Why did you become nurses?

Became a nurse for a variety of reasons;

My son was premature and the nurses who took care of him and me were amazing

Science has always interested me

I was in customer service/restaurant before nursing....if I was going to get yelled at while working it had better be for a good reason....messed up food order no....frustration over your diagnosis I can understand and empathize

Was a single mom at the time needed to earn a living salary....I am still the primary breadwinner

I like the variety nursing provides

Yes it is everything I thought it would be, I went in with my eyes wide open. I knew there were not so good places to work, the stress, working short staffed..ect...... Mainly because I researched threads here on allnurses before I went to nursing school.

I have worked in the scary SNFs that you read about and I currently work in an amazing hospital with some of the best coworkers.

Nursing can be what you make of it. I kept applying to jobs until I found one that I really love

Thank you, this was very helpful. Have an errand to run then will respond more.

The first one you said really resonates with me. My mom was sick recently so I went home expecting the worst. I watched nurses, aides, OT, PT, dietary, come in frequently (her doctor made two appearances, less than five minute total.) and they were so nice, so patient, so helpful, so dedicated. That's when I started to imagine myself doing the job, or a job like it.

I became a nurse after being wait listed for dental hygiene. I didn't want to wait a year so I looked up majors that I could use the pre-requisites for. No "calling" or wanting to be Flo Nightingale here. Just practicality and floor nursing wasn't for me. I am in a BSN to DNP program now.

TheCommuter. Thanks for being honest. How long have you been a nurse?

Mom to 4: how long have you been a nurse?

And Commuter I'm curious - why nursing? Were there any other fields that fit that description?

Twenty years ago I was a medical assistant for eye surgeons. I went to a class (continuation education) given by ophthalmic nurses and this is what first gave me the desire to be a nurse.

Fast forward to 2005 when I was finally able to quit my job and go to school full time (one year of junior college then transferred to the local state University for nursing school-BSN). I worked almost 4 years at the bedside then made the transition to ophthalmology.

I have been a nurse for 5 years now and I love it. It is great that there are so many different areas of nursing. The only thing difficult for new grad nurses is there are not many jobs out there due to the many schools pushing a "nursing shortage" that no longer exists (it was going away when I entered the field 5 years ago). There are still great jobs out there it is just more difficult to find them.

I don't regret my decision in 2005 to finally take the plunge and go back to school for nursing. It has been an interesting ride. If you decide to hop on and join the ride too I wish you luck and hope you find your niche. It's out there.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

1) My Mom was a nurse, that's how I became interested in Nursing. 2) Yes, it's everything I thought it would be and more..... :)

I remember seeing a friend saved by a paramedic when I was young. The firemen pulled my next door neighbor out of their house and the paramedic worked on him to revive him. I still remember the moment my friend started breathing again. I knew then that I wanted to be that important, to help people and save lives.

Experienced nurses:

1) Why did y'all become nurses?

Primarily because I was looking for a career path with solid earning potential, relative stability, and the possibility of good benefits. I was also looking for the chance to be a non-exempt employee in a job that requires no travel.

My decision was also influenced by how quickly I could get a nursing license and the relative ease of the training by comparison to my other alternative (engineering graduate school).

Over the years, I'd had a number of encounters with nurses as a patient or family and I had a pretty solid image of what the job entailed and figured it would suit me.

2) Is it what you thought it would be, or what you were told it would be?

It is essentially what I had expected though I did face a much more difficult time finding *good* work than I had anticipated when I first made the decision.

I am considering getting out of my current profession and going into nursing or a similar medical field. I have my own reasons, but I'm wondering what some of yours were.

thank you,

-rup

I should point out that *my* experience - finding a good job which I basically like - seems to be a less common experience than what I often read about here on AN.