What or who was your inspiration for becoming a nurse?

Nurses General Nursing

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When I was in second grade I had to have ear surgery. You know how when you are a little kid you have no perception of time, so I thought I was in the OR for hours waiting to be brought in for the surgery. I started crying and a nurse stopped and held my hand. She waited with me until I was wheeled into the OR and fell asleep. I have, and never will, forget that woman.

My other motivating factor was dealing with doctors when I had a health problem in the late 1980's. I was appalled at the way I was blown off. Turned out my problem wasn't in my imagination as they had suggested and boy did I make them eat a little crow! I decided that I wanted to be like that OR nurse and help people who were also getting blown off.

How about you? Why did you become a nurse and who was your inspiration?

Regards to Jenny P for the idea from the thread What rules have you broken... Thanks Jenny!!

Like many of you, I did not have any family that were nurses. When I was little and would cut my grandmas toe nails, she would call me her little nurse. After high school, I was planning on going into architecture, started at our local comm. college doing classes to be transferred to one of our state supported colleges. While I was going to school, I ended up working at a Nsg. home in dietary (not fun work but fun people to work with). One day walking down the hall to collect one of the food carts, I saw this fella who always came in to see his mother, struggling to get down the hallway in his w/c, (he is paraplegic and was kinda sliding out of it, draging his feet). As I helped him, feeling very sorry for him, seeing his thankfulness, is why I decided to become a nurse. My step-aunt who worked there as evening shift nursing supervisor was also an inspiration, seeing her care for those old folks, I mean really care, she loved those people and they did her. She was also wonderful to her staff, never demeaning, always there to help them any way she could. She is now out of work due to health complications. Even though I am an ER nurse, and a lot of nights wondering, "what am I doing here?", I am gently reminded by some patients why I am. I think nursing is the greatest profession, we see people at their lowest, scariest, most painful times. Doing what we can to help them and seeing their appreciation is our real pay. Being their to reasure them, holding a hand, talking in the ear of a trauma patient, telling them that we are here and they will be o.k. This is a great thread- we need to be reminded of why we are nurses! God Bless all you nurses, and soon to be nurses :kiss

My grandmother was a nurse who loved her job and was so proud of the R.N. that went with her name. We used to laugh when she told us that in her obit she wanted "R.N." to be listed with her name. Out of 7 grandchildren she hoped that one of us would catch the "nursing bug." But at the time none did. I felt so pressured to enter nursing I rebelled. I went for a criminology/law degree. I don't feel i was mature enough or competent enough at the time to complete the nursing program. My grandmother died 12yrs ago. It was such a blow, she died at work, doing the job she has loved. She became a nurse at 17, lying about her age. She is so amazing I could write a book. Anyway, shortly after her death, on a whim I applied to nursing school. I was accepted, met with the most amazing professors and received my degree. I often pine for my grandmother, there is so much to say, so much to ask...but I often say to relatives who comment.."your grandmother would be so proud of you." that I finally know why my Nana was so proud of her profession. She is with me, every time I am in a crisis situation...every time I seek guidance..I see her, I feel her. She is still nursing!

Ciao!

JO

Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, Cardiac ICU.

Let's see - my grandmother and one aunt were medicine certified CNA's, my mom was an RN, and another aunt was an RN/Nurse Manager. But they weren't my biggest influences on my decision.

I had surgery when I was 15. Quite nervous, and the nurse noticed. She held my hand and listened to me chatter away as I often did when nervous. HUGE impression on me that she took the time to do that. I had a student RN post surg and she also spent the time talking to me and telling me her experience in nursing.

Second influence was a teacher I had in highschool (small school - same teacher all of highschool). She had us thinking about what we wanted to do in life. I hadn't made a decision about it but since I had to write a paper, I chose nursing. Then as I wrote the paper and time passed, I thought more and more about it and decided I liked that idea.

When I was 7 my yougest brother was born at home. The Dr. came to the house (long time ago) and I remember standing in the doorway to the bedroom watching the Dr. check my mom & brother. Well, he called me in the room and asked if I wanted to be his Nurse and would I hold something for him.

As someone else said....life happened......but years later when my husband's job moved us to a different state I left a job of 12 years that I loved.....I just couldn't see doing the same thing with another boss, so I took the plunge to finally become a :nurse: :D

My family is full of people in health Care, it's what I know! X-ray technicians, lab techs, massage therapists, health care aids, activity workers, rehab assistants- you name it. I have to say that my greatest influence was growing up with a motherwho was a DON. I knew all there was to know about running that 23 bed rural hospital that she worked in. I knew all the staff and knew the building inside-out from visiting my mom at work. I had a great respect fro nurses because I could tell that my mom loved being one. I began to volunteer at the hospital because I felt that I was also meant to be in "the business". It was an incredible experience. It wasn't until I found that I had a natural talent for working with people with head injuries and severe dementia that I knew for sure I belonged. 8 years later I haven't regretted my choice.

-Ad.

I just recently discovered that I wanted to go into nursing. There is no one on my side of the family that is in health care. I thought my neice was going to be a mortician, but that has since changed. Deep down, I think I have always wanted to be a nurse, but didn't think I could handle some of the things that nurses do. The older I get, the more I realize that I can do it. Of course I want to go into labor and delivery.

One influence I have is this male nurse that took care of my Dad at the Denver VA Hospital before he passed away. He was so nice and would answer any question I asked. I asked a lot of questions...and he would sometimes let me help him do things at his supervision. Also he was real nice about letting me stay in my Dads room all night...I think this was ICU. I wanted to be sure that when my Dad passed, he was not alone...and he wasn't.

