Why did you take up nursing? What's your story?

Every nurse has their own story to tell about how or why they chose to enter the nursing profession. Some may have been inspired by a personal experience with healthcare, while others may have been drawn to the idea of caring for others. Some may have stumbled upon nursing by chance, while others knew from a young age that it was their calling. Whatever the reason, each nurse has a unique narrative that led them to become a caregiver. These stories are a testament to the diversity and passion within the nursing community and the profound impact that healthcare can have on our lives.

Please be as detailed or as short as you wish. It'll be interesting to hear everyone's stories.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.:lol2:

Actually, I started out to be a pharmacist, and was taking the pre-rec's for that. One day I started thinking of the number of years it would take to finish, so I talked to my chemistry teacher about it - he suggested checking out the nursing program. Nursing? Hmmm, so I did, and here I am.

At this point in my life I've formed kind of a love/hate relationship with nursing, but I'm too old to start over.

Specializes in orthopedics,geriatrics,med/surg.

I got interested after spending many months hospitalised . I just got the bug Ha Ha

I have always been interested in the human body. Before I started school I liked watching medical shows, so I knew I wanted to go into the medical field.

When I was in the 8th grade I started passing out and having seizures. I went to the doctor, but they couldn't find anything wrong with me, and by that summer I was better. Then in high school I was having about 3 seizures at school every day. We looked for a diagnosis again, but couldn't find one.

Then I had a seizure at my cousin's wedding shower and a nurse told me she thought I had dysautonomia. After going to a specialtist in Toledo, OH (one of two or three inthe country) I was diagnosed with dysautonomia.

We learned that I showed symptosm ever since the 2nd grade, but never looked for a diagnosis until the syncope imapcted my life.

Ever since then I knew I wanted to be a nurse. I thought about being a doctor, but there is no way I would be able to handle the schooling while living with dysautonomia, so nursing is the perfect job for me!

Specializes in NICU.

When I was born, the doctors knew I had something wrong wtih me but didn't know what it was. It turned out to be a rare vascular/circulatory kind of disorder. Because of it, I had a to have a kidney transplant when I was 4 and another when I was 17. I spent a lot of time as a child in the hospital and as cat123 said "I just got the bug." I love everything about medicine. The body, the technology, just everything. Most of all, I knew that I wanted to be a nurse to help out the kiddos like me that spend lots of time in the hospital and then go home with a chronic condition. A nurse can make a world of difference for a little one in a scary place. Oh, I'm still a student. One more year to go!

Specializes in M.S.N.(ACNP/FNP), ICU/Flight, Paramedic.

Girls, Money, fame, and free IV's lol.

Guess I was wrong.

Actually; becoming a nurse has all been part of a strategic plan I organized

when I was 14 in regards to how I will eventually obtain M.D. I played

the stepping stone game from CNA to EMT to Paramedic to RN ASN to RN

BSN to RN MSN; using each new position to pay for my schooling for the next;

whilst taking care to choose out electives that fall under Pre-Med curriculum.

I just didn't go premed because I wanted to get on the floor, period. I didn't

want to wait 3 or 4 years.

When I graduated from high school, my parents and I found that the nursing school where I received nursing education and training later was tuition free, we chose it without any hesitation because of the financial condition of my family. After graduation, I became a nurse, it turned out that I love the job very much years later, because helping people in agony is rewarding spiritually, and I also know how to keep my family and myself fit, and how to bring up my kid. My story may sound odd, but it did happen to me.

I first started my nurse training when I was 17 but my life took a different path and I didn't complete my training. Since then I have raised my children, cared for my father, I'm helping to raise my grandchildren, and am caring for my ageing mother. In between this I have notched up 18 years experience as an Assistant in Nursing in aged and Community Care, completed my Enrolled Nurses course and now at the age of 50 I am studying to become a Registered Nurse. I love nursing and feel privileged to be able to earn a living doing something I love. The only drawback is that all these years of shiftwork have left me with poor sleeping habits.

Specializes in none.

I'll be honest I have no idea why I became a nurse I never really had a desire to do it, but I was going nowhere real fast my father in law suggested it so I said Sure!

Now, I am in love with nursing and I thank my lucky stars that this world is crazy and unpredictable!

I never knew what I wanted to do with my life. Got sucked into retail management at an early age. My parents never had the $$ to send me to college. I did it myself. My inspiration....a nurse that held my hand when I had my first baby. I knew from that moment...I would be a nurse. Many years later, I accompished that goal. I am not a person to change jobs. I am happy on the unit I work on...but not what I saw myself doing.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Nurse Educator..

Before I enrolled for a nursing course and become a nurse, I really love to be a broadcaster..

;).why?.unfortunately the school I applied for didn't have the said program,grrr!!!but I really love the school that's why I wrote the course and enrolled for the nursing program..voila!! I passed and become a nurse and presently taking my masters degree,,huh??..How ironic but I ended up cleaning my scrub suits and sneakers..yaiks!! til now I am still finding the right time to study at least a unit for broadcasting:uhoh3::uhoh3:.. but I think I need to focus in my profession..nursing..!!love it and Im so proud of it!!!

ive read a few of the stories and many are quite interesting. Well, for me, nursing wasnt really my first choice- i actually wanted to be a lawyer, however, in the process of taking my prerequisites, i realized that that wasnt for me after all. It was too dry for me. On christmas day 2003, i woke up and i decided to become a nurse. Ive always been a compassionate person and i figured that this is the best profession i can be in. It never dawned on me the financial benefits of being a nurse as of yet. I wasnt wrong. Becoming a nurse is indeed the most fulfilling, rewarding decision ive ever made in my life. It wasnt easy and many can attest to it, but the the hard work and endless studying til dawn,making careplans, waking up so early in the morning for clinicals were all worth it. At the end of the day, i can say to myself, i made a another difference in someone's life- a smile, a gratitude. That is the most wonderful feeling to have. i love nursing with a passion.

