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.

Specializes in Intensive Care - MICU/SICU/CVICU/CCU.

long story short, i did it to escape an abusive home situation as quickly as possible. i knew i would be in a field where i could immediately find a job and support myself. the upside is that i was able to get away from my family and survive; the downside is that i loathe my current job situation and feel somewhat trapped.

Specializes in er and bone marrow transplant.

I'm currently a C.N.A. I'm going to school to be an R.N. Something I've always wanted to be. I took my son to the E.R. when he was around 1 or 2 yrs. of age and I said I wanted to be the girl that's taking vital signs (which was the C.N.A.). Then I told myself I would go to school later for an R.N. Thats just what I did. I'm a proud mom of four beautiful children, working part-time as a c.n.a and going to school. I'm very excited about my dreams and so willing to fulfill my goals. I'm very proud of myself. In high school I was some terrible, do you hear me. I didn't have a choice but to hang around the wrong crowd because I was the wrong crowd, however I overcame the badness and am pursuing my career. Let me ask you this, why do it seem that most nurses were bad in Middle and High School? Maybe all nurses are crooked ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!

Specializes in er and bone marrow transplant.

you know, things happen for a reason and you're a strong younglady to even get through something so hard. keep your head up and keep praying. sometimes family can be your worse enemy.:( Sad but true.

Two words "excellent pay"

Specializes in Breast Cancer, Arterial, General Surgery.

I became a Navy Nurse (Royal Navy - I live in the UK) when I was 19.

My mother tells me (:( told me) that I had wanted to be a nurse from about the age of 8.

I still love nursing, but I really hate the politics that is prevalent now.

Specializes in Utilization Management.
two words "excellent pay"

oh yummy! a newbie! *licks chops*

(kidding, kidding---welcome to allnurses!)

To be honest with you i had no idea when i got into being a CNA that i was going to do this. I had just walked out of a marriage of 28 years and my 3 children were grown. i had a decent job of almost 13 years cleaning at a university. i had moved in with my daughter 90 miles away. i needed a job and passed by a ltf with a help wanted sign out front for housekeeping and will train cna's. i had cleaned so i had intentions of applying for the housekeeping job but when i went in i decided to try applying for the cna job. i don't think that was my decision i think God had his hand in it. when i started working there it was like i had a gift for dealing with the residents and they returned it by giving me alot of confidence i had lost somewhere along the line. i would walk into work in a daze because of what had happened in my life but my job gave me focus and i never let my personal problems interfere with the job that i did. the job was basically a therapy for me and that is one of the reasons i say the residents give back more than i actually give to them.

After leaving an abusive home into a abusive marraige, I was hospitalized more occassions I would like to recall from a kid to adulthood and the nurses where very caring and compassionate ppl towards me. I remember one nurse, after confining in her about leaving this abusive marraige, but was scared to leave. She told me" Dreams can become reality, you have to choose". That was like a slap in my face. I was very scared to leave my ex-husband, here I had two small children by him and my education was not above the eigth grade. So while still in this marraige I sneaked books in and studied while my exhusband was at work. I took my GED and I passed, by then my ex-husband found out what I been doing and was furious with me for obtaining my GED. After, this eposide I finally left him for good. After, a few years down the road I just kept remembering what this nurse told me and I ended going to nursing school and graduating. I have learned two things, one: once you obtain an education this is something no one can take from a person, Two: nurse impact ppl's lives everyday and most of the time are not even aware of it, this nurse saved my life, and my children and now I get to help ppl in a good way, and very rewarding career it has been:wink2:

Nursing is something that I have always wanted to do and treat people with the care that I was never given and make a difference in someone else's life. I was advised by a good friend to get my CNA first to make sure that it is something that I wanted to do so I did and that was 3 years ago. Now I am all ready to apply to some local programs and follow the dream.

Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

I wanted to wear the funny hat... you know, the nurses cap! I thouht it would suit me. By the time I graduated nursing school (some 25 years later), of course you know the cap is gone and we wear jammies to work. I like wearing jammies.

No big story here. Just wanted to do it.

I worked at a nurseing home for 1 year and got atached to my clients loved them, loved going to work,but then Ibecame with child number2 and couldnt stand the smell everytime i walked in the door i would get sick i tried to work but was throwing up every30 min..so i found another job..at a car manuf. plant and stayed there for 8 years..but was not happy..older and wiser i decided it was time for me to get back to whar i loved duing takeing care of people..now iam in nurseing school..

