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 Pediatric Intensive Care, Long Term care.

p.s.....sorry for the typos guys..i suck at typing fast

Specializes in OR.

First of all I have to say my mom is a nurse and I grew up in the breakrooms of the hospital and nurses were just part of my life . My mom would have me suit up in some scrubs and help her stock meds and linens. I will never forget those times with mom and I knew nursing was going to be apart of me forever and effect me later in life. My mom had a horrible accident that involved a horse and major head injury . I remember seeing my mom sprawled out on the street less then a mile from her house she had a grand mal seizure infront of me and I thought she had died. The horse fell on top of her crushing her head into the street her helmet split up the side of her head . She was rushed to the hospital and laid in a coma for a few days . I kept a bedside vigil for the next couple days finally she woke up . I remember watching the nurses rushing up and down the halls with a paper trail following behind them admitting and discharging patients. O God I thought these nurses are so over worked and pre occupied with other patients besides my mom. No techs were available to give showers or anything . My mom was in need of a shower badly , a very kind nurse who was obviously busy offered a shower for my mom but I had realized she was really busy . And jumped in got my mom up and in that shower chair everybody stopped and stared as I wheeled my 15 year veteran nurse mom up that long hallway .Wow I was in tears all the time because she was so dependent on me that day she had always been my rock and now I was her rock of support and protection . I knew that nursing was in my blood and couldn't ignore what I was destined to be . From that moment on in my life I knew I wanted to a nurse and that vigil and taking care of my mom when she was the weakest . My mom is now okay and made a complete recovery and is still a nurse.

I was a second degree nurse, with a former career in marketing and PR. However, as time went on, I became suffocated by having to spend so much time on a computer, just emailing, basically, for a living. I mean -- I enjoyed my work, but all I DID was sit at that computer! I wanted a career that was active and hands on. I wanted something where I was doing something significant and not something just tied to increasing the bottom line. Oddly enough, my first job in PR was with GM -- SO thankful I left that company years ago.

I had always done well in biology and anatomy in high school, but never did well in chemistry, so I assumed I could never be a nurse, so I didn't pursue it. I wish SO badly I would have done it earlier in life. (I went to nsg school at the age of 42).

I was also a military wife for many years, and always had a tough time finding a job in my former field. We'd move every 2-3 years, , and it would take me a year to find a quality job and then hubby would get orders AGAIN. The day that I attended a nursing recruiting event after I'd earned my BSN and had 20+ nursing managers all swarming around me, handing me their cards, trying to persuade ME to come to their unit . . . in a strange way, I felt like a movie star!! I just felt so good to be wanted, and needed and to have MY pick of jobs!

Now, although nursing is about the toughest job I've ever done (next to child rearing), I am SO excited to have a career that I can do until the day I am no longer physically or mentally able to work. Age will not matter. I have so many options available to me, I am not hampered by anyting other than my own limitations. For a middle aged woman with not a lot of former job experience, this is a wonderful position to be in. Career woes no more -- my only challenge is choosing WHICH field of nursing to go in next. I happily look forward to the next 15 years or more, and am considering applying to grad school to be a NP.

My husband has been deployed twice, also, to Iraq these past six years and I had to face the realization that he may or may not make it back. It could happen to any woman at any time. I think ALL women need to find work and be able to support themselves. I'm glad I have something that I can make a living at, in case anything ever happened to him. I know many women my age who have never worked and rely on their husbands just a bit too much. I don't want to ever be in that boat.

Anyway, long winded -- but I DO feel nursing is a fantastic 2nd career for anyone, and I hope to combine my former degree with nursing in some way in the future.

I believe I took up nursing to save my sons life......but I didn't know it then.

I had been a stay at home mom to 3 kids for almost 10 years. Yes, I was so glad I could do this but I was also so bored.

When they all started school, I began pre nursing classes. I had never worked in the medical feild before. I loved it and graduated as an RN in 2005.

