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.
My definition of "calling" is different. I think that - if we're lucky - we come across something that fills a hole in our soul. Something that we HAVE to do to make us feel whole. For some people it may music or art. For others, it may be parenthood. I have a relative who is an artist. She'd rather paint than sleep or eat.
I know an architect who (according to his mom) began with Lincoln Logs at age 2... anybody remember those? Creating buildings is what he lives for - he volunteers with Habitat, builds birdhouses / doghouses as a hobby. Now THAT is a calling.
I definitely didn't have a "calling" to be a nurse. I got my accounting degree and was very bored with the end result of that, so I decided to pick something else to do, something that mattered.
I love talking to people and helping them with their problems and just being that person who people can come to and get no BS, honest, straightforward advice. Naturally, this caused me to lean toward psychology. Only problem was that I was 24 and didn't need another 6+ years of school to do. I straight-up could not have afforded it.
Nursing was the quickest path to hands-on helping others, so I chose nursing. In my area, I knew I could be working at the bedside in 2.5 years at most. Patients love people who can take care of them and really show an interest. And no matter what kind of patient it is, I always have an interest. They can be crazy, abusive, angry, etc and it's just a new type of puzzle to me.
I tested the waters first by becoming a CNA and getting a job in a hospital. I quit a cashier job to do that. I found that I was much happier cleaning up literal fecal matter several times per shift than I ever was just standing behind a register doing an "easier" job. Better yet were the moments when I miraculously had some free time and I'd slip into a patient's room, make a show of tidying it up a bit, and just talk to them. Most people in hospitals are lonely, and somebody taking a few minutes to come in and simply say hello and talk about their lives outside of the sick ward can make all the difference.
Nursing may not have been my calling, but it realistically aligns itself with my standards for a job that matters. Good luck determining whether that's the case for you, OP :).
C diff isn't as scary as our monthly HCAP scores. Seriously though, nursing is a very hard, stressful career, but it can be very rewarding. It will be what you put into it.
First, I agree with others, it's not necessarily a calling. It can be. What made me decide to be a nurse? Well, my mother has been one my entire life (I was born just a few hours after mom put in a double shift - 8 hour shifts back then). I always resented the time nursing took away from us and never wanted to do it. Then, as an adult, my 6 year old daughter was injured in a freak accident and went from being a vibrant, active girl to a quadriplegic. Fast forward 15 years, 2 more kids, 2 trachs, 20+surgeries, 30 bouts of pneumonia, a case of MRSA in the lungs, and thousands of hours of therapy (OT, PT, ST) and I wanted to do something with my life. I was almost 40 and had been raising kids all my adult life.
I spent a year deciding what I wanted to do and I returned to nursing every time. Decent pay? Check. Respectable career? Check. Steady employment, no matter the economy? Check Able to do it anywhere in the country? Check. Plus, I had the bonus of having gone through quite a bit of things with my daughter, so really, nothing phases me. I'm the only person in our mid-sized hospital who doesn't get grossed out at trachs or wound vacs.
Thing is, there are thousands of sub-specialties within nursing. One will fit you. Just get the Pollyanna idea that things will always be exciting and you'll be saving lives out of your head. If you want those, then firefighting or EMT is for you. Even in the ED (emergency department), things can be very boring and you get a lot of people who are just there with colds, flu, "I haven't pooped in 2 days", mysterious belly pain that seems to come on only when you walk into the room, and all sorts of other ills better cared for at the clinic or their doctor's office.
It can be a fun, active, and rewarding career - both financially and emotionally. Just go in with your eyes open. My suggestion would be to work as a tech or CNA, if possible. You'll get a better idea what you'll be looking at.
I guess you have to want to want to help people and motivate them to thrive. Being a nurse is a lot like being a scientist, you have to understand a lot of stuff pertaining to the body. Have you tried working as a Caregiver before?
Why did I become a nurse? When I first started college, I was studying music with the goal of eventually getting my PhD in musicology. I wanted to teach music history at the college level and head up an early music consort (medieval/Renaissance band). Some people like U2, I like Praetorius.
Then it hit me...I need to be employed! What to do... I didn't want to be a high school band director, having just come out of high school and remembering how serious most teenagers are about band. But I really liked my summer/vacation job as a CNA in LTC, so I decided to pursue that direction and become an RN.
I'm with the others, that I don't see nursing as a "calling." It can be a calling, and now I do believe that God is calling me to a specific surgical ministry, but for most of us it's a profession. Back when I made the decision to be an RN, it was a purely pragmatic one.
I chose nursing to begin with because I needed a secure career where I would be able to advance and have lots of options. I had a child to provide for. I made the decision based on these things. However, once I got into it and started learning I figured out that I was actually pretty interested in the disease processes and all that nursing involves. In my opinion, it makes no difference why though. What matters and what will ultimately decide if you're successful is if you enjoy it and if the kind of stuff we have to do doesn't bother you. Also, I think you have to be able to tolerate a good amount of stress/pressure. Nurses are responsible for so many things. It's not something that just anybody can handle,Your reasons sound perfectly sensible to me. Try and see how you like it....you'll know if it's not right for you :) but don't let other people change your mind about it. No one knows what you're capable of and people who say that crap are not being realistic.
When I was young, I would have said I am a nurse because I like to help people. Please don't be a nurse for the money. There are things I do that no amount of money would be worth it. I currently am in mental health/corrections. I really do like it, but it is a departure from where I started. As a nurse I have seen the best and worst of humanity.
I became a nurse since it seemed like a good, stable career, that payed decently, seemed to be in demand, and I would be able to help people and thereby develop as a person.
I had no calling.
Now that I'm in it and love it...I will say that it's the best decision I've made in my life..I'm not married and I suppose when that happens (I hope) I can say marrying him will be the best decision I've made.
I've learned a lot from nursing and I love the variety. I get bored easily and need to be challenged so nursing is good for me for now. There is also lots of room for creativity in nursing. When you don't have enough supplies...or the hospital just doesn't stock something that you need..you can get creative. You also get creative with dealing with people. Nursing has really helped me open up as a person. I am shy naturally, and nursing has helped me blossom and given me a lot of confidence..since I am not good at anything but nursing...and maybe sports...I'm not a conventionally talented person. I can draw/paint...a little...and sing a little. But nursing...that I've been told I do very well...in my short career. Well...this new job is proving very challenging. Will get through it.
Medical school seemed like it would take forever...and I don't like studying. Passive learning is my style. In nursing school I crammed and made out fine. Now I'm wishing I studied a little more in advance and got more As instead of mostly Bs.
Seriously though, nursing is a very hard, stressful career, but it can be very rewarding. It will be what you put into it.
Back when I made the decision to be an RN, it was a purely pragmatic one.
HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD
9,051 Posts
My definition of "calling" is different. I think that - if we're lucky - we come across something that fills a hole in our soul. Something that we HAVE to do to make us feel whole. For some people it may music or art. For others, it may be parenthood. I have a relative who is an artist. She'd rather paint than sleep or eat.
I know an architect who (according to his mom) began with Lincoln Logs at age 2... anybody remember those? Creating buildings is what he lives for - he volunteers with Habitat, builds birdhouses / doghouses as a hobby. Now THAT is a calling.