Hello, I am having trouble deciding on whether or not I should be a nurse, and was hoping real nurses could give me some advice.
My whole life I've been an artist who has never been career oriented. I've only worked in retail, and after moving to another state I decided it was time to settle down with a real career. So I was immediately taken with nursing. It's an amazing career, exciting, where I can help people and save lives and make a difference, and the pay isnt bad either. But apparently everyone I tell that to says they are terrible reasons for becoming a nurse. And it doesnt help that I've been occupying my time with a steady stream of nursing horror stories from veterans online and in books. I'm scared of being bit and punched and verbally abused by patients, scared of C. Diff, and it seems like the best reasons to become a nurse is to be super excited about getting abused and changing bedpans.
I know that's not true, but it seems like my reasons are childish and unrealistic. A true nurse has a 'calling'--but I cant find any definition for the calling nurses get. Why did you become a nurse? What is a calling? When did you first have it? What is a real reason to become a nurse other than wanting to help people and fix problems and being awesome? Am I wrong to want to go down this path because I think it's an exciting and economic career?
Thank you for any information you can give me, I really appreciate it.
I'm trying to quote the post above by Brneyedgrl, that's me in a nutshell but not who I was when I started.
I graduated HS in 1982 when nursing was a no brainer and every field was open for the taking. It was a very sensible thing to do for someone who otherwise wanted to be a vet.
SubSippi: You may think yourself lucky that your unit does not accept C-Diff patients, but that does NOT mean you won't contract fro a hospital source. Contrary to many peoples belief c-diff is easily spread from person-to-person, unless proper bio-hazard measures are taken. Hospitals & nursing homes are still the largest sources of C-Diff in any setting. Too many people, nurses included, do NOT follow proper procedures, or stop before it is time to do so, resulting in further spreading...
Yes Subsippi, there are many ways of being a nurse, and fearing infections, should not be a deciding factor.
I did and still do feel as if I was called into nursing. It's my career of choice but I've known since I was a little girl that nursing was what I wanted to do. I became a nurse because as a child I was the oldest of 6 children. We were all homeschooled. I was NOT good at teaching. No patience. Lol But I was good at comforting my smaller siblings and telling them they would be alright.
There was one incident in specific. I was 10 and my youngest brother was around 15 months old. Somehow he got ahold of a tootsie pop. The tootsie roll got stuck in his throat. My mom is terrible with high pressure/medical situations. She didn't know what to do and just screamed my name. I came running over, took my brother from my mom and scooped the tootsie roll out of the back of his throat. Ever since...Nursing had intrigued me. My Mom would let me stay up late and watch ER because I begged. I am now an ER nurse and completely and totally love my job so much.
Some days it's so hard. But it is such a rewarding profession and I couldn't see myself doing anything else!
Follow your heart. See if a hospital near you has a program where you could follow a nurse for a day to see if it's something you could see yourself doing. Try working in a hospital as a tech and see what nurses do on a daily basis. It's hard. But like I said, worth every bit of struggle.
I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
The reasons I became a nurse:
1) I always had wanted to work in the medical field, but as a young single mom, premed didn't work out for me
2) nursing allows me to combine caring for people with my love of science
3) the pay is decent. I attended a 1 yr Lvn program and my pay is the same as a public school teachers. But they have to go to school for a 4 yr bachelors and a 1 yr post
Grad credential.
4) the 24 hr nature of medical care allows for flexibility in scheduling
5) I enjoy caring for people. Prior to nursing I worked customer service and as an early childhood teacher. I enjoy pt teaching and I know how to provide good customer service
I had the calling when I was a teenager but didnt become a nurse until my 5th child was in school. I love nursing. Being a nurse is exciting you never know what each shift is going to bring. I became a CNA did that for 5 years then got my LVN got hired into OB before graduation and continued working and training for L/D while finishing my RN. I have done many things in nursing DNS MDS Coordinator Wound Nurse ADON staff nurse Neuro/Ortho and Rehab, the thing for me was a promise to my grandmother to make a difference in pts. lives and that meant to me to work in LTC which now is sub acute care for me. It was not about the money in the beginning I just wanted to make a difference and still do. Some days I dont want to go to work because it is a challenging profession but I do and that is always the shift that I understand why I am a nurse because I will make a difference in someones life and do may it be small or huge ie putting a smile on someones face or assisting in saving someones life. When I started as a nurse I m made 12 dollars and hour now its way better but the money was never truly the reason. If If your whole heart isnt in it in my opinion you wouldnt last long at it. To me its not a job its who I am.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Hello, I am having trouble deciding on whether or not I should be a nurse, and was hoping real nurses could give me some advice.
