Why nursing?

Updated:   Published

Hi, I am a student waiting to get into a nursing program. I thought nursing was a good job to have because of the high demand, pay, and hours. What I have been reading on other posts is making me believe otherwise. Now, I am questioning if nursing is the right career choice for me. My question to nurses is why they like or dislike their job?

Thanks everyone!!!

\ said:
I agree with you some personal aspects of my life have pushed me towards nursing. My mom died about a year ago and she died alone, in the ICU. At the time I had a new baby and had temporary custody of my younger sister (I have since been granted full guardianship dde0a) and I was her power of attorney. There was just no way I could sit at the hospital with her all day, something I have always regretted. Before she was moved to the ICU, I was called by the nurse asking for permission to resuscitate if needed, which I gave. A few hours later I received the call that my mother suffered respiratory failure and had died. Alone. I didn't know it at first but that ignited something in me and steered me towards this field. If I can give comfort to at least one scared patient, be their "family" when theirs is unable to be there, then maybe my mom can know how badly I wanted to be there for her and maybe I can pay that love and compassion forward to my patients, even if it is for just a few minutes at a time.

Like you my mom passed it will be a year on jan 31. I feel I want to pay forward. I feel like I owe it to help others as I myself was not there and how I wish I could of done more for her. I am a people person and love helping. That is why I chose to be an RN because I know it will be rewarding in that way.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, Education.
hunnybunches said:
. . .My mom died about a year ago and she died alone, in the ICU..

She wasn't alone - her nurse was with her. It's what we do.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

I need advice. I'm 53 & having to leave the dental hygiene field of 20 yrs. I loved my job but was recently fired. Finding another job is impossible due to the overload of hygienists. I'm seriously thinking of applying for RN for these reasons: I have all the pre-reqs, I enjoy helping people, & the wages are nearly the same. I know I can handle the workload of school esp since I won't be working. My main concerns are how to get that first job as a RN grad without experience, and are the working conditions in a hospital as stressful as I've been reading? Any insight from seasoned RNs will be helpful. Thanks.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
FLfemale said:
I need advice. I'm 53 & having to leave the dental hygiene field of 20 yrs. I loved my job but was recently fired. Finding another job is impossible due to the overload of hygienists. I'm seriously thinking of applying for RN for these reasons: I have all the pre-reqs, I enjoy helping people, & the wages are nearly the same. I know I can handle the workload of school esp since I won't be working. My main concerns are how to get that first job as a RN grad without experience, and are the working conditions in a hospital as stressful as I've been reading? Any insight from seasoned RNs will be helpful. Thanks.

I would post this as a separate question and not as a response to someone else's thread.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

There are a whole host of reasons why I'm doing this. I think people are fascinating and I love being around them. I love pure science. I have always been the kind who nurtures (others before myself) and the work I've been in doesn't make me feel like I'm paying it forward in any way whatsoever. I pay it forward by doing volunteer work but I want the rest of my life's work to mean something. I wasn't put here to push around papers.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Quote

She wasn't alone - her nurse was with her. It's what we do.

I really hope so Tx. It kills me to think that she was all alone, without us, without anyone. I hope she had a loving, caring nurse who could give her some comfort. Just the thought gives me some comfort. ?

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

When I first chose nursing I was trying to figure out what to do after high school. Nursing sounded interesting, and I liked that I wouldn't be rolling around in an office chair all day. I thought about going to school to be a doctor but I wanted to get into the healthcare field faster, and nursing provides more options (you aren't stuck in a specialty, you can take time off for a few years and then go back to work). (I'm in school for my BSN.) Also, wearing scrubs and sneakers is my kind of dress code. It wasn't until I started talking to people who are nurses or who know nurses that I realized how important the role is. The more I observe and read about nurses, the more I know that nursing is for me. A few days ago a family member said that I'm so smart I should be a doctor. I had to keep myself from going on a tangent about how smart and amazing nurses are, and how I didn't choose nursing because it is "easy," because it isn't, but because I want to be a nurse. Over the past couple of years I have frequented doctors' offices and hospitals for my own health issues as well as those of my family members, and I always pay attention to the nurses. It's comforting to know, to really know, that someday I will be a nurse.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you so much Megs! I hope it is, I believe that it will indeed be a great motivator and hopefully will enable me a long and rewarding career in nursing. ?

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

I actually had decided when I was 12 years old that I not only wanted to be a nurse, but wanted to work in OB in a high risk unit. My aunt had given birth to a still born and the process of why it happened and what she went through, just really made me feel like it was something I needed to be a part of, to help. I've always been a compassionate soul, as far back as I can remember.

