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

UPDATE: Changes: New Log In Requirement

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/Oncology/Telemetry/ICU.

It was actually my parents' idea because I was Music/Pre-Med at the time. I've played the piano since I was 4 years old and I wanted to major in that and then go to med school. Well, after 2 years of that (and an PRICEY private school) I decided to go into the nursing program there to make my parents happy. They wanted to support me going to med school, but they kept asking me what I was going to do if I didn't get in, etc and it was getting really old.

I don't know if I should have let them pressure me into nursing, but I wasn't happy about it, regardless. Well, I decided to stick it to 'em and keep my music going at the same time. I ended up with 23 units of music:Melody:, nursing, and lessons, not to mention practicing 3-5 hours a day and recitals every other week PLUS concerts on the weekends. Oh, and I workd 20 hours a week too and taught 2 piano lessons a week. I kept it up for a while (sometimes only getting 10 hours of sleep for the whole week!), but when I hit my second year of the nursing program I failed two nursing classes.

By that time, I really did want to be a nurse, but it was a little to late for me to do it at that school :o(since most schools only let you fail a couple classes) and I still miss it there.

I transfered to another school and only had to retake one class, which was great (and it was OB! How good does it get?!?) and passed with flying colors.

Sure, I wish I'd graduated 3 years ago like I was supposed to, but I didn't and I've learned so much from my past experiences. I'm so glad I found allnurses cause it's going to be a great support system!:D

Hello! Well, this is my first post and I hope that it will be a good one! I decided to become a nurse for a couple key reasons. I grew up in and out of hospitals with some different medical conditions while I was a kid. While going through some difficult operations and recovery, the doctors seemed like they didn't really care, just came in and out of the room to check on me once a day for about a minute. That turned me off from doctors, but nurses were an exception. They took care of me when I needed it the most and were the nicest. Ever since then I've wanted to be a nurse... I'm takint the prereq classes right now and I should start the program in about a year!

My name is Robert and I hope to enjoy this place.

Specializes in ER, Occ Med, ICU, Psych..

I started out working on the ambulance as a advanced first aider, first responder, EMT-B and finally a Medic. Things just kind of kept pointing me toward that career choice. I had just started a good easy factory job when the union went on strike. Stupid niave kid that I was, when offered triple time to cross the line, I did. I spent everything extra I earned on fixing the damage (I believe they prefered to call modifications) that the union individuals did to my car for crossing their picket line. I was laid off after the strike. All my friends and EMS cohorts said I should go get my RN license. Since I had nothing better to do, I did. Now I enjoy my job and the autonomy I have. And am even furthering my education and hopefully licensure in a few years. I met my first wife when I started EMS and when I left EMS I left her too. (couldn't handle my study hours?). My current wife met me while I was an RN and I bet she's glad I'm staying in nursing!

Walkin a thin IV line.

Specializes in telemetry, stepdown.

I completed an EMT class, and at the time I worked at the Firehouse and did volunteer firefighting. I found it very fascinating and it was easier working with guys. I was on the fence should I go to school to become a paramedic or nursing. I wanted to travel so I thought I would be to tied down as a paramedic. Then when I met my now husband who lived in Canada, it was a lot easier getting a job as a nurse then a paramedic/firefighter. Although, I miss the action!

Specializes in PICU, surgical post-op.

I was 15 years old when my cousin, a crazy, energetic 17 year-old guy, drowned in a lake at a summer camp he was working at. I live in the States, my cousins live in Canada. We drove through the night to get there, and I remember walking into the PICU where he was at around 8 in the morning. Those 2 days were the worst of my life, and most of it is a blur. But I remember his nurse ... she must have just finished bathing him. She was putting vaseline on his lips, lotion on his hands. She was so gentle and she was talking to him quietly. "It's a sunny day outside. I think it's going to be hot again." I watched in a fog as she cared for him, making sure he looked calm and peaceful despite the vent and lines and chest tubes. My cousin was later declared brain dead and we took him off the vent and donated his organs.

Eight and a half years later, I remember that nurse almost every day that I walk into the PICU where I've worked for the past 15 months. Whenever a family acts crazy or yells at me or breaks down crying, I remember how it felt to be on the other side of the bed. And that nurse's compassion and care has been the standard to which I hold myself.

I wish I knew who she was so I could thank her and tell her how much she's meant to me. So hey, PICU nurses at Sick Kids ... keep up the good work. Because of you, there's at least one more nurse in the ranks today.

I always wanted to be a nurse, since I was in Kindergarten. I could not go to college right after high school. Long story....

I always had respect for nurses, especially the ones that worked in the medical department of the prison that I worked at as a Correctional Officer.

When I went on maternity leave last summer (3rd child), I decided to go ahead and resign at the prison. I was sick of the job.

When I had my baby, the nurses at the hospital were sooo nice, except for one. One nurse even sat in the room with my husband and me and watched football with my husband when she didn't have anything else to do.

I do understand that nursing is a very rewarding career, but it is not all 100% "peaches and cream".

So anyway, I contacted the local community college. And here I am. I start school on the 16th!!!!

In all honesty it was the money and the job security. I have a degree in business and could not find a job. I looked around at the time (early 80's) and saw that nurses had a steady job and would continue to have a steady future. I went back to school and got my BSN and have worked since then with what I must say a is nice wage now. Where else am I going to work 3 days a week and take home over 100k a year?