Most recently my inspiration was my own nurses - how I wanted to bring quality back into nursing. My nurses always seem so "cold". Earlier this week I had lunch with my oldest brother who is in Dallas for a seminar. I was telling him how excited I was about becoming a nurse, and how I was getting the ball rolling by taking my pre-req's and he said the nicest thing to me. He said that if anyone in our family could be a nurse it would be me because of my compassion for others and the willingness to help others. :blushkiss

after reading these awesome posts i feel kind of shallow. i was one of those high school students that wasn't "motivated". i'd be rich if i had a dime for every time i heard, "you are smart, you are capable of so much more." but if i didn't like the teacher or subject....forget it. i tried to opt out of basic algebra and my teacher refused to let me because, "you are smart." i don't know what kind of proof they thought they had. i turned all of my algebra tests in blank and failed so i could take general math in summer school.. i never felt capable. so i got married and had a child right after graduation. hubby wasn't verry dependable and when my son was 18 mo. old i knew i needed to do something. i thought becoming a nurse was way above my ability..but still...i thought the white uniforms and caps were so dignified and cool (not any more though!). then a friend who i thought was the ditzy-est person i ever knew got her rn. i knew right there and then if ______ could do it i could and if i couldn't, then i deserved the shame. got my lpn first . my grandmother watched my son every school day.. god bless her! a few years later i graduated with my adn with a very nice gpa...i thought i could...and i did! lr

My Mom was an aide who worked with unwed mothers before she got married. She had the chance to 'grandfather' in as LPN in the 50's but never did...just got married and started having us kiddos. Her two sisters DID become LPN's...and they used to talk about their jobs a lot when I was growning up. So..my interest began there.:)

GO l.rae GO!!!!

Specializes in Neuroscience ICU, CNRN, SCRN.

No one in my family is in the medical profession...in fact, no one in my family is in any "profession" at all...but I've always been drawn to the medical field. I broke my arm when I was 9, and spent three days in the hospital, and was very impressed by the caring attitude of all the nurses I encountered. I originally wanted to be doctor, but in high school more realistically decided to start out as a medical assistant...but then I "fell in love" before school started and never got anywhere near a hospital except to give birth and take kids in for stitches and asthma attacks. During the ensuing years I've considered going back to school to pursue nursing, but always came up with an excuse...the kids needed me, not enough financial resources, whatever. Well, the kids are now just about grown, and although the financial rewards are more plentiful, I find little satisfaction in the job I currently have, and when I do find the satisfaction, its usually because I've really helped someone, not necessarily because I've made them money in the stock market, but because I've helped out a recently widowed elderly woman who has no clue about investments, or a young couple planning their future and saving for their childrens' education...in other words, helping people means more to me than the money I can make. Nursing just seems to be what keeps "calling" me back...I was always the weirdo who liked going to doctor appointments! The environment has always fascinated me, and now that I'm having my "midlife crisis" (as some family members refer to my career change), I'm thrilled to be working toward a dream I've had for many years.

Susan

I have always been a nurse. When i was a little boy my father was in nursing school and i learned to read sitting on his lap while he would read out loud his textbooks. The first book i read on my own was Grey's Anatomy. Everyone knew i was going to be a nurse when I grew up. Everyone but me it seems! I spent my time trying to be other things but I always end up back in nursing school. My uncle challenged me years ago, prior to his untimely death, by telling me I was to dumb to be a nurse. I still wish he would have live to see me graduate.

I guess you can say my Father and his brother were all the influence i needed and I must say that I owe the a great debt of gratitude because as crappy as it can be at times I love this Job!

Whenever I've seen a question similar to this, my first thoughts are of me as a very small girl... maybe 5... out on the front lawn at my Grandmother's, tending to a small bird that fell out of it's nest. My Grandmother helped me place it back, and we assumed all was well. When one of the barn cats would catch a baby rabbit... same thing. We'd check for injuries and then do what we could to care for the small creature, before releasing it back out in the field from where it came. It always made me feel like I had been able to make a difference and help preserve a life.

As I grew up, I'm not certain that I actually had any specific ideas about what career I wanted to pursue. I graduated high school young, married young, became a Mother young... and didn't give much thought to anything else for many years. A part of me knew there was something missing, but I was busy with my family and never really paid any attention to the inner urge to further my education.

When we bought our first home, we became fast friends with another couple who moved in across the street around the same time. A few months later, I learned that the husband was diagnosed with some form of cancer... within the year, he died and his widow was forced to sell their home and move because she had no formal education and inadequate income to support herself.

That was a slap of reality for me....

After researching various careers, I decided upon Nursing, because it touched me. An interest in the sciences when I was younger further pushed me towards Nursing and I enrolled in the pre-req's when I was 30 years old. And, while I felt Nursing would provide a reasonable income should I ever be in a position similar to my neighbor... money was never the issue. Rather, it was the idea that I was doing something for me and my family, which spurred me on.

Never having worked in my life, I was totally unprepared for what I learned in Nursing school and after graduation, as I took my place in the work world. I've learned not only about my Profession, but about people and life in general... all the variables that make this world so incredibly crazy and unique. I suppose I could have learned the same things in another career, but I'm thrilled with the opportunities I have in Nursing in making a difference to those who I come in contact with everyday.

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