Never thought you'd be a nurse?

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Did you *know* you were going to be a nurse all your life? Or did you come upon nursing in a way that surprised you and your family?

I have always loved writing, so I majored in journalism in college 12 years ago. Everyone always told me that I was a great writer, so I chose journalism as my major. No one ever really mentioned nursing as a career to me.

Fast forward 8 years after college graduation ... I have gone through a few journalism-related jobs and one boring secretarial job when I become interested in nursing ... I am attracted to the fulfilling aspect of the job, the decent pay, the security, and the variety it offers. There are six nurses and a CRNA in my immediate family ... and all of them love their jobs. I realized that I have been longing for a career that is rewarding and pays well. I want to feel like I've made a true difference at the end of the day, and I do not want to sit at a cubicle all day.

So ... after pondering it for about two years, I decide to pursue my ADN. Now that I've made this decision, my family tells me that I would be a good nurse and that I would enjoy nursing as a career much more than journalism. But I can tell you that I *never* thought I would pursue nursing! It is strange for me to hear people say that they "always knew" they wanted to be a nurse. I mean, here I am ... a writer-turned-nursing student ... it's so crazy! And yet I'm even *more* excited than I was when I started journalism school. I think having "RN" beside my name one day will fascinate me for the rest of my life, simply because I never thought I'd go down this path.

Anyway, I'd love to hear any other stories about how and why you chose nursing! There's got to be some really interesting stories out there!

Alli

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I never thought I would pursue Nursing...I went to college 15 years ago and got a degree in Accounting. I have been in the financial world for 5 years, and then i got a job as the controller for an insurance company. In spending 5 years talking with the Dr's and Nurses on the review team I discovered my passion for Nursing. Of course, I decide to quit working in the insurance business and I went to a Dr's office as the office manager...and so my pre-Nursing journey begins...I am about 1/3rd completed with pre-req's....hopefully I can apply to the ADN program in the fall of 2008 (I only go part time...so I am slow!)

Good luck in your new career path!

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Specializes in ER preceptorship, almost a year on PCU..

Same here. I've been interested in medicine since I was young... used to look through my dad's science books and those books of medicines when I was in elementary school and didn't understand what most of it meant. I wanted to be a doctor since I got stitches in preschool. I started my first year of college last year in this 7-year medical program (thinking of going into pharmacy or toxicology) and had to drop eng. calculus... switched my major to education... then to English and psychology... and I just switched to pre-nursing last week. I've always wanted to do something in the medical field... just never thought I'd be a nurse.

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I didn't always want to be a nurse.

I got my degree in Athletic Training and always thought that I'd be a trainer for some sports team or some college out there. But then I had my first son and just couldn't do the travel that goes along with the career. I worked in the biotech industry for 7 years and the entire time I knew I wanted to do something else. It wasn't until I had my 3rd son and had this tremendous midwife that I realized that I wanted to become a nurse. That was almost 2 years ago and I'm just starting my pre-reqs now (unfortunately I have to take them over because it has been over 7 years).

I never thought I'd want to be a nurse and sometimes it seems so strange to me, but I'm doing it anyway and have a really supportive family. It is going to be a long journey but I am so excited about it and can't wait to finally work as a nurse!

Good luck!!

Kristin

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I never thought I would be a nurse. (Of course, I also thought I would never have kids, too drooly and snotty for my taste; now I have four!) Anyway, my brother encouraged me about ten years ago to become a nurse (he was dating a nursing student at the time, and you know how we end up trying to convert everyone else!) but I told him he was crazy. I thought it would be the grossest thing & I would never want to do something like that for a living. Fast forward seven years...my best friend was going to take a few classes at the local community college & I thought it would be kind of neat to take some classes and get out of the house sometimes. I thought about it for a few days and decided I wanted to go to nursing school (I like a challenge!). I'm not really sure why I picked nursing, but I guess it's what I'm meant to do...it's such a diverse field, and it will never get boring because there are always new specialties to learn & explore.

Three years later, and I'm very satisfied with the choice I made! I love what I'm doing and I so enjoyed the thrill ride that nursing school was...and yes, I'm trying to convert people now too--my stepbrother's girlfriend would be the perfect nurse, if I can only convince her...haha!

Good luck with your education et career!

Dana

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

I always knew I'd be a nurse, there was never anything else considered in my life. I made my decision at age 12 years old and never changed my mind ever.

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Specializes in Endocrine (Diabetes), Pediatric Psych.

