What are your motivators for pursuing nursing school?

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I have completed all my pre reqs for my program here in Arizona and was curious what draws other prospectus students to the nursing programs out there? It seems applicants either fall into the altruistic "calling" category or a very rational calculated group. I am curious to hear from both sides!

Thanks for your feedback!

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Not a nurse yet.

I love that in nursing you never stop learning and that there are so many different options. It's a relatively stable field that pays decently and offers a lot of flexibility. I do enjoy helping others, but I feel like I can do that in nearly any job. I don't believe in the "calling" thing, but that's just me.

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Thanks for your response! I agree with a lot of your points and are some of my personal motivators.

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For me I love the science, I love the gadgets(EVDs, IABP, LICOX, VETNS, flotrac, ECMO Impella 5.0), I love the ability to hone a craft/art. I also love teaching others and collaborating intellectually at the highest level of medical care; I like seeing my input have a direct effect on the outcomes for the patient and family. I especially love all the DRUGS I get to push! I am so fascinated by how the human body responds the the medicines that I push into it, the stuff i'm talking about: precedex, Dantroline, propofol, adenosine, epoprostenol I could literally go on a list of probably 100+ meds that I cant wait to start pushing and working with. I am super fascinated by why, how we give them, whats the effect, when not to give them ect.. I love the idea of bringing someone back from the dead. I love the vast sea of knowledge that I get to access and utilize and acquire to build my skill and impact outcomes. I also like the pay and the hours. But to be honest above all I like the systems in place that I get to be apart of; for instance as a trauma nurse I get to be apart of such an amazing team that has the ability to literally bring people back to life (God willing). When a trauma team is operating at full capability it is truly a beautiful thing. To get a true understanding for how incredible it is I would suggest reading "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande

Thank you for posting this, it really helps me when I write this stuff out because it further encourages me and JACKS me up to get into the ICU haha!

-ND

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I love the money that comes with being a NP.

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Are you a practicing NP? If so what did you specialize in?

Thank you!

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So much energy! Thank you for the response!

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I'm just a state over and taking my last prerequisite in the fall. I did not have too much of an interest in the medical field at all until someone died in my arms. That has a way of humbling you and feeling completely helpless. I was originally going to go the pre-med route, but time and money were weighing on me. My friend actually started telling me about the nursing program at our school around this time. Regardless if I was a nurse or an MD, my goal is to help as many as I can and to never feel utterly useless again. I know I will not be able to save every person, but at least I will have the knowledge and training to try.

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Starting my ADN program in two weeks. I initially earned a BS in community health education and have spent the past 3 years working as a health educator, but could never shake the desire to work in direct patient care. Going back to school has always seemed to be in the back of my mind.

I love the science and am completely fascinated by how the human body works. Medicine is always evolving, and I am drawn to the idea of a career that keeps me on my toes and involves lifelong learning. I also suffered from severe chronic migraines when I was younger, which required me to spend a lot of time in hospitals and doctor's offices. I have had some truly amazing nurses care for me, and hope to provide the same level of care to others.

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I myself have completed my prereqs recently but am still waiting to start the program. If you can remeber and have time ;) I would like to hear your perspective on how the program differs from say A&P I/II in terms of engaugement and diffaculty?

Thanks for your reply as always and best of luck!

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I have wanted to be a midwife for a long time. I am originally from Canada and midwifery there is direct-entry 4 year bachelor's program. When I moved to the US, I decided I preferred the CNM route over the CPM route.

However, I do not plan on midwifery ASAP and will probably only pursue that education several years after nursing school. I am also planning a family and would rather three 12's (perhaps PRN at some point) while having young children. Plus, if the midwifery dream dies, nursing has many other fields for me to explore. There are many aspects of health & medicine I am interested in.

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Intense hatred of my first career in business (and equal dislike of office jobs) combined with a lifelong fascination with hospitals. It didn't hurt that I recognized that nursing can provide an incredible return on investment if you go certain ways with it. Even your basic new grad med-surg nurse will be making decent enough money. Anyone who says that money didn't play a part (triply so for physicians) is either lying or a rare breed of human being.

Nurses don't usually get rich, but we do well enough. It's not hard to make a comfortable living as an RN and there's always the option of going back to school to teach or go for the cash and become a CRNA, NP or some other kind of APRN such as a nurse midwife.

Doesn't hurt that we're keeping people alive.

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