What influenced you to go into healthcare?

[Marissa2619]

So what was it?

-Marissa

[esthomprn]

Its in my blood...literally. My grandmother and my mom are both nurses.

Plus I like helping people!!!

[AmericanChai]

Lots of things--

my brother who lived with Cornelia deLange Syndrome

My daughter who was born with life-long GI issues and uses a g-tube.

My mom's a nurse.

My step-mom's a nurse.

I really enjoy science and medical stuff.

I love helping people. It's my way of trying to add some goodness to the world.

(Plus, it pays pretty well and will be a lot more fulfilling than my technical writing job that I used to have!!)

[jerrynuevo]

I've always wanted to be in the medical field but life got in the way. After losing my mother to multiple intracranial aneurysms, I observed the demeanor of her health care providers. Her doctor was very supportive and informative and it ends there. The nursing staff was, for lack of better description, unprofessional. They show no compassion and never once made anyone feel like they were doing their best to tend to my mother. Encounters like this are not isolated. However, it was an eye-opener when it was my mother in the hospital bed receiving care from people who couldn't wait to get off work and let everyone know of this.

[hotnurse84]

my sister was born with something wrong with her kidneys and this was not found out until she was about 20. her kidneys were both very small and had not grown properly.they were not functioning well at all and she was in renal failure at 20 yrs old. she needed a kidney transplant. she was on peritineal dialysis. I was only 9 or 10 when all this was going on. she was frequently in the hosp or going to appts. my mother and I would go with her to these appts or else we would stay with her a lot while she was a pt. all the nurses and equipment mesmorized me. and I so badly wanted my sister to live. I liked visiting the hosp and checking her and what all new was happening with her. this made me be the nurse I am today. I got my lpn at the age of 19. I am 25 now and am currently taking classes through excelsior to become an RN. and by the way my sister rec'd a kidney from my mother and both are doing great and I was tested for the disorder my sister had and I am fine. Praise God for all he does!!!

[getoverit, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

my grandfather was an old-school cardiologist and talked about medicine all the time. he is the person I respect the most (died at age 93) and someone i still look up to...literally and figuratively.

grandma and mom were both RNs and the only classes I really enjoyed in high school were Latin and Biology.

[skittlebear]

1. I always had (still do) a strong desire to help people.

2. Fascination with Anatomy and Physiology

3. Job stability

(Most definitely not the pay!!! )

[nurturing_angel]

Originally I wanted nothing to do with the health care industry. Especially nursing. After I graduated from high school I took a job as a dietary aide in a small community hospital. I had no plans to go to college for any degree of any kind. I just wanted to work my job and enjoy life and never see the inside of a classroom again.

Then I met some of the wonderful nurses working at this small hospital and that changed everything. I don't know how many times my supervisor had to come drag me out of the dining room and back to work in the kitchen. I just loved sitting with these ladies and listening to their stories. Remember that this was WAY before HIPAA. I wanted to be part of their group. I always volunteered to take the food carts up to the floor so that I could soak up whatever bits of the whole patient care environment that I could.

After about a year I switched jobs and started working as a nurses aide in a nursing home and the rest is history. I loved that job. And soon I was back in college. This was way back in the 70's. To this day I still think about that handful of nurses that allowed me to sit with them on their lunch break and answered all my questions and started that flicker of interest in this profession.

[IHeartPeds87]

I was in high school, and we had a service requirement we were required to fulfill. I grudgingly accepted a volunteer position at a sort of pediatric group home setting. I was assisting a physical therapist doing motion exercises and a song came on the radio. A fellow volunteer asked who the song was sung by (artist). Staff threw out suggestions and no one knew. Then, this kid, who had multiple severe cognitive impairments, used a word board and spelt out the name of the artist. I was floored! I vowed never to write anyone off again. Thats why I want to go into pediatric nursing, possibly NICU or rehabilitation. I don't want to write people off. I wrote that little boy off in my mind...he proved me wrong big time. How many others are there like him?

I considered doing physical therapy as well, but decided that the flexibility of nursing was more my style.

[ellakate]

Ummmm. . . I’ve always been this way. When I was little, I nursed sick kittens, lambs, a baby raccoon, a baby owl, whatever needed some tlc. My goal was medical school. But nursing is where I found my niche.

[XB9S, BSN, MSN, EdD, RN, APN]

I never wanted to be a nurse or anything to do with healthcare, I managed to bimble along quite well without any direction or goals from job to job between the age of 16 to 20, then my mums friend who was a nurse tutor had a course where there were a high number of drop outs so I was offered an interview, I didn't have anything better to do that day so I went along got accepted and started the next day,

I haven't looked back, it was the very best thing for me to do, and I haven't regretted a day

[OutlawNurse86, BSN, RN]

My Granddaddy was a medic with the 82nd Airborne in WW2. I wanted to be like him. After I started, I discovered I really did like working with people (which kinda surprised me since I keep to myself when at home and generally loathe any kind of human contact when I ain't working) I want to get my BSN then join the Army or Air Force and be a flight nurse.