Fun thread - here's a crazy one for you - musician turned nursing!! Yep, spent $XX,000 on what I thought would be a music major, and I ended up turning down the music school and going to the nursing school instead, lol!

How'd I get here? Welllll, long story short - I've had diabetes for 15 years, and my nurses on my team kinda grew on me when I wasn't looking, hence the musician suddenly turned nursing...so I'm hoping to specialize in pediatrics and diabetes education...

Just finished my pre-reqs and got into nursing school, so y'all can do it!!! Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

When I was in high school, science was not my favorite but I was able to tolerate it. Everyone knew me as a business man and I went to college for one year in business and hated it!!!! I realized that I then had developed an interest in the science of the human body and helping sick people so I switched to nursing. Everyone who knew me was shocked that I switched but they supported my decision to be a nurse. Almost two years has past and I have NEVER regretted changing my major! I love it!

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I like to say that I grew up in the hospital (lots of medical problems as a child) and I've wanted to work in one all my life, yet I still never imagined that I'd work as a nurse. I wanted to become a doctor since before I could say the word 'doctor.' In high school I volunteered for four summers at my local hospital's ER and Day Surgery Center. The Day Surgery nurses were great role models and they always joked that they were going to make a great nurse out of me one day. 'Nope,' I always said. 'I'm going to med school.'

When push came to shove, me and medical school were not meant to be. After several years of struggling with career direction, I did what should have been natural all along. I recently ran into one of those old nurses and she saw me in scrubs. 'Hi Eric. Are you a doctor these days?' 'No ma'am. I'm a nurse...' :)

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Specializes in Rehab, Med Surg, Home Care.

This question fascinates me because there is such a distinct split in whether or not a person always felt destined to go into nursing. I did not, and I let this dissuade me from going into the field until I was much older. I was happy to find that there are excellent nurses of both mind-sets.

What I also found interesting is how long it took me to begin to "feel" like a nurse. It took me over a year to not feel like an imposter-not an inexperienced nurse but an outright fake. Being a nurse is now so much a part of my self-image that now it's hard for me to believe I came to it so late in my life.

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I went off to college pretty much like a lost puppy. Here I was in college and still had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I pick Communications as my major. All I really knew was I can't sit still, I love working with people and I wanted to make a difference in the world. Nursing never came to mind because well I was that girl that fainted at the site of blood! So I'm in college all by myself not knowing anyone going through the motions, then I found myself in the hospital for an emergency operation. I was scared to death, but had an amazing nurse. After that I knew what I wanted to do! I was always awesome in science and I finally got to put my talent to use!

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Specializes in ICU.

it's funny because ever since about the 8th grade i wanted to be a journalist. i wrote for my hs newspaper, i was the editor the last 2 years and i was even part of the poynter institute. i mean, i was pretty dead set on it. i took about 2 years of college and i wrote 2 articles for the newspaper, was in the middle of the 3rd article and i told the editor i could not proceed. it just felt so wrong to me. i mean, i liked to write, but you need to love to report as well. i just don't think i had it. i was afraid i wouldn't be able to find a good paying job ,i'd have to move, or i wouldn't cut it and become bitter. pretty much the whole idea scared me. nothing about it made me happy or excited. inside, i felt kind of depressed, sort of stuck!

[color=#3333ff]it was sort of out of the blue for me how i even chose nursing. i toyed with the idea when i was kid, but pushed it aside. i kind of felt like i wasn't smart enough, which is crazy, i know! i know i am intelligent, but i just had doubts for some reason.

one moment i remember in particular when my boyfriend's mother was in nursing school and i specifically said to him, "wow, she has to know all those drugs? and all the things about the human body? i don't think i could ever do that!"

weird, huh?

i would watch shows like 'trauma life in the er' and saw how successful and happy my boyfriend's mother was and i wished for that. we were driving one day and it just sort of came to me. i said, "i wish i could do something cool with my life, like be a nurse."

why not? i asked myself.

yeah, why not? do it, my boyfriend said.

so i decided from that moment.

i had a goal!

and you know what? ever since i decided this, my life has been awesome. everything has fallen into place. i love school. i love to learn. i love nursing! i just love it all! i feel like my life finally has meaning. even if it is tiny. it is worth something more now.

to me, a career should be something that is not selfish. it needs to be something to help out our fellow humans, even if it is small.

another reason that journalism lost it's appeal for me was that it wasn't just a career--it was a lifestyle. i wanted a career that i could enjoy, focus on at work, but come home and leave it there. i didn't want my career to be my entire life. i feel like nursing offers this. even now though, i am okay with nursing being more than just work because i love it.

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