I began working on a med-surg/onc floor right after graduating. This was alot to learn, lots of sick cancer patients, lots of meds, lots to know.

One day I noticed my youngest son (age 10 at the time) "didn't look right." His belly was distended and he had not been eating well all week. He reminded me of pt's I had on the onc floor. One Fri night I made him go to the ER. I forced him to go, he didn't want to. I told the ER doc that my son had been having trouble keeping down fluid/food for one week and that his abd was distended.

Well, it turned out to be Lymphoma (with tumors in the abd.) He was diagnosed with Burkits lymphoma, an agressive cancer that can doubble in size about every 24 hours. They started chemo right away and my son went into tumor lysis syndrome. He almost died from the high K levels. He was in ICU for a week, and finally made it to the floor for chemo. He had 4 months of chemo and survived.

So I know In my heart......That was the reason God wanted me to become a nurse, to recoginze his s/s,to get him the proper tx, and to ultmately save his life. I believe this with all of my heart. I became a nurse to save my son.

I'm 26 and got laid off... I was miserable for the past yr at my work sitting at my desk asking me if this is my life and if I went to college to surf the internet and deal with b***y fashionistas who think they're better than you... I rather deal with life as it happens and not read about it on the internet... I have a long way to go.. hopefully the job market picks up when I graduate a program.

I became a nurse because we needed one in the family. I am the first.

I wanted to be a nurse because my dad is stubborn.

Before nursing school, he would rarely take his medication, his diet was poor full of fatty unhealthy food, and rarely exercises.

I wanted to help my family, especially my dad. Currently his kidneys are at stage 3 and will need dialysis if he gets to 5... so I am trying really hard to keep him on track.

Specializes in med/surg/tele/LTC/geriatrics.

During the summer of 1996 my grandpa was in a head on collision that sent him to the nearby Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. My grandpa had several surgeries and was in the Intensive Care unit with and uncertain prognosis. I remember my grandma going out into the hall to talk with the nurses or the doctors with my mother and I was left alone in the room with my grandpa. I remember the nurses tied the sheets to the bedrails and all I could think was I hope those knots hold and my mom and grandma hurry up. Our last night at the hospital I read a doctor seuss book to my grandpa. About a year later he thanked me for being with him while he was in the hospital and gave me two silver quarters before he died the next summer. Exactly nine years later I became a nurse.

Specializes in sub-accute.

I took up nursing after losing my first child. He was delivered with forceps, and lived for three weeks before passing away from cerebral edema. I remember how absolutly hopeless and helpless I felt when he was in the NICU and then the PICU, and I vowed to never put myself into another situation where I didn't know what to do besides give CPR.

Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

Honestly, my grandmother and my mother told me to.

I'd disappoint her if I didn't take up nursing.

Thanks, grandma!; Love ya

Specializes in Cardiac ICU.

Because my grandmother told me to.

Thanks, grandma; Love you!

Background on Grandma: RN for 40+ years

(sorry for the double-entry)

Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

I did it for the money :smokin:

That's actually true. When I graduate HS in 1974 there were very few well-paying jobs available for women in South Alabama. Women were actually barred from certain jobs, like commercial flying, police & fire, construction, etc. I couldn't type and I didn't want to teach. So that left nursing, the one job that I knew would always provide me a paycheck large enough for me to support a family on. And it hasn't failed me yet.

Lucky for me(and everyone else, I guess) I fell in love with nursing and I've been at it >32 years.:nurse:

i was in real estate sales back in the 80s and 90s and one day i woke up and realized the only reason i had to get out of bed was to find someone...anyone..and take their money. I got up but i never sold another house. i went to lvn school then rn school and the funny thing is i now make more money than i did in real estate and most days dont feel like im working. im just doing what i love to do...saving peoples lives...its really like that since i do hemodialysis...i show up...do my thing ....they live...its great..and they pay me ....whata deal!!!!!!woohoo!!!!

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