Why did you choose nursing?

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People choose nursing for a variety of reasons:

  1. A parent, aunt, or grandmother was/is a nurse.
  2. A life-changing event.
  3. You care about people.
  4. You wanted to make a difference.
  5. You want to care for your loved ones.
  6. For the money...
  7. A documentary, book, movie, etc drew you into the world of nursing.

What is your reason for getting into nursing?

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Specializes in Hospice Nursing.

I was the kid who read the anatomy section of the encyclopedia (in fact I think I got in trouble for showing it a little kid in my neighborhood!). I have always been fascinated by medicine and the human body. Nursing was a perfect fit, and 28 years later, I still love it! That being said, I fell out of love when I worked in the hospital setting, but finding hospice nursing got me back on track.

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Nobody in my family is in Nursing... Everybody is a teacher or in business. I never was in the hospital growing up... I guess I don't have a special story. Around 4th grade I wrote a paper on becoming a nurse.... But I never "knew" what I wanted to be when I grew up. Randomly one day in high school, I decided I wanted to become a CNA. I did that, volunteered at a hospital, job shadowed my boyfriend's mom... I have yet to start Nursing school, in fact, I just graduated high school. But I think this is where I belong... I hope that I'm smart enough to do it. None of my family understands... They're supportive. But they just have no advice to offer.... That's why I love AllNurses :)

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Specializes in Maternal Child, Home Health, Med/Surg.

I chose nursing after I was forced to be the home health aide for my 4 month old son who was undergoing chemotherapy. I had to clean his eye socket, give him injections, dressing changes, cap changes, saline flushes, heparin flushes, and sometimes other things. All of that made me realize that maybe this was something I was good at.

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I thought about nursing back in 97 when my brother (who was 15 yrs old) was diagnosed with leukemia. I

was in college at the time working toward a degree in sociology. I thought the nurses were AWESOME!!! He was at a children's hospital for quite a while. Long story short, I graduated with that sociology degree and worked in human services. I always felt unfulfilled and not working up to my full potential. So now, 17 years later I finally mustered up the energy and guts to start nursing school. It's my second semester. Even though I'm stressed and have no life, I'm happy with my decision!

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

Though mom was an RN, I never thought of becoming a nurse. Don't know what I thought of becoming; possibly I didn't think about it at all. Well, I went to a community college and flunked out because I stopped attending classes. I was miserable and lonesome, and I just wanted to go home (MANY miles away, across the state). I was 20.

My mother came to pick me and had the local paper from my home town with her, the classified section with job ads circled by her. She said I could come home, but I HAD TO get a job. She had circled a wide variety of job-ops from which to choose. In fact,we bypassed home and went straight to several places to fill out applications!

One of those places was a nursing home in the next town over, for an NA (no certification at that time) on a 3-11 shift. That's the one I ended up taking.

I had always liked 'old people' when I was a little kid, so I enjoyed being around them in my job. I had a good time at work, which kind of surprised me, since two previous jobs in insurance companies, filing and typing, were STULTIFYING!

Anyway, one of the nurses I worked with was a really pleasant, good-natured, kind woman who was humorous and loving with her patients. I was ALWAYS asking her to explain things to me, and one night after numerous "Why's?" she looked at me and with exaggerated annoyance, slapping her pen down, straightening her papers, with a dramatic sigh, and rolling her eyes, she said "N_____, WHY don't you just GO TO NURSING SCHOOL and leave me alone so I can get some work done?!!!"

That planted the seed. I eventually thought, "Why not?" and began asking every nurse I knew which nursing school was the best one to apply to. Oddly, no one ever named THEIR school. But many of them said, "Those girls from_______ _______Hospital really know what they're doing!" I decided if I was going to do it, I wanted to KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING!

It was the only school I ever applied to; I was accepted, supposedly with one of the highest pre-entrance exam scores. I ended up graduating 2nd in my class, another thing that surprised me, because I never got good grades and didn't think I was particularly bright.

Your "classic under-achiever' found something that interested and fascinated her. Voila!

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Specializes in Medical-Surgial, Cardiac, Pediatrics.

My mother was a nurse, and my godmother and great-grandmother before her, and growing up as the child of not only a nurse but the granddaughter of the chaplain at the local hospital, I was VERY convinced that I WASN'T going to be a nurse. Nope, nada, that was what my mom had done, and hadn't I had enough of hospitals and sickness to last me a lifetime already? I saw "Mr. Holland's Opus", and I was gonna be a music teacher.

Fast forward two years into that major, and whoops, music was more of a hobby than a career. Also add in some teaching martial arts, and I realized that I loved teaching, and I loved helping people, but no, owning my own studio or teaching music was just not going to fit me and give me much motivation for the future.

