Why are you choosing to become a nurse?

[OgopogoLPN, LPN, RN]

I'm 30, married with a 6 year old and 3 year old. I've wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl. However, I did not take the right courses in high school and just aimed to graduate and have fun.

When I graduated, my mom said, either get a job or go to school, you're not living here doing nothing!! So, I immediately enrolled in an overpriced and horrible private college and took medical office administration. I got a job in a doctors office after the course. I was 19. I moved out of home and could then not afford to go back to school.

Our son was born was I was 24 and we moved cities. Being an MOA served it's purpose in terms of employment and income, but I've been itching to make a change for the past number of years.

I worked for a dermatologist and was her assistant. I would set up for skin biopsies, hand her the instruments, blot the blood, cut the suture lines, bandage the wound. I also got to remove simple sutures, which was my favourite!!!

I left that job for many reasons. I loved the actual work, just not the environment and the doctor herself. My husband and I are finally at a stage financially and with the kids that we can afford for me to quit work and go back to school!!

I'm finally following my lifelong dream to become a nurse!! I decided on LPN because 1. the tuition is way less 2. I dont' want to got to school for 4 years for RN, LPN is 12 months and that is enough for me. 3. The pre reqs for RN would kill me and I'm almost positive I wouldn't pass the math pre req.

I'm very happy with my decision to do LPN and after a number of years, I may decide to pursue RN, but I won't know that for a long time.

My biology pre req final exam in in Feb 17 and I should know by the end of March, early April if I get into the Sep 2007 LPN intake! I will be at the mail box with baited breath every day during those weeks until I see the envelope in the mail!

I'm so excited to move onto this chapter of my life and can't wait to start nursing school :)

[mvanz9999, RN]

You didn't really answer your own question: why you want to become a nurse.

I'll take first stab at it. Currently I'm in IT and bored out of my mind. I wake up and basically do nothing all day. It's demoralizing and incredibly boring. The people in the field are ALSO incredibly boring. Many of them lack any social skills whatsoever, and I cannot continue in the field.

My father is a doctor and my mother is a nurse. I've been around health care since I was very little. After graduating with my performing arts degree, I realized I don't really have the insanity and instability it takes to make it in show business (thus the IT jobs). I went back to school to take pre-reqs for med school, because I always had that interest in medicine. I applied two years in a row and didn't get in. I didn't necessarily recognize it at the time, but I didn't care that much that I didn't get in. It has taken me many years to realize why.

I started looking at allied health fields and trying to figure out where I fit in medicine. Doctor wasn't it. I think the reason is personal experience. It just seems to me that a LOT of physicians are impersonal and don't care much about anything but the actual disease or lack thereof. That kind of always turned me off, combined with the constant obsession of grades, never ending competition, and stuff that I really don't care that much about. In my opinion, medicine is very good at treating diseases, but not so good at preventing them.

After looking around I decided on nursing. The reasons for this are many. Nursing would allow me to interact with patients in a more holistic way, it would allow me to teach, and to know that I'm making a difference in their lives (no matter how small). Over the years, I've volunteered a lot in hospitals and other settings, and what I enjoyed most about that was the interaction with the patients.

If you look at the jobs I've held, every single one of them has been in customer service. I'm very good at dealing with people and I think that skill will serve me well.

[OgopogoLPN, LPN, RN]

You didn't really answer your own question: why you want to become a nurse.

You are right. I just reread my answer.

I have always been fascinated by the human body and mind. I've always loved caring for others. I love watching real operations on TV or anything like that and find it amazing. Choosing to take medical office admin right otu of high school was the closest thing I could take at the time that would get me in the medical field, since I wasn't able to take nursing all those years ago. I knew if I was going to do secretarial work, it was going to be in the medical field and not in a lawyers office or regular office.

I really loved the assisting job I had and that was the deciding factor that I could be a nurse. I saw blood, pus, open wounds, and none of it bothered me a bit. I loved removing sutures. Such a simple thing, yet it was by far the best duty I had.

When my kids were born, I would watch the nurses work and be so envious of their skill. The nurse who did my daughter's after care when she was born was an LPN and it made me realize, I could do cool things as an LPN as well.

I just think being able to care for patients (instead of answering the phone to book them appointments ) and do clinical stuff will be so rewarding.

I want a rewarding career, not just a job. Skills that are high in demand.

[opradiva]

Interesting thread! I'll take a stab, too.

