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.

I always had an interest in the human body and why and how it functions the way it does. I also have a deep interest in how the mind works. So I figured it would be best for me to go into psych nursing.

The nurse who stepped in for only a few moments while I was in labor with my first child...she showed compassion that was inspiring. I had a strong curiousity toward the medical field...that and the program for nursing was 30 minutes from my home, and the college that I would have to go to become a teacher was 90 minutes away.

Specializes in Home Care.

I had a love of biology but discovered that going to school to get a biology degree and raising kids, then finding a job was just too much so I didn't complete it.

I spent the next 14 yrs raising my kids and being miserable in my jobs and just not knowing what I wanted to do with my life.

In 2005 I started volunteering for disaster services with the American Red Cross. Helping the people who suffered through hurricane Katrina was immensely satisfying. Doing this gave me insight into the side of my personality that needed nurturing. But I still had no clue what kind of job I wanted to do.

Then in the fall of 2006 my 24 yr old son fell 16 ft through a roof hitting his head on a table. He was taken to a trauma ICU and put on full life support. I spent a lot of time in the hospital with him and watched the nurses doing their jobs. They showed us a lot of compassion and answered all my questions.

I was fascinated by my son's recovery. The nurses amazed me in how they dealt with this young man who hadn't a clue who he was. I watched as my son made progress daily. One day I walked in to see him and he didn't know who I was or where he was. The next day he was all there and was ready to go home. I was truly amazed at how the brain can recover from such a traumatic injury.

That's when I finally decided nursing was for me. I started taking pre-reqs and excelled in A&P. But I was nervous about going into a career I really knew nothing about. I'd had no medical background so I decided to go the LPN route first to get my feet wet.

I loved LPN school, the first few months of clinicals were scary but I overcame that and went on to graduate the LPN program with honors.

I'm working now in flu clinics and really enjoy it. Of course I wish I could be working in skilled nursing but those jobs are difficult to find in this economy. I get lots of kudos from the experienced RNs and they all encourage me to continue on to RN.

I'm excited to say that I've received my acceptance letter to the LPN-RN transitional program. I start in May! I hope I can find a job in this area so I can complete the BSN at the same college that I"m doing the RN.

I was always interested in nursing or medicine in general,at first I wanted to go into Veterinary school (I love helping animals) but I was also drawn to nursing. I like the chalenge,intellectual stimulation as well technical part that nursing profession brings to the table...I dont think I would be interested any other medical field except maybe being a veterinarian or regular doc. I definitely didnt choose nursing for money because other medical professiono offer near the same pay or even better-I just couldnt see myself sitting my a machine all day taking pictures,interpreting them and on top of that having minimal patient contact.I'm also thinking about being a vet tech,aside being a nurse-which i accomplished arleady.

Specializes in Orthopaedics.

I was not born with an urge to be a nurse and just sort of drifted into the job because I could not find another one at the time.

However I find human beings fascinating and one of my personal Values is Connection.

Exploring the way people experience the world we live in and interpret it is really something thas is really interesting. So probably I was drawn to the fact that nursing offered a medium through which I could communicate and connect with people.

There was a time when I really wanted to leave nursing a few years back and it was a very turbulent part in my life when I was just fed up of everything and I just could not find any meaning in my life. I would drag myself to work in a depressive state and returning back to work after a long leave was like facing the electric chair!

However it was an 'aha' experience for me because during this difficult period I suddenly realised that it was not the job itself that was the real problem. The problem was me - the way I was filtering my experiences. This illuminating experience set me off on a journey of self-discovery and over the next few months it was like starting to live a new life. I started searching for more Meaning in life and took courses on Hypnotherapy, Life coaching and meditation as well as read a lot of self growth books. Not only did I bounce back into enjoying nursing but I also started creating changes in my clinical area with a new passion.

And because of this I seem to have attracted towards me an opportunity to develop into something that further helped in honoring my other values namely freedom and creativity. I became the first Practice Development Nurse in my country (Malta) and I now had the freedom to create new systems and work in the area that I so love and that's personal development and staff development.

So I think that nursing is really a job, possibly a calling apart from other jobs and I think there is so much we can do to make a better world.

I was actually initially forced by my parents into it but as I went along with it I appreciated it more & began to accept it as my vocation.

Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.

If you had asked me this question in 1952, when I was 12, I would have said it was because my uncle (a physician) to whom I'd timidly confided my vocational aspirations, thundered "No one in this family will be a nurse!"