Then I got pregnant when I was 17 and had to put my dreams on hold. Got married and became a stay at home mom to 2 kids. I honestly put it in the back of mind and didn't give it too much thought. Just become the mom. Then on Oct. 6th 2003 I had to watch my 5 day old nephew, who was born with a genetic mutation of hemophila type A, pass away. I was pregnant with my 3rd child at the time and was overwhelmed with emotion and astonished at the care our family received from the medical staff. 6 months later my best friend (who is like a sister to me and finally we were pregnant at the same time with both our 3rd) delivered her son 5 weeks premature and at 6 weeks, he developed meningitis and passed. My son was born by then and all the while I was being so thankful for having my healthy baby, I had felt so guilty. Then just one month after her son passed (April 2, 2004) my 2 month old son became very ill and almost died from a malrotation of his bowels with 2 blockages and a pyloric stenosis that went undiagnosed for weeks even though I was in the doctors office or on the phone with them every day. I had such a horrible experience with everything he went through from the doctor and nurses in his office talking down to me as if I was making things up, to the doctor asking me what a malrotation was (no I'm not kidding on that!) and during one of his hospital stays from all the complications, they were giving him phentenol and he had an allergic reaction, his heart rate and breathing kept slowing then would pop back up and each time it would not go up as high as it was before and would go lower than it did the time before. I kept telling the nurse and even though he was out cold and never moved, she repeatedly told me it was because he was "wiggling his toe" which his monitor was on. Finally when his h/r and breathing crashed and all the monitor alarms went off she took her stethoscope out and listened herself. Next thing I knew they had people everywhere working on him and rushing him over to the PICU. That nurse never apologized for ignoring my concerns and that REALLY bothered me! After that moment I knew I would do what I had always wanted to do. I wanted to be able to help other parents through good times and bad. 2 kids later and all 5 of them finally in school, here I am!

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics.

Great question! I have to say that I am not one of those people who wanted to be a nurse all of my life. Throughout the intial part of life and pretty much until the age of 16, I wanted to be a doctor, more directly, an anesthesiologist, and then a psychiatrist. I knew that I had to be in a profession that helped people improve their standard of living in some, way, shape or form. However, I figured that my absolutely horrible math skills would be an insurmountable obstacle to the field of medicine. (A ridiculously lame excuse, I know.) So I decided to become the next best thing that would play to my strengths,...no not a nurse....a lawyer!

I wanted to be a corporate lawyer, (yes, because of the money, but also because I am simply fascinated by the law and its intricacies.), and I groomed my entire undergraduate career towards that goal. However, about 9 months ago I had the weirdest epiphany. As the days went on, I grew more and more weary of the typical corporate culture. (Cubicles, 5 day work weeks, talking to no one at work but your co-workers day in and day out, staring at 3 computer screens full of numbers for 8hrs a day, not doing work that directly enriches the "avergage Joe's" life.) I currently work in Finance, and when I say it is possible the most boring work on the face of the earth, I am not exaggerating.

I decided in the midst of studying to take the LSATs for a second time, that while I loved the law, I really had no desire to do it for the next 50 years. Also, at my age (24), the time required to become a doctor at this point would almost certainly have me missing out on beginning a family and enjoying my youth abundantly, so I didn't return to that idea either. Also, I like that nurses have more patient contact. To put it succinctly, I just knew that I needed to go into healthcare. I needed a field where I could have relatively stable job security(make no mistake about it, there are lots more vacancies for nurses than lawyers), a job where I could physically add to the wellbeing of humanity, where I got to interact with and meet "real" people, and which more often than not, pays rather well. So, I happened upon Nursing.

But what really drove the nail through the board for me was that my aunt had a seizure about 6 months ago as a result of previous surgery on a brain tumor, and I couldn't help but notice how slowly everything seemed to be moving in the ER. The hospital where she was admitted is very family-friendly and allows unlimited visiting hours and lots of family presence. Because of this, my entire family was there. We were at the hospital for a total of 7 hours, all for her to be discharged and sent home at 4:30am. I was of course grateful that she was stabilized and know that we had to wait until the IV emptied etc, etc., but ever since that night I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to be a nurse. I want to add to the efficiency of hospitals and am really interested in the operation of patient care delivery systems and feel a need to focus on improving them. To this end, I am interested in clinical nurse management and administration, but I have ultimate goals of becoming a CRNA(b/c the same aunt had a tonsillectomy about 15yrs ago that resulted in cardiac arrest because of an allergy to the anesthesia).

All I can say, is that this just "feels' right. Everyone initially thought I was crazy to completely change my career path, but I have never been so serious about something in my life. I have already sacrificed so much, (mainly a steady income) in order to make this dream come true and will continue to do so throughout the next few years. I can't wait to become a nurse!!

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×

It took a year of me attempting another major to figure out nursing is what I want to do. I had thought about it many times before but didn't have faith in myself to do it. I am so happy I switched to nursing because the hurdles are so worth it.

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CMSRN, hospice.

I majored in English and Psychology for my first go-round in college, and although I liked the writing, research, and social aspects of each field, direct human contact and the feeling that I was actually helping people were missing. I had previously thought I wasn't smart enough to do anything medical, but I just got so doggone bored by the time I got my B.A. that I had to give something else a try. I chose nursing specifically because my mom and grandmother were both nurses, and their example has definitely encouraged me to offer my own knowledge and compassion to patients in the same way that they have. So, I finished my science pre-reqs and got a job as a CNA, and I definitely feel a lot better about myself and my contribution to my family, my community, and the world since choosing this path. It is not going to be easy, but I didn't sign up for easy.

And may I just add that I am sooooooo impatient about getting my letter! I should hear back by March 1, but I want to know NOW! Haha, but assuming I get in, it will be a short two months before I start the program in summer semester, so probably I should enjoy this lazy time of not knowing, yes?

1
Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion