What's your story? Why did you take up nursing?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

Every nurse has their own story to tell about how or why they chose to enter the nursing profession. Some may have been inspired by a personal experience with healthcare, while others may have been drawn to the idea of caring for others. Some may have stumbled upon nursing by chance, while others knew from a young age that it was their calling. Whatever the reason, each nurse has a unique narrative that led them to become a caregiver. These stories are a testament to the diversity and passion within the nursing community and the profound impact that healthcare can have on our lives.

Please be as detailed or as short as you wish. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's stories.

Specializes in med surg, SICU.

I've always been interested in all things medical. This comes from the fact that my dad was sick all of my life until he died when I was 19. He had Lupus which brought on ESRD. He then had a kidney transplant and a CABG on top of his other recurring co-morbid conditions, so needless to say we spent a lot of time in hospitals. Even when my dad was in the hospital, I would be excited to go there. The environment is just thrilling to me... so many doors with so many cool things behind them!

The funny thing is that I started college as an English major. I'd never even considered nursing because the sciences weren't my strong poing in High School. I've always loved to watch what my husband calls the "bloody shows" like Trauma: life in the ER and Maternity Ward. One night I had the t.v. on TLC while I was trying to write a paper for my Foundations of American Education class (I thought I would be an English teacher). The paper was to be about why I wanted to teach. I was conflicted because I didn't really want to teach, but what else are you going to do with an English degree? Then it hit me. I looked at my then fiancee and said, "you're going to think I'm crazy, but I want to be a nurse." I never looked back. I dropped my education classes :p and started my pre-reqs for nursing. The rest is history :)

I graduated May 13th and am currently a graduate nurse! Yea!

Hi There.

I Wanted To Be A Nurse Or A Teacher Then Later On I Wanted To Be A Doctor

I Took Nursing At Uh But Did Not Do Good So I Decided To Take Medical Secretary And Work As A Secretary To A Doctor While Going To School To Become A Nurse

I Got My Lvn Though Back In 84 And Worked In A Retirement Community In The Health Center Night Shift

I Was Alone And I Did Not Know How To Be Productive Yet -- He He He He What Would I Do Without My Pc -- My Very Best Friend

When The Health Center Is Full Of Patient Like Sometime Up To 5 I Think I Like It Though To I Get To Be Busy

I Doubled Check Every 2 Hours

I Made Sure They Got Their Medications

I Get Them Up I Think In The Morning

I Made Sure They Had Fresh Pitcher Of Water With Ice And I Always Encouraged Them To Drink Water

But Not If They Are On Npo

But Encouraged Them Especialy When They Were On Ip/op

I Never Got To Be A Doctor But One Day I Know I Will

I Will Take One Step At A Time

I Need To Get Better And Healed First

But Before That I Need To Shine Somemore

Many Thanks

Mabuhay!

Kathy

Kpop

I was a wild child, getting in trouble and causing my mother grief when I was growing up. I was graduating high school and I really did not want to go back to school. I craved excitement in life and adventure was calling me. I was bored with my life in suburbia, and so I enlisted in the military. I chose to join the Marines to prove to myself that I am capable of becoming one of the few and the proud. Needless to say, I got my share of adventure and excitement, I even celebrated my 24th birthday in the desert during a war.

After the war, there was no promotions and they were trying to shrink the military. They gave us veterans free tuition and so I had to decide on what to do with the rest of my life. What will I major in now that I am faced with so many choices? My family have always worked in the health field as nurses, med techs, phys. therapists, and cna's. I did my research and nursing came up on top, it being the one where one can always find a job anywhere one ends up. I considered becoming a male stripper but I can't dance. My body was good but not that good.

It has been 8 years since I have been working as a nurse and I have always loved the job. I found that I was very well suited for the job and having been a soldier first gave me an advantage. I was not one to back down from a challenge and I love the action in Telemetry and the Rehab patients make me proud to see that I have made a contribution to help these people get better. Yeah, I do work 3 jobs! I am still a member of the Reserves. I have yet to travel as a nurse but someday the kids will grow up and leave the house. How I long for that day to come. So there it is! I am also sticking to this version of my story.

Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.

well, my story stretches out over several years. I was a paramedic in Pasco county, FL., met a nurse there (we went on to get engaged some years later, but the engagement failed (as with all things, not for one single reason, but the culmination was her demanding my quit riding motorcycles after a major accident that landed me in a (thanfully brief) coma) but anyway, I'm married to a fine woman who likes to ride (has her own, now) and things are much better. Anyway, I digress... Back then, I burned out, went to a few classes and became a long-haul truck driver. After a couple of years driving cross-country, my girl told me that she noticed I didn't look very happy with my new vocation. While I liked driving, and enjoyed seeing our beautiful country, I missed working in the medical field -but had no interest in ever being a medic on an ambulance again. She suggested nursing. Part of the problem I had with being a paramedic was that after 4 years, I'd advanced as far as I could, and the field was so over-glutted (still is) that there were no jobs available, pay wasn't what I would have liked (its better now, however) and I hated the idea that in another 16 yrs, I'd still be working in the same capacity (in Pasco, the average age of the officers above me was MY age -in short, unless they quit or died, I would never advance, and I still had the competition of all my 'compadres' who were my age or younger, and had my dreams of advancement. The prospects weren't very good. )

She showed me that RNs are in demand pretty much everywhere, in Florida or outside of it. Pay was better, and the hours were too, (imagine, work just three 12 hr shifts in a row, and have the rest of the week off. OR set it up so you could work six back to back, and end up with an effective week off, depending on how you set your schedule up), and if I got bored with one facet of nursing, I could take a few classes and get into another aspect of the field (more or less) -i.e., cardiac as opposed to med-surg, or same-day, or whatever.

The ONLY thing I really miss from being on the ambulance was intubating (ET tubes) -its great fun, and a good challenge -one I'm proud to say I was quite good at. However, I enjoy nursing and all the prospects it has open to someone willing to work. I may yet decide to become a travel-nurse for a while, or just move to somewhere else, and work there. Thankfully, almost everywhere I've looked, I've found openings, and in truth, the shortage is going to get worse -which SHOULD mean more flexibility in most respects for those of us working in this field -especially as the hospitals (larger ones for the most part) start fighting to retain their work force. We shall see, but I'm doing a job I'd never considdered, and I enjoy it. It isn't as dramatic or glamorous as my old paramedic/firefighter position, but it has far more depth to it, and I'm doing things I never knew I could do, working with people and equipment that has a far bigger effect on the health of my patients, and I don't just shut the door on them and look to the next call -now I see them progress (or not), and sometimes see the difference I make in a single shift. I've long-since let my medic license lapse, and have no intention of getting out of nursing.

I have always wanted to be a nurse.

Growing up I had an amazing pediatrician and she had an amazing nurse. It seemed like the nurse could take care of anything and it was always better when she was there. I really looked up to her.

I hated high school and did not even think about going to college. I got married as soon as I graduated and had my first baby with in the year.

When I was in labor I went to the hospital the first nurse I saw looked me over real fast said your not in labor go home! So I started to get dressed then this second nurse walked into the room and saw me crying and asked me to stay and see the doctor. I explained I wasn’t in labor but she still asked me to stay to see the doctor. I laid back down and waited. I could hear the nurses in the hallway fighting over sending me home. The second nurse won the argument and the doctor soon came into the room. The doctor did a quick ultrasound and found out she was too small and wasn’t getting enough food or air. Her heart stopped at almost midnight that night, so they had to do an emergence c-section. If that nurse had made me leave my daughter would have died that night. The second nurse saved my daughters life. I will always thank god that nurse cared enough to have me stay. It made a big impression on me what a good nurse can do. It confirmed to me that I always wanted to be a nurse.

Fast forward to my last pregnancy, I had a normal delivery. My water broke and I went to the hospital and got assigned an amazing nurse. She was a wonderful coach and was with me all the way through my delivery. I couldn’t thank her enough for all her help and support.

I was a labor coach for my sister in law. She was single and having a baby and I was lucky she chose me to help her through her labor. It was such an amazing experience, I loved taking care of her and coaching her through it. I got to hand her the baby and cried. I knew there was nothing else in the world that I could do that would ever compare to being a nurse.

I am applying to a nursing program in April. I am currently taking all the prereqs to get into a program. When I graduate I hope to work in a L& D dept or nursery dept. I am excited and can’t wait! Thanks for reading my long post.

Hugs :icon_hug:

Shannon

Everyone has his or her own story about how or why they became a nurse. What's your story?

Please be as detailed or as short as you wish. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's stories.

I just read a fun book called Hot Nursing Careers for the 21st Century. It is one of the best books I've read on nursing. The author gives such honest writing on her hit on nursing. It's available on all the major online bookstores. Amazon, B&N, etc. She went in it because her mother wanted her to marry a doctor.:jester: How lame. :argue:

I graduated in 2000, passed NCLEX, but decided to raise my family and take care of an ill parent. Now its 2008 and I've been to sooo many job interviews, not to mention how many I've applied for. Took a refresher course and still I just keeping getting rejected. HELP!!! I don't know what to do next. Any suggestions??? Thanks in advance.:cry:

Specializes in Medical and Emergency Room Nursing.