Science has always been a passion of mine, since I was little. I was the kid with the magnifying glass and the microscope. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor. Well, I entered college as a biology major, and left college as a music major. Yeah, totally opposite ends of the spectrum. I got a little off track. In my case, music is also a huge passion of mine, and I have devoted so much time into it. As a college student, I was always praised for my singing ( hence the name opradiva), and I love opera still, but just because you're good at something doesn't mean you were meant to do it. Well, I tried the music circuit for a few years, and got tired of the audition thing. In the meantime I became a group fitness professional and a personal trainer. I love fitness, too, but it's impossible to do full time. About a month ago, I was thinking about what I could do that would provide me a comfortable living, and allow me to learn, grow, serve others. I did a search on the net and nursing came up. I read into it and instantly fell in love with the idea. I feel like I am coming full circle, very slowly, from biology major in school, to trainer and fitness instructor, to nursing. I'm choosing nursing because I love the idea of being in a career that gives me room to move a bit. If I don't like one area, I can go to the other. I don't think I will get bored. As the previous poster said, I have also always been a service oriented person. I like nursing because I will be able to serve people. I think that is one of my gifts. I choose nursing because it is a challenge, and will continue to be. I had to get the ball rolling quickly with transcripts and all, but I managed to get myself started on prereqs this quarter. Classes began today. I'm already exhausted, but I told my mom today that I look forward to my classes, and I find myself smiling as I walk across campus. I feel so renewed. I feel like this career will give me something I've always wanted: purpose! I look forward to the hard work that lies ahead.

[bethin]

I've always been fascinated with the body. In hs biology, I cracked the pigs head so I could see it's brain. I'm fascinated, intrigued about how the body is put together and works! How does the eye see, how many functions must happen for me to be able to type this? Why does the brain feel no pain??

I'm a CNA and I love going to work not knowing what today will bring. It could be full of critical pts or full of pts with the flu. Or a mix. I love the adrenaline rushes when someone yells for me to come stat. Never knowing when someone will code.

Last weekend, had a new admit. Said he was very tired and wanted to sleep so family answered questions. The nurse got him up to the br and when he walked out, his chest was purple and mottled. HR went down to 30, bp down too. Got him back in bed and he does not look good. Dr comes in, sees this and his purple chest and yells for stat bloodwork, stat xray, this guy probably has a PE. He did. We air lifted him out. Stuff like that keeps me in nursing.

I never imagined myself stuck behind a desk all day. I'm not a 9-5 person. I NEED excitement in my life or I get down. That's the way I am.

And after nursing school - law school. Some desk work but I want to be in the courtroom fighting.

[Iwannabeababynurse]

i'm choosing to become a nurse because of getting to see my nephew come into this world. i thought that it was the most beautiful thing to see happen. therefore i would like to be able to experience that again.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

For years I have been fascinated with human health sciences. Add to that my top priority and value, which is compassion, and I think Nursing is a natural choice.

[bearsden]

I just retired from the US Air Force (17 months ago). While active, I was a space geek (worked with DOD satellites). I am now a Space Systems Engineer for a major company, doing the same thing I did while active. I have always wanted to go into one of two fields, Space and Medicine. After doing space for the better part of 16 years (almost 18 with my civilian time), I am sick of it. I knew a change was in order and I knew that if I chose anything other than medicine, I wouldn't be happy.

So here I am, 40 years old and a nursing student.

[squirtle]

well, it sounds so silly... but what originally made me want to be a nurse was the interaction with one who was giving me a shot as a child. she made me laugh about it!

that idea was reiterated when i was older. i had my tonsils out (at 22) and was deathly afraid of the iv and the procedure. my nurse was amazing. she did so much to put me at ease and in turn some of my fears vanished. she was patient with me even though it took 10 minutes for me to relax enough to allow her to insert the iv. that situation provided so much inspiration for me in choosing my career path. i love the thought of making a difference in someones life at a time when they are feeling fear and anxiety otherwise. if i leave work at the end of the day having brought just one smile to a patients face i feel that it will make everything worth it.

in addition, i love feeling needed and i am sure i will feel more than needed as a nurse. i like the thought of being on my feet, (strange, i know) facing challenges, and knowing that each day will be different.

the hours, pay, and doors that are opened as far as career opportunities sound great to me as well.

i also wanted to mention not to let the fear of the pre-req's or math keep you from becomming an rn in the future, if that is what you want to do. i am terrible at math and can't tell you how many times i ended up in tears doing algebra homework. i took that dumb class 3 times, and i finally ended up with a great teacher and i passed with an a. chemistry was a little harder for me than others because of the math, but i made it.

(just so you guys aren't worried, the math for nurses book has become my bible so i will be prepared for nursing school )