nursing a calling?

well,

Do you want to go into nursing because you really want to care for people who need you, or do you want to go into nursing because the pay is pretty good, benefits are good, and it is very flexible with many different options for your career path? Or is it a combination of ultruism and self preservation? I think I fall more into the last category, and I still consider it a calling for me. It is very important to me that I know i am doing a great job for my patients, but at the same time I want to provide a decent life from my family. There are many new nurses , I feel that are only in it for the pay and flexibility-this is not a calling.

Nursing has been calling me all my life. I feel fortunate to have arranged my life to finally go to college and make my dreams come true. Not only will it be a job, but my dream.

Hi there!

Well, I most certainly feel that I was "called" to the nursing profession. Why do I feel this way? Well, I have wanted to become a nurse or RN since I was five years old, and on bed rest r/t pneumonia (this was way back in the day, in the '60s) My Mum got me a "Nurse Nancy" little reader and in the back of this children's book it had several little bandages, fake thermometer, stuff like that.

I never doubted I would get into Nursing School. Never ever gave not graduating a first thought, much less a second. Being a nurse was never a "goal" or a "dream". It was something that I was meant to be. Does this make sense?

I could not see myself ever doing anything other than nursing. In fact I feel that most RN's never really retire, I mean, maybe we won't actively be working a 12 hour shift once we are in our late 70s but if someone asks a question it doesn't take much to get out a reference textbook or go on-line. In fact, while I was in Germany the buzz around the base was that a 72 year old Army Nurse Corps -Reservist was activated for duty, and she accepted! How cool is that!!

Good Luck to you,

athena

Kukukajoo:

PS I just saw that my post came like one minute after your posted your response and I did not mean anything by my stating that "being a nurse was never a goal or a dream" I am not putting you down. I understand that you finally can see a dream you have held come to fruitation. I always associate a dream or a goal as a "hope", and I tried to put into words that it was more than that, to me. Is this making sense?

athena

Not a "calling" per se to me.

However, while I am going into the field for non-altruistic reasons, I do feel that I have a caring nature and the right emotional and cognitive makeup for the profession.

For some people, it is a calling - those people usually get used horribly by their employers and are willing to accept lower pay rates. For others, it is just a reasonably well-paying job - those folks usually burn out quickly under the demands of the profession. The largest group combines the best features of the two extremes, and they end up as long-term, happy, skilled nurses.

For me, it is a calling. I've never ever wanted to do anything else, have wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. It took me several years more than I'd planned to get here, but I finally got here and cannot see myself doing anything else. My 16-year-old has decided she wants to be a nurse after watching me; for her it is a career choice. She doesn't feel the same "pull" I did, but she does have the desire.

For me, healthcare was a calling, but it took me a long time to figure out just where in the healthcare picture I would fit. Intended on going to medical school, but that didn't work out. Have several years of volunteer EMS experience, but I didn't want to make that a career. But finally it hit me that nursing offered the responsibility and opportunities for advancement that I wanted.

I volunteered every summer at a convalescent hospital as a child and always thought I'd grow up to be a geriatrics MD. I got married just out of high school and started my family right away. I somehow ended up in the computer software industry. I was making great money but I hated my job, I didn't feel fulfilled at all. When I was laid off in Jan. 2003 I decided I didn't want to go back to that industry. I didn't know what I wanted to do though. After a couple of months of sitting around and watching TV, I decided to check out nursing. I think it was all the medical shows on TV I was watching that got me thinking about it. I'm almost done with my first year of nursing school and definitely think I made the right choice. I absolutely love it. So I can't say it was a calling but it is the right career for me.

I feel that nursing is a calling for me, I''m sure not in it for the money. The pay is ok, but I know there are jobs that pay more and you don't have to put up with a lot of things that nurses do. I really enjoy helping people and meeting new people. Both of these you can do in nursing. You just have to learn not to let it upset you if someone yells at you. Most of the time it is not even you they are upset with, you just happen to be the one that was there when they needed to let it out.

Choosing what to do with your life is a different process for everyone.

I think advising you to wait for a calling is not a good idea because there's a lot more than waiting for a calling in choosing which career to go into. If you're interested in healthcare, nursing is definately worth looking into and researching.

Good luck.

While visiting nursing schools and attending orientations, I made small talk with others by asking why they're going into nursing. I've probably talked to about 80 people about it, and only 2-3 said that they were doing it out of a calling or wanting to help others. The majority told me that they were going into nursing for the stability and opportunities. I'd have to say that I'm with the 99% of people who are becoming nurses because of this. I don't consider myself to be a kind, caring, nurturing person, but I'd personally prefer a smart, competant, tough nurse than a sweet, scatterbrained one.

I am tired of hearing that nursing is a calling. I do not want to sound mean spirited, however, do you think healthcare is a calling for ceo's? Nurses have a right to earn a living wage! Secondly, what is wrong with wanting to provide for your family. I hear about nurses not wanting to take their breaks. Excuse me, but when is it better for you to be a martyr and not look out for your own health and well being? I can assure you that no one else will.

I am tired of hearing that nursing is a calling. I do not want to sound mean spirited, however, do you think healthcare is a calling for ceo's? Nurses have a right to earn a living wage! Secondly, what is wrong with wanting to provide for your family. I hear about nurses not wanting to take their breaks. Excuse me, but when is it better for you to be a martyr and not look out for your own health and well being? I can assure you that no one else will.

Reminds me of an HR manager: "I just don't understand nurses in it for the money. . ."

Calling nursing a 'calling' means that the money doesn't matter. As long as TPTB believe that this is a factor in how they pay nurses, it WILL be a factor in how we are paid.

I'm a high-tech, well-trained, critically-thinking, beside monitor and interventioner. No matter my motivation - the result is not a 'calling'; it is a highly marketable asset.

And no, nursing wasn't a calling for me. I'm in it for the money. But, I'm also darned good at what I do. From a technical aspect. And, from an emotional aspect.

The question should never be how some facility can 'facilitate' my 'calling' but rather, how much are my skills worth to you. . .

I'm not saying that nursing isn't a calling for some: I know it is. I'm saying we should de-emphasize that. The whole 'caring' emphasis reduces us to a caricature. That's part of nursing, but it's not the sum of it - by any means.

~faith,

Timothy.