How did you know you wanted to be a nurse?

SunshineDaisy, ASN, RN · Jun 5, 2011

I have heard similar things, but I am still looking forward to it. I have had some horrible experiences with nurses and I have had some awesome experiences. I lost a baby at 22 weeks. I was young, my husband and I had just moved to Washington, no friends or family around. The nurse we had was so caring and compassionate. She made a world of difference to us. We had 2 children after that and again, the nurses we had were wonderful. I went through a lot of grief and my path was going in a different direction. I didn't know it yet until after I had my last baby. I just knew that it's what I am supposed to do. I need to help others that were in my position. I need them to know that there is someone who knows. Someone who has been down the road that they are getting ready to go down. I know it's a tough job, that hours are long and sometimes suck, but if I can help just one person then it will all be worth it.

NACovey · Jun 5, 2011

I think it just came to me.

And that is one thing I don't get. Why let someone else influence and/or determine what you want to do? Sure you can listen to all the crap they talk about their jobs and how they get the short end of the stick from CNAs to Doctors, but who cares? If its what you love to do then DO it. And maybe those people that are complaining so much don't really love it.. or may not have found their place in the nursing world. I am looking forward to it ALL. To finding my place and my exact expertise in the field. I think of everyday towards that goal as an adventure :) And to me that makes it so much more exciting.

mommyerin · Jun 5, 2011

I had thought about it in high school but didn't think I could handle the "yucky" stuff. I took a different route and got an AA in marketing but haven't been able to use it to make any sort of living. I got married right after I finished my first AA and we got pregnant soon after that. My son was born with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia which is a rare condition affecting the midline sections of the brain. When he was 18 months I had to start giving him daily growth hormone injections. He's been on medication since birth and is now on several. When he was almost 3 he had to spend a lot of time in the hospital and I got to know the nurses really well. During that time I was taking care of his surgical incisions and dealing with infections an adrenal emergencies. Finally one day I realized that I could handle all of the stuff I was afraid of and maybe I could help other families who had to be in the hospital with their children since I had been there. I have always had a passion for helping people and I've really had a passion for kids since I can remember so I decided I would go for my nursing degree and hope to work in pediatrics of some sort.

DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP · Jun 5, 2011

I wanted to see how it felt to be overworked and underpaid..

Sorry- couldn't resist. :cool:

All the best,

Diane, RN

Moogie · Jun 5, 2011

I didn't want to be a nurse. My mom pushed me toward nursing in high school because of the job security and good pay (does that sound familiar?) but I did NOT want to go into the field. At the time I was pretty squeamish and didn't want to deal with bodily fluids or wounds. I also had a phobia of needles and could not imagine myself having to give someone an injection.

Then I took a job as a nursing assistant in a nursing home. The work was hard and sometimes thankless. But I loved it. When I started college I discovered that I missed the contact with the residents and I applied to the nursing program at my school. I overcame my fear of needles (many hours in the skills lab helped me get over it) and finished my ADN. I went back for my BSN, worked for several more years, got out of nursing for a while, and then realized how much I missed it.

Nursing is tough. It can be hard on the body, mind, and soul. Yet, as nurses, we are present in some of the most sacred and special times in people's lives. That's what keeps me going. Is it fun? Sometimes, yeah. Sometimes, no. Sometimes nursing breaks your heart.

NACovey is right. Don't let someone else ruin this for you. You will read many vents on this board. You will read stories that will make you question what on earth you've gotten yourself into and stories that will make you weep. Keep in mind that we often share our heartaches but we don't always share the triumphs. Nurses and nursing students need to vent because often our loved ones don't quite understand. But please don't let the vent threads frighten you or discourage you. If this is what you want to do, go for it. Embrace it. You can do it!

BTW, regarding your bad memories of your hospitalization as a teenager, I knew of a nurse who had cancer as a child. She was one of the bravest people I've met. I don't know how she worked through the trauma of her experiences but I think she found healing when she came full circle and became a nurse. I also worked with a young CNA whose husband had died of testicular cancer. I can't imagine how she got through the grief but she worked inpatient oncology for many years.

We're all wounded healers. We can take our hurt and use it to help others or we can wallow in our own misery and let it keep us from fulfilling our dreams. I know you can do this if you really want to.

