INSPIRATIONAL-Why are YOU a Nurse?

Critical care rn · Feb 24, 2005

Congratulations on your decision. I think sometimes we nurses forget the enthusiasm you have shown. Day to day we all make a difference, although we sometimes do not realize this. Good luck with your new profession!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Feb 24, 2005

What an uplifting post, Brad!! And thank you for reminding me of why I became a nurse.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2005

Thank you and WOW. Wishing you the best in school and in your future career. I still love what I do and am usually positive and enthusiastic about my job after 12 years. Hope I can work with you someday.

LPN_mn · Feb 24, 2005

My mother was a nurse and I remember seeing her come home from work in her white uniform and remembering how beautiful she looked in her cap. I decided when I was 6 years old that I would become a nurse just like my mom. I am very proud to be called a nurse, angel of mercy, florence nightengale, or any other pet name that people associate with nurses. I remember throughout my school years doing reports on all the great nurses of the past. My senior term paper was on Florence Nightengale. I know it sounds kind of corny but I never wanted to be anything but a nurse. When the system seems to be knocking all nurses down and trying to keep us down I just try to remember the reason I became a nurse to begin with. It was not for the money, acknowledgements, or anything else other than to do the best I can with what I have to touch someone who is ill, dying, or cannot otherwise take care of themselves.

Nesher, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2005

Eons ago I had a Golden Book entitled "Nurse Nancy." I thought she was pretty cool with her cape and wagon going to the rescue of all the neighborhood kids. Plus the book came with very trendy band aids that had designs on them. ( This was in the early 60's) I was quite impressed and wanted to be a nurse to A) wear the cape ( still need to get one) B) rescue and help people and C) to use the cool band aids.

I do get to help people, and can't even find the band aids on the floor, but sometimes as I walk down the hall to go to the aid of a patient, I can hear my cape whispering along behind me...

Good Luck in school Brad.

Lee-Lee74 · Feb 24, 2005

Brad, your post gave me chill bumps as I know how you feel. Although I'm not a nurse yet, over the last several years I have been taking pre-reg classes and often ask myself WHY? After reading your post, I remember why. I have never wanted to do anything else. I want to be there for others and make a difference in there lives however small.

Nurses Rock.

Kyriaka · Feb 24, 2005

Well, Brad. Here is my answer.

I never understood the handicapped, until I had a handicapped child.

I never understood what it was like to be heavy until I weighed 280 lbs.

I never understood grief until my children died.

I never understood pain until I was burned 60% in a house fire.

I never understood perseverance until I lost 150 lbs.

I never understood desperation until I was infected with Lyme Disease.

I never understood gratitude until I no longer had to take medication for Lyme.

I never understood satisfaction until I started a support group for Lyme patients.

I never understood trust until I lost my job.

I never understood patience until I relapsed with Lyme.

And I never understood my future until I decided to be a nurse.

But most of all I never understood how fortunate I was to have family and friends who care.

BETSRN · Feb 24, 2005

hey everyone! i'm a senior in highschool and i'm going into nursing at george mason university which i am thrilled about! i am soo excited to be a nurse and make a difference but i feel that sometimes nurses don't get enough credit for what they do. so i hope this lifts you up and makes you aware of how important and incredible you all are!
when i was in 6th grade i was burned with boiling water and hospitilized for quite a while. ms. malone, i'll never forget her, she was my favorite nurse, always there for me even if i wasn't her patient that day. her kind heart and caring attitude really inspired me to become a nurse and as i like to say "save the world"!
everday nurses like you change people lives whether it be being there with a patient while they're afraid, giving an awesome shot to a 6 year old, or fighting with all you've got for the welfare of a patient and what you believe in, you make a difference!
i truly want to thank you, all of you, for being brave enough to care, and put yourself and your heart out there in order to make a difference! i can't wait until i am able to become a part of people's lives and make a difference.
"there are some who live for caring with all they have to give. there are some who will always be there. they dare to care, they dare to cry, they dare to feel, they dare to try, they dare to be at the end of the day, more than they were the day before. there are some who find their treasure inside a grateful smile, there are some who have comfort to share, there are some who take the journey just to find out who they are. there are some who have a courage to care, there are some who dare to care!"
~johnson & johnson, campaign for nursing's future
this year i am interning at a pediatric hospital in child life therapy and shadowing nurses! what an incredible experience. i know at times you may think, "why am i doing this?" but when that cloud comes over you think about the many lives that you have made better. by lending an ear, giving a smile, teaching, comforting, and saving! from the bottom of my heart, i thank and solute every single nurse for being who you are!
this is who i am! there is nothing i would rather be! i'm going to be a nurse!!!
stay strong! stay proud! stay bold! stay true! stay you!
so my question is....why are you a nurse?
thanks again! ~brad future nurse :) :)

i am a nurse because i like to help people and make a difference in lives. my patients make a difference in my life as well.

allele, LPN · Feb 24, 2005

While I love helping people on the road to recovery, and love challenging my assessment skills, it's not why I became a nurse. I became a nurse simply because I love people!! And I meet so many!! I love talking to them, hearing the stories of their lives, I love learning about what people did for a living (there are so many lines of work out there!! I don't know why I find it so facinating!), I love to hear about their families, experiences in wars, the depression......you get the picture!! I'm lucky enough to have a great job in a great hospital on a step down unit....where people are awake enough to chat with me (but not strong enough to run away from me! LOL!! J/K!). We also have great ratios so there's time for me to sit with them for a while if there aren't any emergent situations going on! These actually seem like selfish reasons, but I truly do love what I do, and the talking is just the fringe benefit! And thanks for all your kind words, Brad! You'll be a great nurse!! :)

tvccrn, ASN, RN · Feb 24, 2005

My first husband died as the result of an MVA when I was 22 and had two small sons. I spent 20 hours a day for a week in the waiting room of the ICU just for the opportunity to stand at his bedside for 15 minutes every 4 hours. Not one nurse, not one doctor spoke to me unless I asked them a direct question. Every operation they did on him was done on an emergency basis. There was a tube in his nose, a tube in his member, and bolt in his head, they had one eye stitched shut and a tube in his mouth that connected to a machine with this big black bellows that whooshed. I never knew what any of these things were. One day I was standing between the ventilator and the wall in the only space open when a doctor came in and clipped the stitch holding the one eye closed. As he was doing this he scratched the eye accidentally. When there was no response, he took a cotten ball and scrubbed it across my husband's eyeball. He then RAN out from the room and started yelling orders. People poured into the room and within 5 minutes I was left alone in the room while they took him to god knows where. I walked back to the waiting room and after about 2 hours was escorted to a private room. Still in the dark, I waited until this person came in and introduced herself to me as Jane Doe, RN, Transplant coordinator. She explained to me what had happened and my options, she sat with me while I cried, and she sat with me while I made the hardest decision of my young life all alone. No one in my family was with me as my father had been told that my husband was improving and they expected my husband to wake shortly.

After that I decided that I had, no needed to be a nurse to keep that from happening to another family.

Mommy2Katiebaby · Feb 24, 2005

LOL, some days I *still* don't know why I became a nurse, but that reminder helped. Go forth and nurse, Brad, you'll be great.