Specializes in LTAC, Homehealth, Hospice Case Manager.

I love this thread! I'm always curious about why people get into nursing. For myself, my story is pretty run of the mill, but I'd like to share it anyway.

From my very first memories I've always wanted to be a nurse.

I started in a 4 year program straight out of high school. Got pregnant, got married & due to finances college was history. About a year or so later I enrolled in a LPN program &, for the same fianacial reasons as before, had to give that up, too.

After my duaghter started school I went to work in a small shop as a dry clean presser. After that I did housekeeping, custom cabinet finishing, & kitchen/bath design for a well known home improvement warehouse.

Over the years I tried to discuss the idea of college with my now ex-husband, but he would say he wanted to go & we couldn't afford for both of us to go...he never went. I woke up one morning when I was 33 & decided I was tired of the physical/mental abuse I had endured for more than 15 years. So I put in for a transfer with my job & left him behind.

I managed to find the time & got a student loan to a local tech school for Medical Assisting. I loved my job, but it still wasn't nursing. So I tried to apply to a local CC for their RN program. I had to put it on hold again due to threats from my employer about taking too much time off to see counselors, etc.

Finally, when I took my daughter to that same CC to get her enrolled in the Dental Assisting program she talked me into going back to school with her. I told her I would not give it up this time & she encouraged me all the way. In the mean time I also found a wonderful man to share my life with & his belief, support & encouragement has been immeasureable!

I'm a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason. I'm happy to say that I never gave up on my dreams...after 4 attempts at college & 23 years of waiting...I graduated this past August & passed boards in September. I am a nurse!!!

Specializes in LTC.

I grew up in a family that told me I could do anything I wanted to do; I could either be a teacher or a nurse. I rebelled & became a librarian. When my newborn son became ill with meningitis, the nurses were wonderful; especially the night nurse - very supportive and funny (I know this is weird but he made me laugh, which I needed for stress release since I couldn't cry because I was too busy watching for more seizures).

I kind of knew, in that hospital room, that nursing would've been a better "fit" for me career wise; but I pushed that off because I was anxious. In libraries, if you screw up, somebody might not find the information they want. In hospitals, if you screw up, somebody might die.

Then 911 happened, and I realized, "Just because you're busy doesn't mean you're useful." I went into healthcare as a case manager (QMRP) for disabled folks, but wanted more and became braver, so enrolled in nursing school. (Way harder than library school but Shhhhhh ... don't tell the librarians)

Mom was right. SIGH*

I've always found the human body fascinating, enjoyed biology and anatomy. While in Jr. High school, one of my best friend's mom was a nurse, and the idea of being a nurse intrigued me. I also new a flight paramedic and his stories always peaked my interest as well. While in High School, I made my mind up that I wanted to be an ER nurse and eventually become a flight nurse.

I went to nursing school, started out in Geriatrics, became very interested in Nursing Informatics, which at the time was fairly new. I was amazed at how little the Nursing Home and Hospitals used technology, and I loved using computers to save time. I never did anything with my interest in Informatics directly. I then moved to the hospital, worked Telemetry, and then I went to work in CCU for several years.

Back in 1995, I started a nursing website as a hobby when I was in nursing school back in 95, that hobby became a passion, and then became a business for me. That website is now called allnurses.com (this website ;) ) has grown to significantly since it's early days. I've never for one minute regretted becoming a nurse!

While I never became an ER nurse or a flight nurse, I am very happy where my nursing career has taken me :)

I'm very happy for you.

I am a nurse and MD in the same time. I used to work in ambulance for 2 years. And now I want to work in USA, (I live in Russia) i need some help to do it.

Specializes in Medical.

The whole time I was at secondary school I wanted to be a psychologist (except for three months when I was doing really well in debating and thought I'd like to be a - urgh! no longer my idea of a fun time - lawyer). Then I got to uni, hated it and dropped out.

My parents gave me six months, then told me I had to have a job by Christmas or they'd kick me out. After dithering about I headed down to the CES (Commonwealth Employment Service, now defunct work agency) for inspiration. There were more pamphlets on nursing than anything else.

I had never considered nursing, even in passing, as a career, even though my mother, aunt, a cousin, and six great-aunts were nurses. The more I thought about it the more it seemed like something I'd enjoy.

I only applied to two hospitals, and was accepted by the one my mother and aunt had trained at, thirty years earlier (just making it before hospital training was wholly phased out).

Before I started nursing I was shy, introverted and no good with strangers. Nursing has without doubt being the making of me - I am more confident, outgoing, interesting and (of course!) knowledgeable.

Without nursing I would never have returned to uni, discovered the joys of academia and teaching, known what it is to truly love what you do, been a bridge between the world of health and the rest of the world (ie interpret for friends and family!), learned the difference a sympathetic ear and a mouth toilet can make to someone's life, or stumbled across allnurses.

Almost all my friends are current or former nurses. I can't imagine what my life would have been without nursing, but I know it would have been bleaker, less filled with colour, and infinitely more dull.

Love this thread! Thank you for listerning :)

wow some of your stories are great, me....I just needed a job and a career at 33, so I graduate in May 07 to be a Rnurse, it was a Career choice for me, and I know I will get blasted for that one, who said you had to go into Nursing because you wanted to be a Nurse, I looked over my options as far as jobs and pay and where I could work anytime anywhere, Nursing won. so here I am

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