CrimsonAlchemist · Jun 6, 2011

When I was younger, I wanted to teach. Then in 8th grade, I did a report on psychologists and for the next 6 years or so, my main effort was to become a psychologist and help people through that. About halfway through the program, I realized that there's not much you can do with just a BS in Psych. Also, most of the courses I had taken were theory courses. I hadn't realized that so much in psych was just theory. There was no meat to the lecture because it was all maybes with a million ways to look at it. I can't stand that. I need for sures.

I started looking into nursing last summer because I wasn't so sure about psych anymore and I wanted to be closer to home. I knew I wanted to be somewhere in the health field, and nursing seemed to do it. A year later, and I'm about to enter my school's accelerated RN program. =D

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jun 6, 2011

Im a masochist. I love being abused by my patients, yelled at by doctors with ego problems, written up by managers for stupid piddley ****, and blamed by families when their 100 yr old mother is not wanting to get out of bed.

Seriously though, I went in because I didnt want to run around on a rig the rest of my life

33762FL · Jun 6, 2011

There was no single event or moment when I realized I wanted to be a nurse. I was working a low-skilled corporate desk job and hated it, I wanted a career that would be the exact opposite of what I was doing. I had kind of a gut feeling that I'd enjoy being a nurse. I did a lot of research and still had that gut feeling. A few other times in my life I'd had strong "gut" feelings about things either positively or negatively, and they've always turned out to be right. So when I was financially in a position where I could pay for school and change careers, I took the gamble and applied to nursing school. I knew it was a gamble because I couldn't be 100% sure I'd like it, but it was worth finding out. My strong gut feeling was right and I loved it.

tishluvnc · Jul 13, 2011

I'm so glad I found this forum. I'm questioning if I should go back to school to become a nurse myself. I have ALWAYS loved health and I've always looked up to those wearing scrubs. I think those who help people in their worst times need to be recognized. I needed a job years ago after high school and became a CNA. Well I attempted to get an Associate degree in Medical Office Administration but halfway through the program I realized I love medical terminology and coding wasn't bad, I liked the investigative part of it. But I also realized I didn't want to be stuck in an office, I love helping people.

Well I decided to go back to school to become a medical or public health social worker. During my social work class I had to take a class in human anatomy (I absolutly love it).Sometime I ask my self why I did not choose nursing sooner. I could only come up with fear and lack of confidence. Well I'm approaching Graduation in December with a BA in Sociology and now I have to make my next move. I have talked to a few LPN and RN and they say I would do great. I just turned 32 and I'm contemplating going into nursing or Getting a MSW to work towards a LCSW. Ahhh I don't know!

I can't deny some of these threads are scary, but at the same time I know that dealing with the sick is challenging. I have been a CNA in home health long enough to get a BA degree. I have no problems with Home Health, I love it, but i'm really bored and face it you need money to live, college cost. I was contemplating getting my LPN just to get to work sooner even though my goal would be a BSN being that I already have my libral arts portion. Unfortunatly, there are no accleration BSN degree school where I live and the onlyBSN program closest to me just got their permission to start their program up again due to low test scores.What do you all think ? sorry for such a long post.

kntdoneyet · Jul 14, 2011

I had to pee.

I was one semester out of a 4 year where I had unsuccessfully attempted a degree in Mechanical Engineering for 4 semesters. I was working a dead end job as a gas station clerk. I didn't even own a car. A customer needed directions to the main campus of our community college. I offered to show him the way if he gave me a ride into town as well. He was taking an entrance exam to get into their welding program. I started walking toward the bus stop from the college, when I had an uncontrollable urge to void my bladder. I was on the night shift and the coffee finally caught up to me.

I wondered around looking for a restroom, when I stumbled into an advisors office. She promised to tell me where one was if I agreed to come back and talk to her about enrolling. So, I came back to her office, she talked me out of engineering by giving me stats on outsourcing and the percentage of grads who actually get a job in engineering. She suggested nursing. She said I would do well, as the field was in need of men. I am Latino, so she assumed I spoke Spanish, she said that would be a plus as well.

By the end of the day I had taken an entrance exam and I was registering for classes. I never looked back.

Alnitak7 · Jul 22, 2013

An early indicator for me was when I held the door open for a man on crutches who I didn't even know.

Another one was when I was up half the night with someone drunk and sick.