Why Did You Choose Nursing?

iPink, BSN, RN · Jul 26, 2010

I've always wanted to be in the medical field.

Going for BSN.

Kind of nurse I want to be is a good one, by to specifically answer your question, maybe ICU/PICU/NICU nurse.

I will become an FNP.

FlawlessT · Jul 26, 2010

I chose to become a nurse because I have a true passion for helping others & because my Dad has kidney failure and is on dialysis. And with him always going in and out of the hospitals I wanted to have a better understanding of what was going on. And I believe some people get into nursing for the wrong reasons, it takes a special person to become a nurse. I am going for my ADN w/ hopes of becoming a CRNA! When I graduate I want to work in the ICU! :nurse:

carroyo90 · Jul 26, 2010

I chose to become a nurse because of the fact that I would be giving people the greatest gift of all, their health. I'm just going for an LPN and slowly work my way up while working. Not exactly sure what specific field I would want to work in, since I'm not even in nursing school yet. I'll see what the world brings to me when I get in.

FlawlessT · Jul 26, 2010

What school were you looking into going to for your LPN?

Noel1221 · Jul 26, 2010

For all of us who still have the long journey of pre-reqs and then clinicals before we're officially a nurse.
Why did you choose to go to nursing school and become a nurse?
Are you doing your ASN or BSN?
What kind of nurse do you want to be (pediatrics, etc)?
And do you plan of eventually getting your NP?

I chose to go to Nursing School, because I think it is a challenging and rewarding field. I have always wanted to do nursing, but didn't think that I was smart enough to pass the challenging science and anatomy classes required for the Pre-Reqs. So, I went into a different feild, after 2 years of being out of college and working a great desk job, my heart still was still wondering about Nursing. So I decided to take one pre-req and see if I could do well, and I did! So I took some more pre-reqs, and some more, and now I am done with all the Pre-reqs and ready to apply to school!

I will be applying to an ADN program!! And yes eventually my ultimate goal would be a NP! I can't wait to take the Nursing School Journey, I am ready!

I think that I would enjoy Emergency Department nursing, however I am not sure because I only shadowed a day there. I also think I would like Labor & Delivery!!

delehantya1 · Jul 26, 2010

I too doubted myself about nursing school, and went into a different field. After about a year I started looking into an accelerated BSN program at my school. I took the remaining pre-reqs and applied. It is a very competitive program and I was lucky enough to be accepted. I start in August and I think I would like to work in ICU. I definitely go for NP thereafter.

busybees · Jul 26, 2010

Asked this a year ago, my answer would have been something along the lines of, "because I love the medical field, I am fascinated by the medical field, or because I want to help people."

Last August changed everything. My 4-year-old son suffered a major complication during a neurosurgery and almost died. For two weeks we had no idea whether he would survive. I was told if he survived, he would not know who we are. He would essentially be in a vegetative state. He was hospitalized for 2 months in a hospital 6 hours away from home. I had 3 other children at home so my husband commuted back and forth on the weekends. I was alone with a critically ill child. The nurses became my lifeline, my best friends, my counselors, my family.

More than one occasion a nurse saved my son's life by catching a medication order error, noticing a decline in his neuro status, and when his external shunt clogged and the on call resident took way too long while we watched my son's ICP climb, the nurse took action in her own hands and made sure his neurological status was not any more compromised than what it already was.

It was a nurse who picked me up off the bathroom floor when I broke down, she cleaned me up, hugged on me, and made me realize that while my son was still very critical, he was already beating the odds. I never saw her again.. I wished I could thank her.

These nurses taught me what it means to be a nurse. They provided wonderful patient care and care to our family at the worst time of my life. I hope that I can live up to the examples that they taught me and one day "pay it forward" with another patient and family.

(On a side note, my son is amazing. He came home in a wheel chair in Nov. of last year and within a week was out of it. He still has lots of healing to do, but has already exceeded their expectations of him!)

Noel1221 · Jul 26, 2010

I really enjoyed your post! I am so happy your son is doing well. You and your family are very strong! Thank you for reminding me why I really thought I would love this field more than anything else. You can touch people like no other job in this world. Congrats to you and your amazing son for beating the odds!!! You will make an incredible Nurse I am sure :)

kristilu · Jul 26, 2010

It took me 14 years to figure out that I wanted to be a nurse. My job before was to help people, but in a high stress, no reward, customer service atmosphere. I enjoy people and to be able to help them would be very rewarding. I quit my job of 14 years where I held a management position after losing my dad to Multiple Myeloma. I actually had a bad experience with a nurse taking care of him and decided that the nursing field needed more people like me, who would care about the patient.

I start the lvn program in August of this year and plan on bridging over to RN 9 months after completing that.

I haven't thought much about the NP, but I am loving school and I am already thinking of going from RN-BSN, so who knows!

Despareux · Jul 26, 2010

Imagine almost 10 years of sitting in an isolated cubicle, in front of a computer for 8 hours crunching numbers for a very large corporation that has zero qualms about publishing fudged numbers to the public. Sure the pay was good, but my job was lonely and generated a lot of enemies inside and outside of the corporation. I contributed nothing to my fellow human race. I had this yearning my whole life to show compassion towards others and to help heal them, to bring a little bit of happiness to their lives, but I did not know how. I was exceptional in the sciences when I was in high school, and I've always wanted to be Geneticist or a doctor, but it didn't work out like that.

Now that I am older, I have learned how to be compassionate and to be in touch with my own emotions instead of internalizing them; I feel what others feel or at least make an attempt to feel what they feel (yes, I'm a later bloomer). I grew up in a bad situation and although my childhood left me scarred, I have no regrets. I'm thankful that my parents were who they were because I would not be who I am today. Because of my childhood, I love children and I hate more than anything in the world to see them in pain. Kids deserve to see the world as a beautiful, pain-free place, a trusting place. I want to help give them the tools to take of themselves physcially and mentally; and hopefully be a positive example for all that I care for as a nurse.

Yep, that's why I want to be a nurse. I feel that's my contribution to the human race.

crazytonurse · Jul 26, 2010

I chose to be a nurse because I love helping people, but its more than that. For as long as I can remember I looked up to Nurses and aspired to be like them. Strong, knowledgeable, helpful, and caring are just a few of the words I can describe thinking of them. My fear of bodily fluids kept me from pursuing this long time desire so after I became desensitized thanks to my wonderful kids I was left with no more excuses. So hear I am pursuing this dream to one day join this profession and hopefully be a role model to future generations.. mine included.

I will be going to a BSN program starting this fall, and my goal is maternity, or pediatrics, but I will be just as happy somewhere else.