i joined the board because i'm curious to know why other people choose to go to nursing school, particularly those who have worked in another field and are choosing nursing as a second career.
let me be perfectly clear: i'm not looking for an argument and don't intend to argue with anyone on here. (argue is different than debate). i'm also not trying to (deliberately, anyway), knock the profession of nursing in general. (i do, however, have a thing or two to say about nursing school and instructors, but i'll bite my tongue for now).
here's some good ones i've heard so far:
1.) "because i love people and i want to make them all better". my response: isn't there a career that pays a heck of a lot more money than nursing where you can still help people? how about accounting, where you can help people fix there money situation (which is ever so important in this awful economy). or law, to help them with legal manners. or perhaps even a life counselor or psychologist? you're helping the brain, and you don't have the chance of contracting hiv, hep a-z, mrsa, vre, etc.
2.) "it's secure; there'll always be a job for me". yeah, right. in this country/economy? nothing's secure.
3.) "the money is great". seriously? $20-25 is 'great'? i didn't realize...
4.) "my was sick with and from that point on, i just wanted to be able to heal people. yeah? that's your relative/friend. whole different ballgame.
so like i said, i'm interested in hearing thoughts/rebuttal. but not shots against me, my character, my opinions. not interested.
The person who has a gift for selling stuff is the one who is going to make the most money. That was not my gift. I'm like a lot of people who have commented. I like a challenge, a job that changes on a daily, hourly basis. I like being on my feet all day. Sitting makes me anxious. I like putting together a puzzle and troubleshooting and I like to think on my feet. I have found that I enjoy all sorts of different types of people and see a value in human life and treating people with dignity. I like those one-on-one therapeutic relationships that only last a couple of days (I would not be a good surgical nurse or ICU nurse) like I get in the med-surg units. I like catching mistakes and doing detective work. I love physiology and am in awe of how the body works to make corrections and heal - all by itself. Love the whole package, including being too busy to get everything done.
Acute care nurses in my area get paid between $31 and $45/hour. There are some specialties that pay more. The money wasn't the huge draw.
my first question is how the hell do you post your own questions on this ridicules un-user friendly site? secondly, anyone who says the money is great is a loser. i would hope there are other reasons for going into nursing considering it is a field all about compassion and caring for those that are ill. however there is nothing wrong with this notion, however i disagree with the reason in general. most selfish people are rushing to the field because of the economy and need the money. i would hope these people consider the meaning behind the field and don't go into the profession as a half ass nurse to collect a check and become a snotty no-good nurse who thinks they know it all. i would totally disagree with this reason. that is all.
i joined the board because i'm curious to know why other people choose to go to nursing school, particularly those who have worked in another field and are choosing nursing as a second career.
let me be perfectly clear: i'm not looking for an argument and don't intend to argue with anyone on here. (argue is different than debate). i'm also not trying to (deliberately, anyway), knock the profession of nursing in general. (i do, however, have a thing or two to say about nursing school and instructors, but i'll bite my tongue for now).
here's some good ones i've heard so far:
1.) "because i love people and i want to make them all better". my response: isn't there a career that pays a heck of a lot more money than nursing where you can still help people? how about accounting, where you can help people fix there money situation (which is ever so important in this awful economy). or law, to help them with legal manners. or perhaps even a life counselor or psychologist? you're helping the brain, and you don't have the chance of contracting hiv, hep a-z, mrsa, vre, etc.
2.) "it's secure; there'll always be a job for me". yeah, right. in this country/economy? nothing's secure.
3.) "the money is great". seriously? $20-25 is 'great'? i didn't realize...
4.) "my was sick with and from that point on, i just wanted to be able to heal people. yeah? that's your relative/friend. whole different ballgame.
so like i said, i'm interested in hearing thoughts/rebuttal. but not shots against me, my character, my opinions. not interested.
I went into nursing because it's what I've always wanted to do. Sometimes, though life gets in the way of our dreams. After high school I got married and the family began right away. When my DH died suddenly @ the age of 28, I needed to find a way to support my family. I've been working as an LPN for a while and am now back in school to obtain a BSN. I love nursing because it is a field where you are always learning something and the days are never boring.
When I was 8 I wanted to run away to Alaska and live, unmarried, with my team of sled dogs. I think that stemmed from reading White Fang and The Call Of the Wild one too many times, lol. This evolved into, I want to be a veterinarian until an 8th grade career paper revealed to me the amount of schooling I would need to accomplish that dream. I have always been a good student, never athlectic or artistic, school came naturally to me but I was so ready to get out when my time was up, come on graduation! lol So that dream turned into nursing, when I was 13, I was going to follow in my mother's foot steps, she's an LPN.
Then as I grew my interest in medicine grew also, and I found myself reading old nursing textbooks for fun and then older I got (and the more symptoms of hypochondria I suffered lol) led to me discover google, and I have learned a lot about various diseases through research, which deepened my interest in medicine even more so. I was always that nice girl who tried to help and couldnt say no to anyone, Im still like that most of the time. My plan upon high school graduation was to take a year off then do the LPN thing at a local tech school, 1 yr program, easy right. I started by finding a job in a nursing home and getting CNA certified at 18.
Fast forward a fews years later, 1 child to my ex, one child on the way to my current hubby, (who is an LPN but in a nursing sup position), and I learned a few things about nursing.