WARNING: THIS IS LONG ;)

It's funny how things come back to you when they really didn't mean much at the time. In my first run at college - I graduated from Clemson University in 2000 with a degree in Sociology - a girl I worked with told me she thought I'd make a good nurse because of my compassion and personality... I told her blood and guts grossed me out and I wanted to save the world and nursing wasn't enough. Ha! I spent a couple of years in law enforcement and that wasn't enough. I then came in the Air Force and it's been great for us. My husband is a teacher and completely content to follow me around to wherever assignments take us.

Our daughter was born May 9, 2005. My husband quit teaching to be a stay at home dad. We were stationed across the country from our families so last December had a trip scheduled to come home for an early Christmas to let Rachael meet the family she hadn't yet met. At her 4 month visit, the doctor noted she was weaker than she should be and a neurologist had started running tests - all came back negative at that point. Our fateful flight on December 3 landed us in the NY Hospital of Queens. The layover was in La Guardia airport and while the plane was circling, Rachael stopped breathing. By God's grace, there was a doctor on board the plane, sitting right behind us who administered oxygen and brought her back around while we taxi-ed to the gate. (Turns out, she had aspirated on the plane when I had given her a bottle for the descent.) It only took us about 30 seconds from touchdown until we pulled into the gate. We were rushed to a hospital in Queens, and a 1.5 hr connection turned into 9 days before the Air Force medivac-ed us back to Utah. While we were in NYC, Rachael was preliminarily diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1 (SMA 1). SMA is a type of Muscular Dystrophy and the only type that affects infants. SMA is also the leading genetic killer of infants. Most babies affected with SMA 1 will not live to see their 2nd birthday.

After the Air Force arranged for our air ambulance back to Utah, we spent the next 11 days in Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, where our worst fears were confirmed that Rachael had SMA 1. The night we arrived back in SLC was the worst we've had. Rachael did not handle the trip very well and was very weak and began throwing up blood. She was very lifeless and we thought she was gone. We said our goodbyes to her and the doctors did not seem to hold much hope. They asked us to make some difficult decisions that no parent should ever have to face. Basically, we were asked how much we wanted the doctors to do to keep her alive. We called our priest to come and say the prayers over her and after only a short while praying over her when Rachael began to stabilize and perk up.

We finally got to take our little angel home Dec 21 and we had a wonderful Christmas with her. We tried to make it as special as we could since it was likely her only Christmas. We basically had a hospital room in our bedroom with BiPap, suctioning (oral and nasal), oxygen, Cough Assist, oximeter, feeding tube, among other things, to take care of Rachael. On New Year's Eve, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. The antibiotics helped a little, sometimes, but other times she sounded horrible. On Jan 4, she stopped breathing. We still had not put any DNR wishes on paper yet as we were still discussing our plans. She was taken to the ER and was given ephedrine? because her heart had stopped. We were in such shock and had no idea what was going on. She came around but we then realized her heart had stopped for 20 minutes. She was transported back to Primary Children's in SLC where we learned the extent of the brain damage. We hoped for the best but had our in-laws fly out to see her one last time. Early the morning of Jan 6th, I held her in my arms and she joined the angels in her day of glory.

Why do I say all of this? Through all of our "adventures" with Rachael, I realized that I am a stronger person than I once realized. Medical equipment didn't scare me; I enjoyed doing what I could just to make her comfortable. And more than anything, several nurses along the way made such an impact on me, they will never understand what their presence meant. I don't know how I could even get in contact with them, and to be honest, I don't remember some of their names... but I remember the faces, and the kind words, and the many times we were told "Usually we don't do this, but we'll make the exception for you" (like when we were in NY with not a family member around, we didn't know the city, and they allowed us both to sleep in the room with her). The nurses took care of Rachael AND us. They brought us extra food so we weren't eating out for 2, 3x a day. They talked with us at 4 AM when we were crying hysterically, just to give us a shoulder. And when we decided to have the ventilator pulled, I'll never remember the nurse saying, "you're making the hardest decision anyone ever has to make, but since you have stated you're sure, i'll tell you that in my heart you're doing the right thing" and she cried with us. I know nurses aren't supposed to push anything, and no one ever did, but that comment has meant more to me than she'll ever know, when I have those moments of doubt whether we did the right thing.

So, now... I want to do for others what they did for us. I want to take care of babies and their families. I want to be that shoulder, and I want to help patients be more comfortable. I'm more interested now than ever about medicine, and the body, and how it works and how to improve it. I am now in my pre-reqs to apply to MUSC's Accelerated BSN program and will separate from the AF once I'm accepted.

Sorry for the length... but you asked. P.S. If any of you work in the pediatric area at NY Hospital of Queens, or in the pediatric or PICU at Children's Primary in SLC, and you recognize my story, please let me know.

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