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.

hi people... im rita from philippines. why i took up nursing? hmmm... it was my sister's idea. she will finance me all through out as long as i will take the nursing course. anyway, i just grab the oppotunity then. this is my second course actually. i graduated bachelor of science in business administration major in marketing and management. and then i shifted to nursing course and finish it.

another reason is i seek for greener pasture. most people would say money can be found if you are a nurse. it will provide you all the things you needs and wants.

anyway, i did not regret it. as i work in the hospital right now. i do appreciate the work as a nurse. gradually, i learn to grasp the idea that i am anurse and i want to serve and help other people. of course, i also want to sustain my needs and wants :)

for now, i just love being a nurse. hehehehe

rita from philippines

Many reasons:

1. Had a fascination with hospitals and nurses when I was little. I told everyone I wanted to be a doctor, always playing "nurse" with my little sister. Made the paper hats, took care of our dolls, etc.

2. Science and anatomy were the only classes I was truly interested in through high school

3. Was accepted into a dental hygiene program -- a good one, 4 year program, etc., but we had to move across country after high school.

I majored in journalism first, and had a pretty long stint with that, although never got too far with it as I had to stay home with the kids while hubby was gone with the military. Then child number three came along and I was home a long time again. Woke up at 40 not sure of what I wanted to do. Saw a 2nd degree program where I didn't have to take chemistry (the only subject I couldn't do well in) and I could graduate relatively quickly. It was sort of sad to leave my first career, but I hope to combine the two someday.

And did it get tedious working office jobs. You sit and sit in a cubicle all day long, on the computer, or in boring meetings, or you're sent on trips where you have to constantly leave your family. Pay isn't so great unless you're 1000 percent dedicated, and that doesn't work with a family. After a while, I got tired of promoting inferior products.

So far nursing has challenged me the most, mentally, physically, emotionally, intellectually. I think it will be a great career, as long as I can graduate and cope with the first year on the job! Our product is a great one! ;) I think with my varied background I am heading towards a very interesting career where the perfect job will just evolve for me and I will be uniquely qualified. It's very exciting to have a fresh start. I'm also glad to be filling a need, rather than trying to beg someone to hire me. The world just needs more nurses!

My dad lived the last 10 years of his life with a trach due to laryngeal cancer, and he was cared for by my mom and other family members including me. I wanted to help people in their time of need. I have been a nurse for 25 years and still love it.

Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.
On the morning of Sept 11, 2001 I left my home in NH to drive to Boston's Logan Airport to go to work as a United flight attendant. I had been a flight attendant for 15 years and it was a career I was very comfortable and happy with. There was one thing different that morning though, I had made a error in my schedule that month and instead of flying non stop on flt 175 to LA, I was flying to Denver and then on to LA. I was really not that happy about not flying my normal schedule and not being able to flying with my usual co-workers. I only had myself to blame as I had inverted the numbers on my schedule, something I had never done in 15 years.

I parked my car in the employee lot and boarded the bus employee's take to the terminal. Just as the bus was pulling out of the parking lot a flight attendant came running out of the parking garage. I ask the driver to wait and this young man boarded the bus. He was also a United flight attendant and he sat next to me. His name was Robert Fangman, and he was a new flight attendant for United. He had only been flying a few months and he was so excited to go to LA. The bus had to stop at a draw bridge and a tanker needed to cross so this added an extra 15 minutes to our normal 10 minute ride. During this time I got a chance to get to know Robert and we talked about his plans for his layover in LA. I mentioned to him how he had replaced me on the flight that day and how I had made a mistake in my schedule. When we got to the airport we were running late, about ten minutes past our check in and we said a quick good bye and I mentioned how I hoped we could fly together some day. I saw my crew and they tried to convince me to bump him off the flight since I had more senority and he was late. I just couldn't do it since I knew how excited he was about going to LA. I told my crew I would see them next week and boarded my aircraft for Denver.