So I decided to get my CNA license, because why not? I knew about nursing in general, and I had been taking care of people for years already.. I also could use some predictable hours at slightly better pay than minimum wage, so I did it. Worked in a nursing home for about a year, and had a wonderful patient for about a week on rehab who talked my ears off at 2am, telling me that pursuing education was a wonderful goal, and he'd love to see me as a nurse someday. I hadn't considered it before then, but that ONE patient set me down a path towards being a nurse more than anyone else every did, simply by reminding me that I could do amazing things for people, and that he would love to see that happen.

My daughter came along as a surprise less than a year later, so I had a delay, but by then, I knew I wanted to go into nursing. I finished what I needed to finish, applied to the program and was accepted just before she was a year old. Never thought I'd look forward to being back in a hospital, considering I pretty much grew up in the downstairs daycare or in the nourishment rooms, waiting for my mom to finish charting, but here I am, and loving every minute.

Weird how things work out.

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I chose nursing because I felt like it was a true calling , it matched with my personality completely and also just the fact that you are able to help people physically,spiritually, mentally, and emotionally is so amazing. I remember at first before I knew about nursing I thought of being a psychologist because of the fact you are helping people, however when I have gotten more in dept with that profession I realized that I prefer a career where more action is involved where I can actually see a change within that person whom I am helping . I can go on and on about why I chosen nursing . I have no family who is a nurse I am basically the only one who is doing it within the family and I just feel so attached to this career.

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Up until my high school years, I was positive the only job that could bring me satisfaction was being an elementary teacher. That all changed when my dad, mom and twin brothers were in an automobile accident in 2006. The crash claimed my dad's life and left my mom in the ICU at our local hospital and my 13 year old brothers in comas at a hospital 1.5 hrs away. Needless to say, my 15 year old self was never the same again. The only comfort I had from the soul-crushing grief, was the wonderful nurses who so tenderly took care of my mom and brothers and advocated for their needs. I saw them as angels in a time of so much darkness...

As time went by, as it always does, I realized I no longer wished to be a teacher and that what I wanted more than anything was to be a nurse. I felt that even if I could only give one person a little comfort, in their times of illness, grief and sorrow, then I would be fulfilling my life's purpose.

So here I am, 7 years later..with LPN behind my name and hoping to change that one day to BSN. (currently enrolled in an RN program)

And to those nurses & cnas:

Thank you for your unwavering compassion and kindness to a 15 year old girl and her broken family.

Sorry to all for being a Debbie Downer...I just felt really compelled to share. :unsure:

Its things like this that motivates me to be a nurse . this comment is truly inspiring and I hope to share this comment to my nursing friends as well as my professors just to show an reminder for nurses on why we do our jobs and why its important to always stay motivated and caring. So beautiful

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I decided to purse nursing because I delt with many medical issues as a teen [epilepsy, temporal lobectomy, bacterial meningitis, brain abscess, skull osteomyelitis, and anticonvulsant hypersensitivity syndrome] I had amazing nurses and I had some pretty grumpy nurses. I decided I wanted to become a nurse and help make a difference in people's lives. I was a scared teen and the compassionate nurses who were willing to smile or stay just one extra munute to ease my fears really made a difference. I want to be like those nurses.

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I want to be a nurse because I have always wanted to do something in healthcare. When I was 8 my mom had a couple of surgeries and I enjoyed nursing her back to health when she got out the hospital. I would go to our local CVS and pick up her medicine and anything else she needed. It felt great to help her in her time of need since we were all each other had and every since than I wanted to help and care for other people.

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I work in a non medical facility where we have constant patient interaction. I enjoy that thoroughly. The population we serve are ailing and I've always wanted to do more for them. I've considered a career in the medical field before, but was also convinced I was meant to be a Psychologist. I want a more varied day with more opportunities to help.

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I was taken to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. It turned out that I had appendicitis and needed surgery for it to be removed. I just remember my ER nurse being my angel.. she was incredibly kind, compassionate, and caring and treated me in the most loving manner. I was in the worst pain I had ever felt, and she graciously helped me in my time of need. I just knew I wanted to emulate her. After I recovered from surgery I went back to school and changed my major to nursing, and never looked back. I had been a drifter for a while before that, not really knowing what I wanted to do and getting lax grades, but since that day I really became motivated, started getting A's in my classes and got myself accepted into a nursing program. I am so glad that I did, because I am loving every minute of it! I absolutely love the nursing profession and everything it stands for. I want to help people the same way my nurse helped me, with genuine, compassionate care.

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