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.

[Hygeia79]

I was a bad kid. I ran around with the wrong crowd. Got into some things I shouldn't have and saw some things I shouldn't have.The things I saw stuck with me due to the violent nature and the impact and I wished then I could help out in some way.... and vowed to do great things later.

I knew then I wanted to be a nurse.

Z :)

PS: I'll write more detail later..when it's not 3 am. :chuckle

[kathers71]

TO OBAMA WITH CANDOR

The people know. We are waiting for your response. If you want to become our president, you will need to be the next one to speak. Over 70% of the population is waiting for you to do something. Anything less than impeachment, is an insult to our intelligence. All of the educated voters have ceased watching television. We are READING! Your strategists don't have a clue. I'm hearing this from young and old. I'm hearing this from all parties. Ron Paul is miles ahead because he is speaking the truth. You need to catch up soon because the momentum for change has just begun. If you vote for any further defense spending, you will not be able to convince any more people that you are a qualified leader. If you do not vote to impeach Bush and Cheney, you will not convince any more people that you can change this downward spiral of destruction. We have heard enough excuses and we are not buying the fear. We will no longer support anyone who does not represent our beliefs. We will not accept any more promises or excuses. If you believe in The Constitution, you will reinstate it and prosecute all of the criminals and traitors that have taken over this country. I am a 56-year-old nurse who is very disappointed in you and all of our representatives. We need your help now.

Patriotically yours,

Kathleen A. Smith

"You share your young with the wolves of the nation...

There's nothing left 'til you pray for salvation."

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "American X"

P.S. As Molly Iverson said, "I believe that ignorance is the root of all evil."

I became a nurse 36 years ago because I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. The corporations have hijacked our health care. Although it wasn't perfect, it was better than the model that we see now. It has escalated. If you can't see the change, then you need to take time and read everything, while you can. We need one representative to do the same thing for our country! The world has changed, but there will always be a place for those that care. We need a leader. This is why I wrote this article.

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I

[Hygeia79]

ı became nurse, because ı had thought that ı would be hero...

[kathers71]

We need all of you to carry on. I still enjoy every day that I can help someone. That's what we're here for.

"The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker." Helen Keller

[fronkey bean]

ı became nurse, because ı had thought that ı would be hero...

You are!!

[Hygeia79]

You are!![/quote

We are

[agent66]

sadly, I got into nursing because I couldn't get into vet school. Oops, still at it almost 20 years later. If I ever leave nursing it would likely be to do something animal related.

[shashaRN]

I became a nurse because I wanted to have a job where I was making a difference in someone's life and to feel at the end of the day good and proud of it.

[Devil_Duckie, LVN]

My journey to nursing wasn't a very dramatic one...about six years ago (I was 15), my mom found out that she had breast cancer. My world came crashing down around me. My mom was my best friend, despite the occasional adolescent fights we went through, and we had made it through her divorce from my dad, single parenthood, moving from MD to NC, and a remarriage to a guy with 3 kids already! Needless to say, Mom and I were best buddies and the thought of possibly losing her shattered me. From that moment on, I was as involved in her care and recovery from a very painful mastectomy as possible. I took a day off from school and cried in the waiting room with my stepdad, hoping that mom would make it through and that I wouldn't be left to fend for myself with the man. (Wow, that was a long time ago...)

Long story short, one of the lasting memories mom had from her stay at the hospital was a particular nurse, whose kindness and care was above par. Ever since then, she encouraged me to look into nursing as a career choice. I was stubborn; I had read enough to know that I wanted to go to med school and be an ob-gyn and nothing would sway me! Ironically, a story on the news about the rising costs of malpractice insurance that were keeping some ob-gyn's from performing deliveries often, was what swayed me. I applied to a local ADN program the summer after high-school graduation, and three years later, here I am. About to re-take my NCLEX in August and have the job of my dreams waiting for me.

My experiences as a CNA in both a busy ED and a long term care/rehab facility have confirmed to me that nursing is the most satisfying and gratifying experience that one could have. At times, I marveled that I was getting paid for the fun I was having...and at other times, I wish I was paid more for the crap I endured. Ah, such is life. Thanks to all who bothered to read that, I never meant for it to turn into a book.