Nursing was really not in my mind when I was a child, I want to become a flight attendant. Now, Im glad Im a nurse!

Specializes in LTC.

I come from a family of nurses, from my great-granmother to my younger sister. As the only male interested in the medical field, I was supposed to be the doctor in the family, but that was too much schooling for me. Beeing a nurse helps fulfill my curiosity about the human body and my desire for helping people that are sick get better.

I'm not a nurse yet...but I will probably "officially" start nursing school in a few months.

I'm 24 years old. I was always a very good student. After graduating from high school, I went straight to college and got a B.S. in biochemistry. I had no life in college...all I did was study. I was stressed out, not balanced, and very one dimensional. I can say I was unhappy with my life. My plan was to go to medical school. Doing biochemistry made me realize how much time I had to put into school to do well and also how much time and dedication it takes to be a doctor. Now most women in my family are nurses, so I always admired the job. Yet, everyone pushed me to go to medical school, because I was "smart". That was part of the reason I also pursued my degree and not nursing in the first place.

Towards the end of college, I met who I thought at the time was the man of my dreams. After graduating college I moved to a new city( to be with this man) and started using my degree to work in a lab. The relationship went downhill and caused me a lot of heart break in the end. The company was overstaffed and laid me off as well. I also hated lab work because I was not interacting with others. I realized that I needed a career where I could talk to people and help them.

This time off from school made me realize what I really wanted out of life. I was drawn to the medical field because I cared about people.When I think about what nurses do, it seems very rewarding to me. I also wanted to lead a balanced life myself, where I could have time to pursue other interests. I concluded that nursing would be perfect for me. During the year off, I also learned about ABSN programs in many places. I also learned about the job opportunities and advanced degree options in nursing. I had no idea that these were out there during college.

I'm so happy at this point in my life even though there's the stress of classes and exams. I'm one hundred percent satisfied most days with my new career choice. I haven't questioned it once(like I did medical school). Also, I'm not so scared about what the future holds(as I was with medical school).:loveya:I hope to be done with my BSN/ABSN in a year or two, depending on when I start.

I am now in my 30th year of nursing, and nursing is the only career I ever considered. As a child, I stayed with my grandparents for a week or two during the summer months, and needless to say, was very close to them, especially my grandmother. When I was 12, my grandmother had a stroke that left her aphasic and with Rt hemiparalysis...when we went to visit her, I will never forget how helpless I felt as I watched her being fed and cared for and yet she tried to converse with me. I remember being speechless, and feeling clumsy and awkward. Funny how images stay with you!

After that, I don't think I consciously was even aware that I was doing it, but I did join the Future Health Careers Clubs and any health related activities in school. I now realize that that was a crossroad for me, and it affected my career path. I became an LPN right out of high school, and then returned to school 3 years later to become an RN. I have since obtained my BSN and MSN and currently teach nursing students. I will be back in school again in a year to pursue my Doctorate, and the biggest reward for me has always been thinking that I caught a glimpse of my Grandmother's eyes in the eyes of a patient I was caring for...I truly believe she looks out for me and would approve. :prdnrs:

Specializes in Geri, Pedi, Trauma, OR, Rehab, MH, OP.

I went into nursing directly because of two certain nurses. A nurse practioner that took care of me during my first and second trimester of my first child, and the RN working when I had my child and the two days following.

The nurse practioner treated me not just for my pregnancy. That women taught me more in a few months than I had from anyone else. I left her services with a healthy child, a healthier mind/body/spirit, and a self-esteem/confidence that I had never known before. I never ONCE, spoke of any other problems other than issues with my pregnancy, but she picked up on SOO much. I still dont know how she knew soo much about me just from my appointment times. An insightful angel.

The LD RN, was just as much of an angel. I hate to say that the rest of the other staff was seriously lacking in different areas. This one though...you would have thought she was taking care of a scared little sister. I knew very little of the process and had very little support in my personal life. She took care of my needs before I even knew they existed. Not once, did she complain with my naive questions. Not once, did it seem that she was busy. I felt like I was her one and only patient when I had her. Being as sheltered and timid as I was, not once did I ever feel awkward or embarrassed during the times that I JUST KNEW, I was going to have a heart attack over.

I decided I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be "that one particular nurse", that someone would never forget...with a smile.

:)

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