I work in a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility and I've been there for about five years. Well about a year ago I was temporarily promoted to a team leader position in manufacturing. I was working so hard at the promotion I think I kind of lost sight of where I would go beyond that. Well about a month into the position I'd had a little time to think about my situation, and I realized there is no way I could continue this job. It isn't bad, and I make great money, over $50,000 last year, but I think I just want more out of life. I'm 23 and I just can't accept the fact that this is it. This is what I'll be doing for the next 25 years. I don't have a family to support, so I figured if I was going to make a change, now was the time. I started thinking of careers, and one of the first fields that came to mind was healthcare. At first it was radiology, but the more I learned about nursing the more I liked it. I have never been to college so I really want to get a degree. I want a marketable skill that I can carry with me wherever I go, I would love to be able to travel, I get bored kind of easy so there needs to be different areas I can work in and room for advancement, and what better job than nursing to be able to make a contribution to this world. I've already been accepted to a school and I've all but give notice at my job, so my minds made up. It's just sometimes I feel selfish. Sometimes I feel like I'm going into nursing just for the flexibility of the career. I'm confident I'll be a good nurse, and if not, I'm smart enough to know it's not for me and I'll do something else. Well what do you guys think? Think I'm making a good decision?
I read how some people just know they were "called" to nursing, that's not me. Anyone else out there that was in a simular situation, moved to nursing and really liked it?
Congratulations, also, and thanks for keeping us updated. Your reasons sounded pretty valid to me, and I'm glad it's working out for you.
I'm one who felt a "calling" to be a nurse, but I was halfway through nursing school when it happened. Now that I've been doing it awhile, I'm not so sure I'm doing God's work, but I do feel it's good work. Well, and I guess I mainly just feel there are a lot of ways to do God's work. Like, you know, those occassional moments when it might be tempting to serve the Lord driving big rigs.
Your reasons for pursuing nursing sound very similar to my thought processes. In addition, I wanted to work in a capacity in which I could make things better for people. I don't consider it "a calling", but I do want to be in a helping profession. I also believe in lifelong learning, and I wanted a career in which I could continue to grow and not stagnate. A dear friend sealed the deal for me when she said "A nursing license is a license to learn.".
It's just sometimes I feel selfish. Sometimes I feel like I'm going into nursing just for the flexibility of the career.
I realize this is an old thread, I just wanted to comment on this statement. Choosing a career SHOULD be selfish. There is no better time to be selfish. You are the one that is going to be working in your chosen field and you are the one that has to be happy with the decision you make. A career choice need not be any kind of "calling", but rather should be something that will make you happy, for whatever reason that might be - be it flexibility, future opportunities, or even (gasp!) money. Each person has to take his or her own personal situation, personality, desires, and needs into account and balance them against what a career option might offer. The variables to be considered are different for each of us, but none is no more or less valid than any other.
Congrats on passing the NCLEX and good look with your new career!!
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
Congratulations, also, and thanks for keeping us updated. Your reasons sounded pretty valid to me, and I'm glad it's working out for you.
I'm one who felt a "calling" to be a nurse, but I was halfway through nursing school when it happened. Now that I've been doing it awhile, I'm not so sure I'm doing God's work, but I do feel it's good work. Well, and I guess I mainly just feel there are a lot of ways to do God's work. Like, you know, those occassional moments when it might be tempting to serve the Lord driving big rigs.
Best of luck!