What struggles did you go through to eventually become a nurse? Share your story.

Cruella de ville · Jun 18, 2017

My path to nursing was a little long, I started nursing g school out of high school, but it wasn't meant to be.

I got married and had 2 children and wasn't until they were older that I realized that I wanted to finish my degree and be a nurse.

My hubbie was so very supportive during nursing school and as I started out as a new nurse.

Fast forward several years. He died of a massive heart attack last month and I am all alone.

Because of my nursing degree I am able to pay all my bills and not have to worry about money.

While I also devestated and have a million other things to worry about... I am so thankful for my nursing degree that I am able to support myself and my kids are off in college and on their own.

Just thought I would share my story for anyone who may be struggling.

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Jun 18, 2017

Started prereqs as a married mom of 3. He didn't want me to go to school. He told me if I wouldn't quit school to pay the household bills, he'd kick me out of my home of the last 7 years.

He filed a restraining order against me (full of lies) and had me and the 3 kids removed from the home by the police.

I kept going to school, attending prereqs. I became homeless and couch surfed as well as stayed at a shelter with my kids. While homeless, I was accepted to an LV/PN school and provided with a grant to cover the costs that loans didn't cover.

He continued his shenanigans: accusing me of child abuse, turned my older kids against me, etc throughout LV/PN school. But I earned all As for most of the program, graduated and then finished filing for divorce. (He wasn't interested in pursuing a divorce, just making my life harder)

I figured out how to ask the court for alimony just before I graduated from the LV/PN program and was able to secure housing for my youngest and I.

I worked as an LV/PN, finished RN prereqs and was accepted into a bridge program.

My oldest child and I have a very good super close relationship, now. My middle child and I are now on speaking terms and he even invited me to his HS graduation last month.

I've been a working RN for about a year now, in my dream facility!!

It took me 6 yrs from the start of prereqs to become an RN! It was worth it!

HermioneG, BSN, RN · Jun 18, 2017

My Grandpa (who was the father figure in my life) was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic prostate cancer during my first quarter of nursing school. It was caught late, and the cancer had metastasized to his bones. The next year and a half was a whirlwind of depression, flying to the other side of the country to see him, and breaking down in the bathroom with just about every adult patient with cancer that I was assigned to. Time went by, and a couple of months before my Junior Year capping ceremony we learned that he had a separate diagnosis of lung cancer secondary to what his doctors thought was asbestos exposure. In lieu of hospice, him and my Grandma came to my home. His long term goal of seeing me graduate instead became being able to see me get my cap. He was able to come to my capping ceremony, but he was struggling so much. Five days later we celebrated my birthday, and the morning after my birthday he died at my home. I think he was trying to just hold on so that he didn't pass on my birthday. I flew with him and my family back home to bury him during midterm week. It was the hardest thing I've ever been through. I withdrew from everything and everyone. Inside I wanted to just give up, but my best friend (who I met in nursing school, and who lost her dad our first quarter) was there with me every step of the way. Just wake up, just do the motions, just make it to the end of the day, and repeat. Just make it until the end of tomorrow, the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the quarter. Just keep going.

Fast forward a year and a little bit, and my husband and I attended my pinning ceremony during graduation week. The school gave us a single red rose that we were to give to the person who had the greatest impact on us during our nursing school experience. I took mine home, taped it to the fridge, watched it dry, and hiked with it to the top of a hill overlooking the city. I tied it to a post there. It's in the hills where him and I would always hike during happier times when he wasn't sick. The rose is for him.

I know it's not inspirational, but I wanted to share it anyways. It's for anyone that has lost a loved one during nursing school. The pain never goes away, my mom and I still struggle to even talk about it, but we keep pushing through. A counselor for both her and I helped us heal a little bit, but right now we are just giving ourselves time. I still can't think of him without significant pain, but I can see myself making baby steps. When I walked across the stage last weekend during my graduation and accepted my diploma I looked out into the crowd and thought of him, and how proud he would've been. I felt a little bit of sadness, but it was one of the first times my feelings of love and joy overshadowed that sadness. It gave me hope that my family and I will continue to heal. I know the pain will never go away, but I do hope to eventually be able to think of him with more joy than sadness and that regret that so often accompanies the loss of a loved one. If anything, the love that I have for him and the fact that I knew he would want me to push through gave me strength and made it so that I could walk across that stage.

Love you, Grandpa. Hope I've made you proud.

EDNURSE20, BSN · Jun 18, 2017

2011: Finished high school, first one in my family to do so. I had to fight to stay in high school as my family don't believe in education. So when I said I wanted to go to uni I was laughed at and got no support whatsoever. Which I still don't get any sort of support from them.

2012: first semester didn't get into nursing school, biggest laugh my families had. They loved it. I started getting depressed. Second semester I started nursing school, only to find out there was a problem with my enrolment. I completed the all of the course work and got nothing to show so it apart from debt and a months of laying a formal complaint against them. Also meant I couldn't get a student lone in the future.

2013: worked every hour possible to save for nursing school at a supermarket.

2014: I officially started nursing school. But then has health issues, and was diagnosed with endometriosis. Which meant I missed so many classes and fell behind. When I was On clinical I was harassed by my lecturer because of the classes I missed, I was told I didn't deserve to be on clinical and shouldn't be in nursing school.