My whole life I've been an artist who has never been career oriented. I've only worked in retail, and after moving to another state I decided it was time to settle down with a real career. So I was immediately taken with nursing. It's an amazing career, exciting, where I can help people and save lives and make a difference, and the pay isnt bad either. But apparently everyone I tell that to says they are terrible reasons for becoming a nurse. And it doesnt help that I've been occupying my time with a steady stream of nursing horror stories from veterans online and in books. I'm scared of being bit and punched and verbally abused by patients, scared of C. Diff, and it seems like the best reasons to become a nurse is to be super excited about getting abused and changing bedpans.
I know that's not true, but it seems like my reasons are childish and unrealistic. A true nurse has a 'calling'--but I cant find any definition for the calling nurses get. Why did you become a nurse? What is a calling? When did you first have it? What is a real reason to become a nurse other than wanting to help people and fix problems and being awesome? Am I wrong to want to go down this path because I think it's an exciting and economic career?
Thank you for any information you can give me, I really appreciate it.
You don't need a calling to be a nurse, and sometimes I'm convinced that it gets in the way. If you read the student forums on this board, you'll be exposed to all sorts of posts about the calling: what is it, how do you know you have it and why you're superior to every other nurse or student who doesn't have one. That's all bovine feces. Having an exciting (or at least interesting) career where you can help people, make a difference and make a decent living at the same time is a fine reason for going into nursing, and you'll find that many of us crusty old bats had similar motives when we became nurses. Very few of "the calling' folks last as long as we did.
The abuse, C. diff and other negatives are there, it's true, but they aren't the defining factor in my life or my career. Folks who post on the internet usually have an axe to grind -- healthy, happy folks don't post as much as unhealthy, unhappy or negative folks. Happy folks aren't as likely to attract abuse from patients or families, "nasty doctors", "mean" or "bullying" coworkers or any other negatives. And when we do encounter them, we're more likely to view them as fodder for a great story someday than as a career-ending tragedy.
Those who insist that "a calling" is the only reason to go into nursing aren't someone you should be listening to. Your reasons are none of their business, and they are perfectly fine reasons. Good luck.
I became a nurse because it seemed to combine the elements of science and psychology. As far as the science, I have been disappointed. Nurses should be required to have the same nursing pre-reqs as a doctor or dentist. With psychology, well, let's just say that nurses are a collective of every DSM-5 that you could possibly imagine.
OP, I did indeed feel "called" to nursing but that was in large part due to the very real nursing shortage when I was in high school at the age to start picking a major/career. Given the current economy, that nebulous "called" feeling would likely have been directed differently- in other words, very realistically, I saw a need that given my interests and skill set I could help fill. It was much less specific than what others describe.
The only thing calling me is the bar of chocolate I hid I the fridge so I wouldn't eat it.
arrgh I hear you - I live half a block away from a supermarket and am actively stopping myself from hopping on my bike and getting ice cream (its summer down under).
Anyhow nursing is a career, not a calling. I am a nurse manager - I had no calling for that it was a career aspiration.
I was searching the web one day and saw an article listing some reasons to go into nursing. It listed things like job security, decent pay, etc. then I saw that I also could get an advanced degree and become a nurse practitioner. This was important to me because at my current job (customer service at a call center for 7 years) there didn't seem to be any upward mobility. So I dove in. I went to my local community college and asked what I needed to do and then did it. That was 2009. Now several years later and after adding a BSN through the local University, I'm ready to apply to nurse practitioner school at USA. My experience thus far is that nursing was very stressful for the first year or so working a general medical-surgical floor. Then I worked telemetry at a smaller level 3 trauma hospital which was easier and less stressful. Last 8 months I've worked in icu which can be more exciting, but there are also more deaths. In fact, my first patient death (that occurred on my shift) happened 12/25 in the icu. That was a tough one because she was awake and alert until the end with an endotracheal tube in her throat. I am about to embark on my newest venture which is the emergency room. I'm very excited about that. Keep in mind though that it took me nearly 3 years of experience at the bedside before the would consider me for that job.
Yes there are unpleasant things about nursing that I've experienced. I'll list a few here: drug seekers angry because you brought their as needed (prn) pain med (2 mg dilaudid) 5 minutes late for their pain which is always 10/10; annoying family members who act like they know more than you about how to care for their loved one or act like you haven't been doing anything prior to their arrival; cleaning an incontinenent patient who every time you roll them over you find more stool; patients that are constantly on the call light asking for every little thing even though you were just in their room; doctors that are arrogant and treat you like their know nothing servant.
There are plenty of positives too, but I'm out of time.
Libby1987
3,726 Posts
I'm trying to quote the post above by Brneyedgrl, that's me in a nutshell but not who I was when I started.
I graduated HS in 1982 when nursing was a no brainer and every field was open for the taking. It was a very sensible thing to do for someone who otherwise wanted to be a vet.