What drives you on?

First and foremost: I enjoy taking care of others.

I can't imagine having to do my current job for the rest of my life

Seriously, though, I've always wanted to do something in the healthcare field but was not ready to commit to one career when I went to college, so went to a liberal arts school, ended up w/ a degree in math, and took a job in corporate finance. I quickly realized that it was not where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. It could certainly provide a comfortable financial situation, but the work was/is mind-numbing and I didn't feel like it was making a difference in anyone's life. So I began to pursue pre-med courses, which I loved and loved the idea of med school, but realized that it would not provide the kind of lifestyle I wanted (i.e. time to stay home with kids, etc.) and realized that nursing had a ton of opportunities and was just about a perfect fit for what I wanted from career and lifestyle. So I've been pursuing this ever since. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be in nursing school this winter (pre-reqs are DONE!).

You are not alone!!!! My story is similar to yours.

I have a BA degree that never got me a job that paid better then dirt. In fact, it paid lower then dirt. I was paid more in IT but I left because I wanted to really help people as a Social Worker. I did that for a few years before I decided to go back to school.

While I attended graduate school I worked in Health Education and Health Policy and I LOVED it! The pay was a little more then dirt, but still dirt because I do not have the credentials RN behind my name.

I know how you feel about scraping by. My husband and I made enough not to be on welfare but not enough to breath check-to-check. The cost of living continues to rise and our wages did not (there was always a reason that my bosses would give as to why I did not qualify for a wage increase despite my high performance scores)! I in no way want to live like that the rest of my life either.

My kids are about the same age as yours and I want them to be able to go to a good school in a few years. I do not want to settle for a poor neighborhood or a poor school or a poor lifestyle just because I cannot afford a better one.

So like you I am motivated to get through Nursing School because I have many reason that all boil down to taking better care of my family's financial future. Graduation from Nursing School and passing the NCLEX are not optional for me. I am absolutley narrow-minded in that regard!

Currently, I am working very hard to gain acceptance into Nursing School this Spring. Once my summer is finished all I have to do is wait because I will be done with all of my Non nursing courses!

Good luck to you and everyone like us!

I actually am fairly far into a very well-payiong career - but it gives me zero sense of fulfillment. Although it can be technically challenging at times (though rarely) I find it boring beyond belief. No human interactrion, 8 hours a day at a terminal.

I want soething completely different: something that is fulfilling, something that pays decently enough that one day I can go part-time and enjoy the rest of my life!

My problem is how to go from well-paid to starving student. :uhoh21:

Many reasons, all pointing to this one path.

1) My doula training. I was never certified but I really grew to love the feeling of helping women in labor to birth their babies. I worked in a variety of settings from hospital to home birth. I would get certified and have a career as a doula, but I have small children and of course you can't choose your hours. When a client goes into labor it could be 2 or 20 hours before she delivers. What do with my kids on short notice?

2) My special needs child. I got used to hospitals, doctors, became a pro at placing her NG tube as often as needed (she kept pulling it out). I change out her g-tube, can program her feeding pump in my sleep, check stomach contents, etc.

3) My need to comfort and help people in stressful or difficult situations. It's extremly fulfilling to help newbies to reflux/tube feeding on my on-line support group, and it's also been nice to help a couple of local parents with the tips and tricks of tube feeding until they are able to get comfortable with it. I do a lot of unofficial outreach that way.

4) The pay. No one can deny the pay is good! We could help add to our retirement savings and pay for our kids to go to college with my nursing salary.

5) My children. I am a stay at home mom by choice. For many reasons I want to be a SAHM first, nurse second. When I become a nurse (years and years from now at this rate!) I can continue to homeschool my children as planned, stay at home with them, and work weekends while my husband takes care of them. I can basically choose my own hours. Essentially I can have my cake and eat it too!

I worked for a few years in the technology industry before having children. Although it paid well, I hated the cubicle environment. I felt so trapped.

I love taking care of people, I dunno I just have always wanted to be a nurse. Also my son, whose 2, I do it all for him.

The cubicle -- the DREADED cubicle!!

Not feeling in control of my destiny; feeling like I have only limited choices and options!

At the end of the day/week/month/year, wondering -- "And so what? Who cares?!?!"

I have not yet reached my goal, but my self esteem has already been boosted. I have already learned so much and continue to learn in my program. I know now that I can make a difference and teach and learn and love all at the same time.

I will always have the oppertunity to take what I've learned and apply it to a different field. I think that is my favorite aspect of nursing. There are so many different options available. I enjoy every clinical rotation I go through and at the end, who knows waht I will end up doing. But I will not be stuck.

And of course, the financial aspect is also very intriguing. I will not have to depend on others for the special thing sI want out of life. If I want a vaction and know one else wants to go, I'll go sit on a beach somewhere by myself. More importantly, as I get older, I will be able to care for my self financially whenI get older.

There are so many awesome benefits to becoming a nurse. The gift of compassion is truley a blessing. To be able to share that gift is a miracle.

When I was about 14, I was shopping in the local retail store and I watched an elderly lady fall to the ground and have a seizure - all I could do was watch as everyone else helped her. From that moment on I wanted to be the one in there helping, not the person watching. When I finally got the opportunity to go to nursing school at the age of 27, even though it meant moving back in with the parents and giving up a good job, I said "sign me up!" I will graduate in December with a lot of debt and a career that I LOVE!

I changed majors a few times before deciding on nursing. Every time I picked a major it didn't seem quite right. Finally my mom suggested nursing to me. I like nursing because there are so many different things I could do. I would like to one day become a midwife, but who knows I might change my mind and find something else I like.

Two main things that drive me to keep working hard are my children. I want to set a good example for them. Watching my mom working full time and going to school really inspired me to do better.

The cubicle -- the DREADED cubicle!!

Not feeling in control of my destiny; feeling like I have only limited choices and options!

At the end of the day/week/month/year, wondering -- "And so what? Who cares?!?!"

Excuse me - can you read my mind? Seriously, I SO could have written this...

I, too, am tired of going home tired from doing things that mean nothing. It's so mind-numbing and disheartening to me that I almost went back to my pharmacy tech job (which pays HALF of what I make now) because I knew I'd HELP people there, even if it was in a limited capacity. I got more satisfaction out of helping Mr. Kent, who is about eighty, read the fine print on an OTC medication bottle than I do yapping to some pharmaceutical company employee here who's seething because a piece of paper didn't get from point A to point B as fast as they'd like....(I work in clinical research).

I was considering pharmacy school until my father became very sick last year. He flew Medevac as a Navy corpsman in Vietnam and Korea. My DH made the comment the day after Daddy passed away that there must be so many men and women who came back home to their families because of my dad's expertise, and that I should be so proud of him (oh, I am, I am). I saw how the nurses - men and women (in fact, I thought one of the men in particular he had was the best nurse I'd ever met - Bill, if you're out there, we're very grateful) - cared for him and how much contact they had with people, and I thought - nope, this is where I want to be. I decided on nursing school and didn't think twice about the decision once I made it.

What drives me on? Daddy does. It's silly - I listen to the "Top Gun" soundtrack in the morning sometimes on the treadmill, and the "Top Gun Anthem" that's on there - I always see this "video" in my head of Daddy in action in Vietnam, pulling guys into the chopper, triaging in the field, watching Hueys come in; I can see a carrier pulling up to the pier, with all the crew in their Navy whites standing at parade rest along the landing deck...it keeps me grounded. It also keeps me to the grind when I need that push.