Why did I become a nurse? Sorry for the novel but, you asked for it! LOL

My story began in 1960 when I was born. I was so destined to be a nurse, I'm surprised that the doctors didn't just tatoo a cadeusus on my rear end.

The doctors told my mother not to have any children because she was schizophrenic, had type 1 juvenile diabetes and was brittle. She talked my dad into having 2 children anyway: myself, and my brother.

I was always the stronger of the 2 and was destined to become a caregiver from the moment my little brother came home from the hospital. Mom went into a crying jag that lasted weeks. Nowadays, they call that post-partum depression. My aunt told me years later. "And there you were... just 15 months old, stroking your mom's arm, trying to comfort her," my aunt said. There is a photo in our family album of me by my mother's side, looking up at her and patting her arm as she cried, holding my brother. Photos of my early "nursing days" dot the family album, like the one of me decked out in a nurse's uniform complete with white dress, blue cape, and winged nurse's cap. No doubt, many other nurses share the memory of playing nurse dress-up.

At four years old, I became head nurse of my own 5 bed- "hospital ward", made from shoe boxes stuffed with doll pillows for mattresses.

My father was an audiologist who worked in a busy practice with 4 ENT's and I used to go to work with him when he worked extra on Saturdays. It was there that I met my first nurse role-model who later became my cousin through marriage. Her name was Virginia. I stared intently at her as I watched her prepare allergy extracts for patients, drawing up serums into countless syringes; her glorious white starched cap with the black stripe stood regally on her head like a crown. She was pretty, had a kind smile and was always patient. She would give my brother and I allergy shots and even in those days with the thick needles, made the injections as painless as possible. Virginia wasn't the only influence in my life who inspired me to become a nurse. There was one much stronger and perhaps influenced me more on a subconscious level: my mother.

At the age of 9yrs old, most kids came home to moms serving cookies and milk and asking "how was school today". My experience was often somewhat different. An all-too-familiar scene as I walked through the door in the afternoon was finding my mom passed out on the couch from an insulin reaction; barely coherent. This was always scary. It was my first taste of dealing with the very ill. Dad would tell us kids, "now if your mom has a reaction while I'm at work, give her orange juice." I was usually the one who would do this since I was older and ofcourse...destined for the nursing profession. When mom wasn't incapacitated by an insulin reaction, she was having nervous breakdowns. She went in several times for ECT and hospitalization which left me in charge: nurse and mom. Everyone said I was going to be a nurse. The Christmases between 1965, and 1970 brought me more than a half dozen Mattel nurse kits. Yes. It seemed this was my destiny, until I hit my teen years.

1974 ushered in my adolescence and an awareness of my codependency. At school, I found favor with the rebellious pot head crowd who all urged me to "run away." After one weekend of wildness, drinking tall boys and staying out all night, my father asked me what was wrong with me? I said I just didn't know. From junior high through my first year of college, I did my best to escape "my destiny" and the reality at home. I ran from it like the plague and immersed myself in the arts. During those years of denial, I became a fairly accomplished dancer, actress and artist. Then, my calling arrived.

One night after going out dancing with some friends, one of my friends burned his hand on the stove while making us a late night snack. I did what I could to provide first aid for him and then rushed him to the hospital. A young nurse greeted us in admissions. She was about my age. She looked so professional and went about her duties with such confidence and self-assurance. Her name pin read: Soandso Soandso "RN." I remember sitting there for 6 hours with my friend in the emergency room, thinking, "I am going to be a nurse."

The following fall, I enrolled at a community college to take my nursing prerequisites and 4 years later, graduated with my BSN and went on to take the NCLEX. That was 20 years ago. A few years ago, I went through my midlife crisis and started dancing again but I am still a nurse. It's not about the money. It's about the patients and what I do for them. Author Peggy Anderson who wrote one of my favorite books said, "Sometimes I help patients live. Sometimes I help them die. Always I help them. I'm a nurse."

At 46, I have made peace with codependency. It has been my friend for many years. As I get older, I care less about buzz words and silly catch phrases. I always think of the people whose lives were made better by what I did for them and it fills an empty void. I look back over my life and do not regret becoming a nurse. I am grateful for my parents and everyone who helped shape my destiny.

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