How did you guys make the choice to become nurses?

[planetoi]

Hey guys, potential future nurse here This might be a long one so feel free to skip the ramble and answer the question if you want, I don't mind.

Anyway, I'm really considering going to nursing school, but at the same time, I'm having a lot of reservations. See I'm in my gap year right now, and while I was in high school, I'd always planned on majoring in social sciences in university. In my senior year, I started to question my life and my future and decided that social sciences were too wishy washy and that if I was going to dedicate the next four years and thousands of dollars into post secondary school, it was going to be for something I could actually make a career out of.

A few months back I had this sort of epiphany that I would become a nurse, and ever since then I've been researching the profession and I've gotten really excited about the whole prospect. I recently applied to college to take a pre-health course next year (I'm Canadian and we sometimes do these before nursing school), but now I'm having a lot of doubts.

I always saw myself, perhaps naively, as doing something wild and adventurous, or artistic even, which makes me question if I'm making the right choice. There are days when I'm totally inspired to be a nurse and excited about the challenge, and then other days when I wonder if it's what I really want, if I'll be good at it, if I can get into nursing school, whether or not I can actually handle the turmoil of nursing school if I get in, if I can handle the duties of nursing, and if I would be better off getting a bachelor of arts like I'd originally planned.

I guess I'm just terrified of making the wrong decision. Did anyone else experience this? What make you decide once and for all that becoming a nurse was what you really wanted and that it was right for you?

Thanks for any insight you can offer :)

[Farawyn]

I got my degree in Psychology and decided I didn't like crazy people, so went into nursing. Joke was on me.

Nurses are NUTS!

I have done lots of different types of nursing. I love being a nurse. I learn something new every single day. You can have adventure as a nurse for sure. I mean, *I* don't, but there is so much out there to do! Travel!

I've realized I like hands on care, especially drawing blood and injections. I have a "needle thing" I guess.

Right now I am a School Nurse-high school, and it's "meh".

I also love is Occupational Health, which I had done for about 5 years.

I need to get my BSN. Still procrastinating on that.

[Rbeck911, BSN, RN]

I was an ambulance jockey. Very little upward mobility. The fire department was cool, but I wanted something more for myself and my family. Nursing is a very honorable profession.

[Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP]

Went to college after high school and got a BA in Spanish simply because I'm good at it, not because I wanted to do anything with it. Then I got a cat and decided maybe I should work at the vet's office. So I did that for 4 years and learned that I liked medical stuff a lot. Found out that nurses work 3 twelves per week, and decided that would be a good thing to do since I was working 7 days a week. I loved my science classes in prereqs, and did well in nursing school. Almost quit nursing when I started in Med/Surg, but luckily after a year I got an ICU job. Then I found out I really loved working in the ICU.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

I burned out in my first career and decided to move to another part of the country to "find myself" ... I ended up getting a job in education to buy me some time to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. I got bored with the education work and on the side decided to volunteer once a week at a local hospital just for a change of pace. Guess what? That is where the light bulb went on -- I loved my volunteer job more than my regular job. I watched nurses there and it was my epiphany. Started prereqs and ultimately decided to return to my hometown to complete nursing school there. Graduated, passed NCLEX and have now been a nurse for almost 3 years. No regrets, I absolutely LOVE what I do! :)

[canigraduate]

I was watching an Angelina Jolie movie where she was a nurse and I had an epiphany that I wanted to help people. I got my CNA certificate and started working part time a couple of days a week while working a full-time job.

I loved it.

Then I was fired from my full-time job and discovered being a full-time CNA didn't make my bills. I became a nurse to stay in healthcare and make enough money to survive.

I make plenty of money now, but I am not nearly as happy as I was as a CNA. C'est la vie.