My future was sealed......

Specializes in Telemetry, Neuro, Renal, Ortho.

I was in 10th grade and watching a show called University Hospital about 4 girls training to be nurses. Then a light bulb went off inside my head and I thought that was what I wanted to do. Then I took an anatomy class and became fascinated with the material and learning about the body. I loved nursing school and here I am years later and loving nursing.

Specializes in ED, ICU, Education.

When I was 16, my father was diagnosed with mesothelioma and died 2 months later. I remember sitting at his bedside, holding his hand, crying my eyes out because I knew he was going to die. The nurse came in the room to change his IV fluids or something, stared right at me ( me all teary and blubbering) and didn't say or do a thing to comfort/acknowledge me. It was at that moment that I decided to become a nurse, so that I could be better than that, and not be the nurse who doesn't care for everyone involved with the patient (as we all know that is just as important). I did not want anybody else in a position like I was, to feel like I did, to feel neglected. So when I come across that young family member, who is distraught with the impending loss of a parent, I make a point to be there for them. RIP Dad.

For much of my teens, I have struggled with a severe eating disorder, Complex-PTSD, self-harm, severe depression, and anxiety. As you can imagine, I spent my high school years in and out of psychiatric hospitals, various outpatient treatment programs, and therapy.

While in the hospital, I saw the nurses interacting with us patients. Unfortunately, I wasn't kept on a very good unit, and many of the nurses were what we call "paycheck mongrels": They wanted to get in, get out, collect their money. They wanted nothing to do with us as people, seeing us only as a problem. They allowed me to starve and dehydrate myself for days before simply threatening to tube-feed me instead of trying to work with me. I came within hours of having a tube shoved down my nose for their convenience before the doctor cancelled the order on the grounds that I could be re-fed at home.

Upon discharge, I vowed never to be like those staff. I met some good staff, and vowed to be like them: Committed. I saw the misconceptions many people in the outside world had about mental illness and desperately wanted to educate them that I wasn't crazy, insane, violent, dangerous, or a freak. I would never have dreamed of hurting anyone else: I believed I deserved to hurt myself the way I did, as had been done to me by other people before.

I decided I would be a psychiatric nurse and work with the kind of illnesses I had recovered from, especially eating disorders. This population, I believe, has the hardest time receiving the care they need. They are often passive (because they are deathly afraid of what other people think), so they're not a problem. So they are allowed to slip through the cracks, and quietly destroy themselves.

What's more, the women in my family going back three generations are nurses in some form or another. My great-grandmother was a L&D nurse back before they required licensing, my grandmother is a dental assistant, and my mother is an ER nurse with 30 years of experience. She loves her job and considers it very validating that her daughter wants to go into her profession.

About 6 years back I was pregnant with my second son, and everything was perfect. I was 36 weeks pregnant and went in for a routine unltrasound. My world was shattered when I was told that my son had passed away. I can't even discribe how much emotional pain I was in. I went 2 days later to be induced. And to make a long story short, the nurse who took care of me was my saving grace. She was so wonderful, I was so emotionally numb at the time I didn't even know if I was coming or going. There were moment that I thought I was actually going to lose my sanity. I remember there was a point in time during my labor that I just had tears running down my face and she grabbed my hand. I pulled her into a hug and just cried on her shoulder, for how long I don't know, but it felt forever. When my son was finally delivered she was the one who held my hand, she was the one who cleaned and dressed him, she handed him to me to say goodbye. She even let me husband hold him as she escorted him to the morgue. And after we said our goodbyes, she made us a keepsake box to take home. After a month I recieved a call at home from her just checking up on me to see how I was doing. Sadly since my husband is military we have since moved and I lost contact with her but she will always be remembered in this family. My situation could have been a lot worse if I had a nurse who saw me as just another patient, but she didn't. She made the worst moment in my life just a little easier. That woman will always have a special place in my heart. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be able to make an impact in someones life. I am now and LPN getting ready to go back for my RN. My goal one day is to work in OB. Thank you Ms. Longhorn, where ever you are. We so love you!:redpinkhe

Specializes in med/surg and dialysis.

As the mother of a child on life support and having to deal with nursing care for 20 years, having learned so much about her care I decided it was time to get myself to school make a career out of what I've done for the last 20 years. I love nursing!:nurse:

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