Question: Nursing as a career.

Super_RN, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2005

It definitely wasn't something that I learned from books. During my first year I was involved in a very nasty car accident. It left me with cerebral bleeding, broken bones, burns on my body, and best of all amnesia. I couldn't even remember my dog's names! That little incident set me back a year in school and I was so upset that I couldn't finish on time. I was determined to finish, but at the end of my second year my aunt, who was in nursing classes with me, was also involved in a devastating car wreck. She was 40 years old and left completely paralyzed from the neck down. She spent months and months in the hospital, coding multiple times. It was so hard to get through school and deal with that as well. It just made me more determined to finish school, especially when I saw how our nursing classes banded together to raise money for our family and pay her bills during this time. I graduated a couple of years ago, and I have never regretted my decision to become a nurse. I love helping people and I think I am more compassionate now, since I have had to personally deal with some tough issues.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Mar 28, 2005

I knew I wanted to be a nurse before I went to nursing school. I worked as a paramedic and never got to know my patients nor did I ever really find out what happened to them. In nursing I get to see a bit more than 30 or 45 mins of their life. I also knew some nurses that were also paramedics and they helped me look at what nursing could offer me as far as a career with multiple options. One had a masters degree and did home care. Another was a neonate specialty nurse. A third one was a critical care nurse on a flight team. I also had the pleasure of working with a psychologist who showed me lots in the psych field. Many nurses nurture their young, wish we had more positive stories to tell. I will never forget what these people taught me as I have been able to use many aspects they showed me or shared with me.

What did I learn in nursing school, that this was the right place for me. One instructor was a nurse in an ER that had lots of homeless people marching through the doors. The lack of preventive health care at its finest. Another just kinda let me do my own thing with a psych patient, we did talk about my approach prior to and after each session.