One of them was it didnt seem worth it anymore to move to LPN then to RN. I worked with many LPN's and with the job market the way it is, and the hospitals weeding them out by sending them to school, I knew it would do me no good to persue that, I did not want to work in a nursing home again. soo, Ive been working on my RN since 2007, finally starting clinicals next month and was so lucky to have the opportunity to stay home with my 3 young children while I persue my degree.
So the reasons I want to be a nurse:
1) I am fascinated with medicine, disease, and the inner workings of the human body. It is amazing, if I thought I could make it through med school in one piece with 3 young kids on my hubbys one income I would do it. Right now Im not sure but I am not closing that door yet, I had kids young and Ill be fairly young when they hit their teen yrs and dont want anything to do with me so Im thinknig I may somehow bridge from nursing to MD by the time Im like 45 and my kids are all grown. We will see lol
2) I want to help peopel, but I want to help people in the medical setting. I love being at the hospital, I like the atmosphere, I know it's weird but my surroundings just suck me in when Im there and I can't wait to be there every day, lol. So sure, I could be an accountant but this way Im hitting two of my interests at one time: medicine and people.
3) I've seen a lot of burnt out nurses, mean nurses, and Ive witnessed not so nice care being given to my pancreatic cancer stricken MIL, who herself is a nurse at the hospital where she was being cared for. That makes me mad, that makes me want to try to make a difference, don't ask me how I'll do it, I'll figure it out when I get there, but something's gotta give with the nurse-to-patient ratio and I will find a way to help with that.
Hope that wasnt too boring, Ive always been a talker, and am still learning how to put what I have to say in less words lol
1.) "because i love people and i want to make them all better". my response: isn't there a career that pays a heck of a lot more money than nursing where you can still help people? how about accounting, where you can help people fix there money situation (which is ever so important in this awful economy). or law, to help them with legal manners. or perhaps even a life counselor or psychologist? you're helping the brain, and you don't have the chance of contracting hiv, hep a-z, mrsa, vre, etc.
i am tired of sitting in an office and staring at a computer screen all day. i want to have a positive impact in the lives of people and i have been interested in medical care for many years. i've been dealing with a slight nagging for the last 10+ years to go into the medical field so i've decided finally to face it. it is scary/exciting but it seems like it is the only right choice for me.
also, i'm not sure why you would put psychology as a good alternative as it is one of the most popular majors and there are ton of unemployed psychology majors. generally, you need a bit more schooling beyond bs for psychology and it is not an easy road. also, law schools are jam packed with students and novice lawyers are definitely struggling right now as law firms have decided that they don't have to hire lawyers, instead they can use recently graduated law students to do part time work for them avoiding having to pay any benefits.
2.) "it's secure; there'll always be a job for me". yeah, right. in this country/economy? nothing's secure.
i think my current field is probably one of the most secure fields but i'm willing to jump into a less stable career choice.
3.) "the money is great". seriously? $20-25 is 'great'? i didn't realize...
actually, my pay will be cut pretty drastically to go into nursing. that is just how it is.
4.) "my was sick with and from that point on, i just wanted to be able to heal people. yeah? that's your relative/friend. whole different ballgame.
actually, 20 years ago when i was in high school, i did have a relative who had aids and i was one of their primary caretakers until their death. it did have a huge impact on me and who i am but it isn't a deciding factor in going into nursing.
I have NO clue... I joined the military and people ask my why I did it. I thought eventually I would have some sort of realization as to why I decided to go into the Army. 6 years later and I still have NO clue why I joined.
I never wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be a teacher. During my Army training, I realized I liked the medical profession. So I switched my major from undecided to nursing.
I guess I like helping people. I don't feel like I have some sort of calling. I agree that $20-25 is not a lot and I plan on being an NP so I can make $50/hr. The job opportunity is technically always going to be there, but it's the same as any job.
So, I have no idea. It just seemed right to pick nursing and I wasn't interested in anything else. I love my job. It keeps me busy and that's what I wanted.
I was in human resources before I went to nursing school. I made the switch because I didn't like sitting at a desk all day, I did not like the corporate culture, I wanted a job in science/medicine, I wanted something hands-on where I'd be performing skills, and I wanted something faced paced where I was never sitting at a desk bored because I didn't have enough work to do. I also wanted something that would be a better personality fit for me, since human resources wasn't the right fit at all. I'm very glad I chose nursing, and you couldn't pay me a million dollars to give it up and go back to corporate HR.
I went into nursing school to eventually get into CRNA school. If I had no interest in CRNA school and wanted to get into the medical field, I would have gone straight to P.A. school.
1) I am really energetic and get bored easily. I thrive when meeting new people all the time. I can change the direction of my career endlessly.
2)When half my class has already failed/been kicked out of school it makes me think I might be competent enough to succeed. Good nursing schools weed out the people who won't pass the NCLEX and/or give quality patient care.
3) There will always be jobs for nurses. Just probably not your dream job in your ideal location.(I mean EVERYONE wants a job in Hawaii!) But there will be jobs:http://healthguideusa.org/careers/registered_nurse_job_outlook.htm
I've personally never met an unemployed nurse. Of course, I live in the midwest.... no one is flocking the beach here!
szeles23
153 Posts
no worries, that's what I thought