With the dog days of August upon us and the desire to see my teenaged sons board that shiny yellow school bus intensifying every day, my thoughts have turned to mush and I'm bored and full of ennui. So here's my question: What did you do before you became a nurse?
Many of us are "second-career" nurses, those who had other jobs/careers or were SAHMs before we went to nursing school. Me, I started out working in factories assembling printed circuit boards, then moved on to home health care (where I lasted a whole week as a 'homemaker'), apartment management, and motherhood. I've also done some writing, and I've been published in several large newspapers and a couple of magazines....sure wish it could've paid the rent, because it's always been my first love, and I'll continue to dabble in it from time to time for the rest of my days.
Please share your stories.......I think this has been done before, but it's been a while and there's a lot of new members who are either students or newer nurses, and it would be fun to hear from them too.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
clerk typist, reservations agent, Pizza Hut cook/asst. manager. I always had low level and low paying jobs before I made it through nursing school. Been working hard for a long time, wish I could retire. :)
RETIRE??? Who you foolin'?.......I figure I'll be able to retire when they pry the pen from my cold, dead fingers after I've keeled over at the nurses' station :chuckle
I did the low-paying job thing for most of my life too, which is one reason I won't be able to retire, and only reached prime earning capabilities after the age of 40. Even then, I was still raising four kids, and there's been NO way to save anything. So........I'm glad I really love nursing, because it's what I'm gonna be doing until the day I transfer to the Eternal Care Facility. :)
Let's see, clerk at 2 clothing stores when I was a teen, clerk at drug store, telemarketer, insurance agent for Life, Accident, and Health insurance, SAHM, personal care assistant at geriatric assisted living facility, SAHM (again), and then full-time nursing student (LPN done May 2004 and finishing my RN now. Graduation May 2005!!!!!) I love nursing and I am thrilled to finally figure out what it is I was put here for!
VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN
22 Articles; 9,996 Posts
RETIRE??? Who you foolin'?.......I figure I'll be able to retire when they pry the pen from my cold, dead fingers after I've keeled over at the nurses' station :chuckle
I did the low-paying job thing for most of my life too, which is one reason I won't be able to retire, and only reached prime earning capabilities after the age of 40. Even then, I was still raising four kids, and there's been NO way to save anything. So........I'm glad I really love nursing, because it's what I'm gonna be doing until the day I transfer to the Eternal Care Facility. :)