Was nursing your first choice entering college?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

Published

Why or why not?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

No, nursing was not my first choice. I always had a passion for the medical field, so I've fantasized about being a doctor, psychologist, you name it. However, my understanding of what nurses did was completely wrong: the way nurses are portrayed in television and in general are typically downplayed, and so I thought it was just a boring job that didn't offer many responsibilities in medicine. Thank goodness I was steered straight when one of my friends enrolled in nursing school. She would practice taking vital signs on me and tell me about her clinicals and some of things she got to do, and I was amazed the number of things that she could do. After speaking with her about nursing, I realized how great of a fit it was for me. I love the critical thinking it requires, the fast-paced environment, and the close interaction with people that it offers. I'm still waiting to hear back from the nursing school I applied to and can't wait to start!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Originally it wasn't. I was planning on becoming a Medical Coder since I had family members who had done it and really enjoyed their jobs.

I went through school (for-profit) and instructors were in contact with employers to find out unless you had a nursing degree and experience as a nurse, my odds of getting a Coding job was zilch where I originally lived.

So now after deep thinking and realizing maybe Coding isn't what I want to do the rest of my life because I really want to feel good when I come home from work about what I do. I don't want to deal with Medical Collections and all that sad stuff.

So I start my pre-nursing classes next week! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

I was originally going to get a degree in business management. I had loved the medical field since I was a child but the way my life had gone business administration seemed to be the natural progression. Then I decided I wanted to get out of business all together and was going to be an EKG tech. When I went to college the first time there were not many nursing programs out there. My school was just getting the nursing program in and I was encouraged to apply for the first class that was incoming that fall. Well, life happened and I got married and my husband didn't think I needed schooling so he wanted me to quit. I just always had this desire to go back to school and become a nurse and he always said he wasn't paying for it and I should just be a SAHM and why would I want anything different my life is perfect. He wanted a maid who cooked and cleaned for him. I got tired of being his "employee" and decided to get a divorce and go back to school all in the same week!!!

The ironic thing is he didn't want to shell out money all of those years for me to go to school and now that we are divorced, he has to pay for it. In my state if you quit going to school because of your spouse when you get married, the spouse has to pay for it when you get divorced. He should have supported me years ago.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

NO.......I was going to school to be a teacher....was most of the way through school when I decided I hated it....so I took some time away from school....had a couple of babies.....started our family.....nursing had always been in the back of my mind but I wasn't sure....through encouragement from my amazing husband and some very dear friends I realized It really is what I wanted to be doing....soooo here we are....I just finished the last of my pre reqs and submit my applications this summer/fall to (fingers crossed) start nursing school in the spring. I'm 28 now....it took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up :D

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.

In HS it was about the medical field. When I actually started college more than a decade ago, it was all about computers - Computer Engineer, Computer Science, Information Technology. After changing my major several times, I did graduate with an IT and Informatics degree. Spent several years in Research though which I enjoyed but knew I was meant to do something more. After a long personal soul-searching and doing my own research, I took the opportunity to go back to school to start the journey to become a nurse. Here I am in 2014 (age 32) enjoying being a M/B RN. Better late than never.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yes. When I began my pre-requisites I knew I wanted to get into nursing school. I knew I wanted to do this when I spent 2 days in the hospital with my dad after he had emergency bypass surgery. It was then that I started to explore my options.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in L&D, infusion, urology.

I changed majors several times before settling on nursing. I wanted to pursue music, but my dream-killing father put the kibash on that quickly. I wanted to be a writer, and majored in English for a bit, then in international business while I studied Italian and Spanish (and planned to go back to studying French as well, as I had in high school). Then I went into the Navy, where I was a hospital corpsman, and I wanted to be an OB, but realized that I preferred the nursing approach and decided to become a certified nurse midwife.

The irony is that in kindergarten, I told my teacher (and this was written on a project somewhere) that I wanted to be a "baby nurse", after my brother was born. :) Who knew I'd actually figured it all out at 5 1/2?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

@runbabyrun your a songwriter? I'm a songwriter as well. What type of music do you write? Nursing wasn't my first choice. Music and entertainment was my first choice and went to Cal State Fullerton majoring in Theater. I had a mom who became a RN back in 1999 always told me to pursue nursing and never did. Now here i am pursuing nursing and of course my mom now is saying " I told you so" lol :)

So I can thank my mommy.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nope, I did not know what I wanted to do. I thought about being an engineer but then realized the job stability is sometimes not so great and can be outsourced easily even though the material is good to learn. Then I decided to think about editing films and videos and stuff but seemed more of a hobby then career. My eye caught the medical field since there was so many options. thought about being a surgeon or just a doctor, but did not think I can stay in school that long and afford the cost of medical school. Rolled upon being a radiologist saw how cool it was then just seemed repetitive and jobs were being outsourced. Then looked into nursing and saw the diversity and different occupations you can have also your not sitting down all day which made it look more attractive. Plus you can have a lifestyle and job stability which was another plus. Overall nursing just fit better with my personality along with helping people made it a good choice to be in. like others said I didn't know what they did because its different then what they show on tv, but when volunteering and working as a CNA I was able to see the different job outlooks and styles which helped me differentiate what suits me.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Nope, it was not my first choice.

I had a childhood dream of becoming a writer/novelist and was going to attend college to perhaps teach English and/or social sciences. Although I was accepted to three regional state universities during my senior year of high school, I was discouraged from attending, so I didn't attend.

Instead, I spend the first five years after high school graduation (ages 18 to 23) working a string of dead end jobs in fast food, retail, temp agencies and factories. At age 23 I had been working at the same paper products factory for three years when, one day, I was written up for multiple issues.

Instead of risking the loss of my livelihood, I took a riskier plunge by quitting this job to enroll in a full time 12-month fast track LPN/LVN program. I completed the program, worked as an LVN for a few years, enrolled in an LPN-to-RN degree completion program, and earned an associate of science degree in nursing several years ago.

I am now enrolled in an online degree completion program. So although nursing was not my first choice, it has provided me with a decent lifestyle and middle class comforts, and has challenged my way of thinking about the world.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Wow!!! I have a similar story to yours, just that my husband wasnt obligated to pay for my education, since i was the one with the most educational skill in the house, along with being the house wife, with the cooking , cleaning, and all the other stuff that go with it. I finally got accepted to a Nursing program this fall after 30 years of wanting to accomplish this dream. I do have to other degrees, but Nursing was always my ultimate dream..Im so happy its finally in the making...Thank God..

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment