PRAYERS!:redbeathe:redpinkhe:redbeathe
My career path meandered for a number of years after earning a BA in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. I started working with autistic children back when I had been considering a psych major- and continued with similar work throughout college even after I decided on Math. After graduating, I continued working in a group home for children with developmental disabilities. After a couple years, I got burnt out [more due to the fact that I was getting too wrapped up in my own personal drama at the time than because of the work itself] and ended up working for a non-profit environmental and social justice advocacy group. I mainly went door-to-door asking for money at first, and later worked as the assistant director of an office in San Francisco- though my job still required a lot of door-to-door work.
It finally got to a point where I couldn't ask for another dollar- I just didn't believe anymore that the organizations I was raising money for were using it effectively. I moved in with my parents in Bend, OR so I could focus on paying off my credit card debt. I got a job as a medication aide in an assisted living facility, since I had prior experience passing medications and assisting people with personal care needs. While my employer was horrible to work for, I fell in love with the work. I was especially inspired by the facility's RN and the hospice nurses who came into the facility to work with residents there. I decided to pursue a career in nursing. In particular, I decided I want to work in hospice- though I'm not dead-set on doing so my entire career. I'd like to get a job where I can employ a wider variety of clinical skills first.
It's been more than 3 years since I first decided the path I would take (and almost 8 since I earned my BA). I've finally finished my prerequisites and am waiting to start in University of Portland's AEM UP program- I'm so excited! (though I'm thankful to have a few months without any school in which to relax a little).
I am male and graduated in 1979. My journey into Nursing began when I was seriously injured at age nine and spent a couple of months in the hospital. After high school, I was hired as an orderly at the local hospital and related well to the patients and Nursing staff. It was during the Carter Administration, when the economy was much the same as today. I had not started collegewhen Doug, the Charge Nurse in ICU mentioned that I seemed to relate well to patients and asked about my college plans. He said that I should consider Nursing and suggested that it would open up a lot of doors for me, almost recession proof, etc. Doug was a good role model. He had a nice wife & family, respect from his peers and many physicians. And he made like three times what I did as an orderly and so I tried just one class at the local college. My grade was a C+; a VERY good grade compared to high school where I was in the upper 80% of my class and I enjoyed the college atmosphere of the 70s. I enrolled in the Nursing Program the next semester and never looked back. God Bless Douglas, his family and Indiana State University where I had a fine Nursing Education.
Here is my story: I started out, right out of high school as a pre-med major at a local college. I was not sure where I wanted to take this, but just knew that I wanted to help other people and enjoying the sciences didn't hurt either. I was doing very well my first semester. Second semester, not so much...My ex-boyfriend ended up stalking me, which led my to get a restraining order against him. Needless to say, this did not help me with my studies, and I ended up dropping out due to all the stress.
After this, a year later, a tried going back to the same school. I even was able to get the school to give be back the scholarship that I had had before dropping out. I just could not get myself motivated to work for it. I was young, and I put other things ahead of my schooling.
I took some time off from school, working meaningless jobs, and just being bored with myself. I eventually ended up choosing to go away to school. Leaving my small town, and heading to the big city of Philadelphia, I finally got a degree, BA in social work. I thought this was what I wanted to do.
I ended up moving back home, and working at a residential treatment facility for adjudicated youth. I enjoyed working with my kids everyday, but it just was not fulfilling enough for me. After working for only a year, I ended up leaving the job to have my beautiful daughter. I have been a stay at home mom for the past two years.
Over these past two years I have been thinking about what I want to do with myself. My grandmother, who I have been very close with, ended up getting really sick over the past two years. She ended up passing away last March. Also, over the past two years, my father has been battling cancer. He has his last chemo and radiation treatments this week. This is the second he has gone through treatment, hopefully it is successful.
Anyway, I have come across some really good nurses these past two years, and unfortunately some really bad ones. All of this has made me want to pursue a life in nursing, which I believe would have been my original goal. When I told my mother this decision, she informed me that it was my great-grandmother's, grandmother's, and her own dream to become a nurse. Not one of them pursued their dream. Finally I can do that for all of them! I know my greatgrandmother and grandmother will be watching over me as I start nursing school this fall. I can't wait. I finally feel like I will be complete.
Oh my family was sooo doubtful. My family was actually mean about it, lol. I started college and then dropped out a day later(not kidding) because I thought, "What am I doing here? I don't know what I am doing here."
My dream was to be a tattoo artist or something like that. But I dumped all my arts supplies and then thought, "Oh, I will do teaching", but in reality, I didn't care for it much. Then I met a lady that wanted to get into nursing and she said I should do it. I was like, "I'm too dumb, sorry" but actually I wasn't dumb, I just never tried EVER! In fact, I barely passed my advanced art class in high school just because I was so laaaazy.
So I was like, ok, let me look into this. And I started looking into nursing and I was amazed at how cool it was. I always like medicine and emergency room shows and things. And I've been in the hospital so much that it felt natural for me. So here I am summa cum laude and everyone that thought I was not going to make it, sucks up to me now. :) Bah-ha-ha. You can do it if you really want to. It's hard work. A lot of hard work and sacrifice. But their lack of support should only push you more. It made me lean on God alone. Everyone else will realize your potential later. :)
I never had ANY idea I wanted to be a nurse, but I went to a military college and my roommate joined the Army as a medic. Since my dad was an Air Force medic back in the day, I decided to join her. I loved learning about everything medical while I was in medic training and decided to pursue nursing. I work as a patient care tech now and am about to finish my first year for my ASN and I still feel pretty confident in my decision, even though it is a TON of work.
)
and I enjoyed the college atmosphere of the 70s. I enrolled in the Nursing Program the next semester and never looked back. God Bless Douglas, his family and Indiana State University where I had a fine Nursing Education.
labchic
88 Posts
I decided to pursue nursing after working at my current job for 19 years. I watched as all these older people would come in to apply for our job openings and I felt so bad for them because they would have years of experience doing this or that and yet they were applying for the low paying position we had open. I decided I didn't want to be in that position if any thing ever happened to my job and since we had just been bought out a huge corporation I knew there was no telling what the future would bring. I started looking into things that I could do that I could be proud of and still earn a living. I kept coming back to nursing and so I'm going to give it a try. I'm finishing my pre-reqs this semester and have been accepted into a ASN program beginning in the fall. Hopefully I can swing it!!