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.

I am currently in nursing school after working as a research engineer for 10 years. After I graduated from engineering school I said I would NEVER return to college... I was so tired of studying, etc. Well, here I am 10 years later back in school but now with three young children in tow! I debated switching careers for a long time but hated to see my previous degree 'go to waste'.

Eventually I decided to pursue what I really wanted to do because I felt like my old jobs had no purpose, made no impact and were extremely isolating (I tend to be more of a people person)! I am hoping to end up in NICU or at least somewhere else where my anal retentive characteristics can be put to use!

Specializes in psych.

:welcome: I am a "cradle Catholic" so as a young girl I wanted to be a "nursing nun", then at about 11 or 12 I realized why God made little boys. The nun part of the dream bit the dust and the nursing dream stayed alive. I truly never thought of being anything else. In my career of 24 years and counting, I have worked med/surg, 20 years as a psych nurse which is still my first love, then on to office nurse for a GP, moved on to pain clinic and have finally settled again into nursing informatics which has quickly become my second love.:balloons:

I was tired of being broke. I wanted a car, nice clothes, a nice place to live and money to take vacations. I was reading the Classified Ads, and decided to lie my way into Pharmaceutical Sales. I had a strong chemistry and biology background and thought I could pull it off. Then I saw the ads for RN's. I had a few thoughts - I was only going to be a pharmaceutical sales rep for the money, who did I know who liked her job, my Mom liked her job (she was a nurse) and I'm a lot like my Mom. Maybe I should be a nurse. Then my heart opened up and a blue/white laser light shot out. I never had a similar experience before or since. As soon as I got into nursing school, I got everything I wanted. I got both Manpower money and VA money. I went to Maui Easter week my first year in school. Nursing hasn't been easy. Many friends have encouraged me to quit. But I'll continue working as a nurse till my heart opens up again and the blue/white light points me to a different vocation.

Specializes in geriatric, hospice, med/surg.

I had many reasons to become a registered nurse. When I was a little one, probably in second grade, there was a classmate who had a deformed left hand. Just a blob of fisted flesh with a fingernail growth or two from the middle. I remember one night in particular that I couldn't go to sleep just thinking of her and the way the other kids picked on her and laughed at her in school to the point of making her sob.

I would cry at night worrying over her poor little feelings and how bad it must have felt to be "different" from others.

I also was very intrigued early in life thanks to the science books around the house in a set of time life or national geographic or some such brand

of how the human body works. It simply amazed me and it took me to another dimension when I got lost reading and looking at the photographs of life's diseases and the way the human body functions in general.

I also was a trouble teen growing up and did more than my share of things I shouldn't have been doing. Many times I should have died in car wrecks due to the fact that I was unfit to operate anything, much less a dangerous moving vehicle! I looked back at that part of my life when I was a young adult and started having children of my own. I really wanted to make some kind of difference while here on earth and also to pay God back for saving me from death those times I felt I might would have died. I kept thinking, He saved me for some great purpose. I just felt like He put it on my heart to become a nurse. To help others needing help. To give a little bit back to mankind.

I also needed an ego boost insofar as most nurses are looked at with respect and awe in having to deal with what we deal with every day at work. I didn't do it just because of that, but it has ultimately helped my self esteem somewhat.

In general, it was definitely a calling for me.

Specializes in Emergency Room.

the money baby !!!!!!! what else....:smilecoffeecup:

Specializes in Surgery in HepatoPancreatobiliaryGastro.
I was in my back yard one evening with a nice fat possum on the grill. I heard a noise and looked up to see a spacecraft directly above me. In an instant, I was transported into a dimly lit area equipped with strange equipment. Then a 3 ft tall being with a single eye in the center of his neck...or what I though was a neck, kicked me in the shins. As I jerked my leg up out of the way, several of the little critters pushed me back on an exam table. The next few hours were a blur as I went in and out of consciousness. Before I knew what was happening I was graduating from nursing school. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

:roll Hahahahah That's funny!

My story? Simple..... I wanted to make my Grandfather proud + the fact that I was from a line of nurses & midwives! I also wanted to make a difference in my own little way.

I've not taken any pre-req's yet or even enrolled in NS, but I've talked to one NS that's part of a large hospital in the nearby city, but, simply put, I've been a professional patient many times over, hence the interest.