2015: I fail class from first year, so was hold back a semester to repeat it. During this time I had a work place injury that employer refused to take responsibility for, and become toxic. I developed anxiety and couldn't focus on anything. I saw a counsellor, who was one of many that told me I should get legal help as what they were doing was illegal. But I was so broken down and anxious I didn't have the courage to stand up for myself, even though I had health professionals and a counsellor on my side pushing for it. Which ofcourse made school tough, but I managed to just scape through.

2016: I started second year. I finally quit my job, and got other loans to pay for school. Had the best year of my life, enjoy every minute of school. Did really well in everything. Things just clicked into place.

2017: started my final year. Failed the first class, but manged to get through it, and got my grade changed. Had an awesome placement, then started my last semester. But had an endometriosis flare up and it's stuffed things right up. I'm fighting to stay in school and graduate.

I have 6 weeks of class, 3 essays and 2 exam away from my bsn. But I'm so anxious and have lost all my confidence. And my health has just made everything 1000 times worse! I only have one shot at this, as I've exhausted all my financial options. Also my country only allows for 5 years to complete your degree or you have to start from the start again. So can't save up to repeat, because I'll run out of time.

I am so determined to pass this year, I'll do anything it takes. So ready for this chapter of my life to be over.

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Jun 18, 2017

First in my family to go to college. Raised by a single Dad after my mom took off when I was 13 and the youngest of my four younger sisters was 5 months old.

During my RN program, my sister pulled the same stunt as my mom had, and I became guardian to her two pre-schoolers. My husband lost his job so I was working to support us all.

Six weeks before finishing my RN program (and 7 months pregnant) started losing my vision at random times. Told I might have a brain tumor. hospitalized for weeks with that and preeclampsia. I was able to complete all the didactic stuff while lying on my right side for two solid weeks on bedrest. Had to repeat the clinical hours the following term. (Oh- not related to school but after 16 hours of pit induction without an epidural had a prolapsed cord and a stat section. Baby survived and is now herself an RN) (Also, it wasn't a brain tumor- it was pseudotumor cerebri)

daytoday · Jul 13, 2017

These stories are amazing. Reminds me that we all go through so much that is unseen. The first time I decided to take prerequisites it was for LVN school, and I was 22. I was paying for everything on my own, and working full time. I was involved in a car accident and suffered a brain injury to the left frontal lobe and temporal lobe of my brain. I lost my job, because of my inability to function, and eventually had to move in to my parents house. I had severe judgment impairment, memory problems, processing problems. What I thought was just a car accident turned into four years of cognitive rehab, and unspeakable damage and loss of friends and general respect because of my drastic personality changes and poor judgment. When I started taking prerequisites for an RN program it was seven years later, I could only take one class at a time, and I had severe panic attacks every day because of how stressful it was to try to make my brain do things that it literally had to form new pathways in order to do. The damage was so drastic that I had been declared fully disabled by the government. When I got into nursing school, I told them about my brain injury in my interview, and my plans to succeed without disability exceptions to prove that I could work without exceptions. That's exactly what I did. Every day I could feel my brain changing. It was remarkable. At the very end of my next to last semester, five months before graduation, my brother died of a drug overdose. I still don't know how I finished after that, I cried on my way to class and clinical every day, sometimes in the middle of class. It felt like drowning. I did finish, I passed the NCLEX on my first try, and I got into an excellent residency program. I cried every day on the way to work for an entire year, and was pregnant/nursing a newborn throughout my residency- but I did that too. On an extremely high acuity floor with tough staff. Now whenever I've interviewed for new jobs I get hired, because I know that I can do anything, and I don't have to tell my interviewers any of these stories for them to know that too, I think they can just tell that I am extremely capable. Hardships change you, but sometimes, over time, they make you better.

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Jul 13, 2017

2000: came to USA with foreign med degree

2002: USMLE 97/99/99 Things looked good

2003: health catastrophy. Long story short, 2.5 years of fighting for my daughter's life, every minute of it, with not that many chances for myself.

2006: moved several times, health still bad but we both are getting there

2007: 1 year of IM residency. I suspected, from my past experience, that US medicine was not all good, but after that.... I do not know how I stood away from just crashing my car somewhere

2008 - 2009: PTSD/FBM recovery. It was bad. Lots of travel.

2010: got to do something. Still wanted to work in health care, had no money for PA program. After much bothering, applied in BSN and got admitted, with plan to do direct MSN

2010-2013: getting BSN. Liked it, sort of. Didn't even bother to buy textbooks, already knowing more than some professors. Kid's health finally getting better.

2013-2014: 1 year in ICU, workplace bullying at its worst. Hell on Earth. PTSD and other problems return. No money for MSN. Doc's order: get out of nursing or... :no:

2015: 1 year in agency (everything from vent LTC to ICU). Treated as a human being first time since starting medical field. Highly valued as a clinician. Living frugally and collecting $$$ Starting to get off from the bottom.

2016-2017: landed in acute LTACH, matriculated in MSN. Offered promotions more times than I can count, like bedside, progressing every day. Busy like crazy.

07/12/2017: last test in MSN program! New FNP is here.