My flight was diverted to Detroit that fateful day and when I opened the door of the aircraft the agent informed me how United had lost 2 flights. when I asked her which ones she said "93 from Newark and 175 from Boston". I dropped to my knees and cried. I had lost my crew and by all rights should have been on the flight. I spent 5 days in Detroit doing alot of sole searching and when I put my uniform on to go back home I knew the job I loved would never be the same.

As people heard my story they would say "you have something important left to do here". I don't know why I was spared but I know everyday of my life since 9/11 is a bonus, and I live every day to the fullest.

I never aspired to be a nurse, in fact I'm the one who had to lay down everytime I had blood drawn. The airlines down sized after 9/11 and offered leaves of absences. I decided to take one and go back to school. I knew I needed a new career and I needed a job were I would appreciate life everyday. This is where the nursing came in. I felt I needed to make a difference to others in some small way. Hence the decision to become a nurse.

In May of 2005 I graduated top of my class from Northern Essex Community College with an ADN. On June 1, 2005 my leave expired with United Airlines so I returned to the friendly or not so friendly skies. I had made a promise to myself that Sept 11 would not be my last flight and that a terrorist would not keep me from doing the job that I had once loved. I also promised myself that I would complete 175 for my flying partners and do what Robert Fangman had intended to due in his memory. I also wanted to meet the Fangman family and tell them how I met Robert that day and how excited he was to be going to LA that morning and how meeting him had changed my life and how I hoped I could carry on his memory by touching the lives of others. In August I flew to LA and complete flt 175 doing all the things the crew was to do that day and 2 weeks later I met the Fangman Family. They welcomed me with open arms and we have a special relationship.

In January of 2006 I took another leave from the airlines and began working as an RN on a Critical Care Floor. I love what I do! I have received several personalized thank you notes and patients and their families have come back in to see me and thank me for the care they were given. Durig nurses week this year I was given the honor of being chosen to represent my facility on the wall of nursing which represents outsanding nurses at my hospital.

Friends always ask me "are you still flying" and my response is "I'm a nurse now" and "I love what I do".

Wow! Incredible story. What an inspiration!

Specializes in Cardiac Care, ICU.

Was in school working toward a psych degree when I found myself a single mom needing a better income quickly. It would have taken 4 more years to make my psych degree pay off and only two years to get the ADN. I did not really want to (have always been squeamish about smells) but I made a deal w/ God (isn't God patient ) if I passed the PAX-RN test I would go to nursing school. I really didn't think I would but I did and 13 years later I'm still nursing. It turns out I really love it (except for nursing managers- YUCK). I hope to start working on a CRNA degree soon if I am excepted.

I've always wanted to be a nurse since I was a very young girl. Soon after high school I started working, got married and a few years later, started having children (2). College went to the back burner. I took a few basic courses here and there for my job and then I worked for an insurance company that utilized my sign language ability and since they didn't pay me for that, I asked if they would pay for sign language classes. This started my college path and it took me a few years, one class at a time to get my AS degee in Sign Language. Right before graduation, my 24 year old daughter decided she wanted to start school for nursing and asked me to go also since I had always wanted to be a nurse. Crazy enough I figured I was used to the college drill and may as well keep on going (my poor husband). We are now in the nursing program and due to graduate in December!!!! It's been a wonderful (stressful) journey going to classes with my daughter. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I look forward to graduation and onward to working in a field I love!!

Specializes in Administration.

I became a nurse because I wanted to get student basketball tickets. In the '80's our local college had a great basketball team, and my husband and I attended all the games with the cheap tickets he could get because he was a student. When he graduated, I went back to school not knowing what I wanted to major in - just to be enrolled and get student tickets. I didn't realize that I had to declare a major when I registered. On a whim, I put down "pre-nursing". I figured I could change it when I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I never really figured that out, but 20 years and an MS later I'm glad that I loved basketball that much!

i was working as a cna when i thought about it..the nurses i worked with were excellant. i admired them for their caring ways and the dignity and respect in which they treated our patients. i found myself thinking" i would be pretty darn good at this, i'm great with people and i care deeply about our patients" in short,..i wanted to do more.