I have 3 young children, and if something were to ever happen to my spouse, a career in nursing would allow me to support myself and my children. Presently, I started work this week in the transportation/distribution industry (again), but I look at it as a stepping stone.

Even though I've gotten this job, I still look at the allnurses.com forums when possible.

I never inteneded to be a nurse (well I am now a student nurse). My dream back in highschool was to be a physiotherapist (since I was a gymnast for most of my teen/childhood years I had a huge interest in body mechanics and movements. However I never achieved the Straight A/A plus average needed to become a physiotherapist. Since I also was a candystriper and I shadowed nurses in high school I had an interest in the profession. My passion in life all my life has been caring for other people in every way possible way. So maybe it was destiny.

So far I LOVE nursing school, and all of it's challenges.

:balloons:

I've always found the human body fascinating, enjoyed biology and anatomy. While in Jr. High school, one of my best friend's mom was a nurse, and the idea of being a nurse intrigued me. I also new a flight paramedic and his stories always peaked my interest as well. While in High School, I made my mind up that I wanted to be an ER nurse and eventually become a flight nurse.

I went to nursing school, started out in Geriatrics, became very interested in Nursing Informatics, which at the time was fairly new. I was amazed at how little the Nursing Home and Hospitals used technology, and I loved using computers to save time. I never did anything with my interest in Informatics directly. I then moved to the hospital, worked Telemetry, and then I went to work in CCU for several years.

Back in 1995, I started a nursing website as a hobby when I was in nursing school back in 95, that hobby became a passion, and then became a business for me. That website is now called allnurses.com (this website ;) ) has grown to significantly since it's early days. I've never for one minute regretted becoming a nurse!

While I never became an ER nurse or a flight nurse, I am very happy where my nursing career has taken me :)

Hi Brain

You have a very interesting story. Are you still practicing nursing today, or are you practicing in the sense of entrepreneurial nursing?

This is a very neat website. I only just discovered it. Is it your first one? Do you have any other ones?

Cheers

comportment

I come from a family of professors, engineers, and veterinarians, I grew up to believe that nurses were not very intelligent.

After I had a premature baby, I spent many hours in the NICU with my baby. I saw everything that the nurses did. They were the only ones who seemed to be able to explain what was happening to my baby in a way that I could understand it. They were also the only ones who treated me like a human with feelings instead of a wellfare case. One of these nurses even helped me by asking the questions that nobody else bothered to. I wasn't even really this nurse's patient -- my son was, but she asked about my home life. The fact was that my husband had kicked me in the stomach shortly before my water broke. She was the only one who asked me anything about that! She helped me talk to the social worker who arranged for me to get out of that situation and into a safer environment for both me and the baby.

That whole experience made me realise that nurses were so much more than what I had been raised to believe.

I chose to become a nurse myself so I could help others like these nurses helped me. In some ways, I feel I owe them my life. After 17 years of being a nurse myself, I think I just may have have given it to them.

A thousand blessings to the NICU nurses at UTMB- Galveston!!!

Specializes in rehab-med/surg-ICU-ER-cath lab.

Little girl growing up in the 1960's falls in love with "Cherry Ames" books and reads every book. (Still has them all too!) ..... then one of the wonderful "older" girls in the neighborhood goes off to the local nursing school. Seeing her in her pink checkered dress, starched white bib/apron, white heeled shoes, stockings and that huge white cap .... Oh goodness, I want to be her! So, I fooled around in high school, then worked hard and became an LPN. At 20, I was finally wearing a pink uniform ... sadly was it had changed to a one piece wash and wear but I did get that huge cap! For 31 years my RN has helped me in so many ways. I went back to acute care last year and kept my sanity when my husband of 25 years left. The older girl in the neighborhood? She went on to earn her nursing PhD. She was tragically killed, by a drunk driver, the month she was to graduate. An advance degree nursing scholarship is offered in her name - Dr. Lorraine G. Spranzo, my hero.

Specializes in premies, peds, adults.

when my spouse had yet another devastating injury from his beloved sport, I decided I had to go back to finish nursing school so I could be able to take care of my children. Along the route, I realized I really loved this path, and foud a way that I could matter AND make fabulous friends.

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