i must add, i also wanted a challenge (the pre-reqs, the whole admissions process, (they only selected 50 students out of over 250 applicants)..so i put myself to the test,,literally. i was accepted with flying colors and while it was surely not an easy road...i am gratedful that the road has led me to the path that i am now on. i will say, i have the very common "i'm getting burnt out" feeling now and then. i am fortunate that my schedule is fairly flexible and i am forever grateful i was able to take a 2 year hiatus (not just from nursing, just time for me too) i embraced the time i had to myself and have gone back to work refreshed and knowing my :redbeathe is still in it or i wouldn't have returned. i didn't have to..i also have some office/businessexperience. so for me it was

1) caring and wanting to do more

2) i wanted to challenge myself

Specializes in psychiatry,geropsych,LTC/SNF, hospice.

According to my mother, I've wanted to be a nurse since I was 4 years old. Around that time, I had to have eye surgery to repair a torn cornea (You know how your mother always told you not to play with sticks because you'll put your eye out? Well, she was right. :o ). I remember how caring the nurses were and how they made me feel less scared about everything that was happening. I even still have a stuffed animal one of the nurses gave me after 35 years!

Growing up, becoming a nurse was the only profession I ever thought about. Read all the Cherry Ames books. Took CPR as soon as I could. In high school, biology and A & P were my favorites. I looked forward to starting a BSN program after graduating.

Well, then I celebrated my high school graduation the wrong way and became pregnant. I made it through the first year of nursing school despite being pregnant and living at the college, but real life superceded my dream and so I decided to do the "right" thing and marry the baby's daddy and do the whole family thing. Had two more kids and essentially wasted almost a decade before realizing I and my children deserved better than the life that we had with their father.

Left the loser and moved back near my family. One day, dad said "We're applying for the nursing program at the Tech. Get your transcripts." Lo and behold, we're both accepted into the program: dad in the day program and myself in the evening program. Our classmates thought it was a riot we were doing this together. Given that dad and I are more than a little competitive, we both graduated at the top of the class. Yay us! I couldn't have done it without my family. Worked full time during the day, and classes at night; they babysat for me, helped financially, and provided tons of emotional support.

At my dad's suggestion, I started working for a community mental health program where he was a case manager in their residential program and was introduced to the wonderful, wacky world of psych nursing.

Fast forward through several years of residential, acute inpatient, and community based settings, and I've now been working on a 28 bed geropsych unit for the past 3 years. Never dull, never boring, always a challenge. Where else can I find patients that will tell me to bring in the cows? :chuckle

Oh yeah, besides going through nursing school with dear old dad, my sister went through the same program a few years ago. Also, my grandmother, two aunts, and an uncle--all in my mother's family--were/are nurses!

I could not make a living as an EMT.

Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

A family friend (and longtime RN) suggested that I become a nurse back in 2004. I was receptive to the idea as I had been very impressed by the hospice nurses who cared for my mom during her final weeks. But I was put off by the stories of burnout and the extra education needed, so I stayed in scientific research for the time being.

3 years and 3 different laboratories later, I realized I was at a dead end in my career and, what's worse, I didn't really care about the research I was doing. I wanted to be in a field which I cared about, with people I could care about, one with many different career paths. I applied to and got into an MSN program, and I'm going to start in the fall.

Wow, one could read here all night... so many replies!

I always knew that I belonged in the health profession since my teen years. I initially thought of being a paramedic, then a parmacist, then a psychologist...then I went into nursing. My first born son was born with a lot of problems (long story made short...) and I was doing nursing in a sense with him for the eight years that he lived. Being one who has experienced being on the "other side", that is, receiving the help and support from nurses, doctors, therapists etc., has helped me immensely in being a nurse today. It took me 10 years to get my BSN, but I got it! I know first hand what individuals and families are going through because I was there myself. Nursing kind of found me when I think of it, and I've never regretted it. Here is a fun fact. My grandmother would have been proud of me. She was one of Michigans first registered nurses in the year 1914. I have a picture of her with six other nurses who passed the first exam, stiff caps on and diplomas in their hands. I guess it's just in my genes!:)

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