[Indy, LPN, LVN]

My mom was an LPN. I read her Lippincott's manual at the age of 12. Not until after I graduated with my ADN could I understand why she had decade-old spiral notebooks full of pharmacology notes that she wouldn't throw away. They were also illegible, to me anyhow. For a while I liked regular sciences, but math made me want to tear my hair out, and still does. Life sciences in high school were something I couldn't get enough of. I didn't want to do nursing because my mom gave me the idea that it didn't make any money. I can still remember her griping one time that she went through all that heck in school to make five dollars an hour in a doctor's office. Still, she seemed to find pretty good docs to work for, schedule-wise. And she never handed over a prescription to a pharmacist without reading it first. That was awesome to me as a kid, that she found it readable.

My household was an abusive one, to put it nicely. I left home and got married very quickly, and my now ex husband wasn't abusive so it worked out for a while, long enough to have two kids and buy a house, etc. But when you haven't done anything yourself, haven't fended for yourself, and wake up one day to determine that you didn't make any of the decisions that governed where you are... that hurts. Not only that, my job tore my soul a bit every time I was successful at it. I worked in a doc's office doing billing and collections. Nothing was quite as horrible as going to court at night (that's when the session was) and taking a lien on some old fella's house. The fella in question had to be placed in the jury box because he'd just had some treatment for prostate cancer and was considered radioactive. When I had spoken to him on the phone, he told me that he was fed during the week by meals on wheels, on the weekends he got by on a can or two of tunafish. The house was all he had.

Once I expressed interest in what medical missions do, at work. I won't ever forget one of our doc's response to that. "there probably isn't much demand in the mission field for bill collecting." Ooh, no need to be cold about it... and really I don't think he intended to be; but there is a definite difference between making ten to twelve bucks an hour and having to depend on the good graces of your employer to keep a job, and having a professional license that makes you an actual provider of care.

Long story short, I left my ex, split up my daughters (I will not go into that story in a public forum), wound up moving to another city on a whim when the doc I worked for got a little more crazy, drove a cab for a while, dispatched a while, and barely paid my rent. I didn't know I was eligible for food stamps and bought around forty bucks worth of groceries a week. My customers regularly handed me fruit and sometimes bags of veggies for my daughter! One of the biggest tips I ever got was from a drunk construction worker who told me to go buy my youngun some clothes. When I started dating my now husband, he looked at me one day and asked outright, without knowing my entire history, and said "and why are you not a nurse?" I explained my situation, as if the lack of money wasn't completely obvious, and he said, "oh that's doable! You can work around all of that!" Within a month I was enrolled in my prerequisites. I quit my job, found one that I could change schedule every quarter, made less, got food stamps, convinced several governmental agencies to pay for things like rent and school and such, and graduated with no money and no loans. I passed NCLEX a week after my honeymoon.

I'm sorry there are people who feel that money shouldn't be a factor in deciding to become a nurse. Really, I wouldn't have appreciated my salary if I hadn't had to live on macaroni and cheese for a while. I can take care of people, refer them to social work instead of taking their houses from them because they had the audacity to seek help from an ambulance chaser... that's an improvement right there. If I so choose I can volunteer my services to those in need. There are a million ways to be a nurse and still make a living. Right now I'm sending my DH to school and buying us a house...

I remember office politics vividly though. Nursing in certain environments promotes and rewards teamwork, which is something I didn't see in other jobs. It was always pulling teeth to get help or cooperation, and being regarded as strange for trying to bolster morale or help coworkers. I love that the shift we work is just that - ours- and that the nurses I work with want to support each other in making sure the work is done without anyone drowning in it. And when the patients I used to feel so impotent to approach, look at me nowadays they see someone they can trust.

[stanne]

There are some good stories here.

I was cleaning in a hospital when a new nursing class started. Everyone said "You would make a good nurse why don't you apply." So I did. Now it is 17 years later. I love my job most of the time and really detest it at other times. I think it can be the most rewarding job and the most taxing at the same time.

[shebababy]

I became a nurse because it felt right after volunteering. I also wanted to advocate for others who could not speak for themselves.

Basically, I wanted to go home at night knowing I change at least one person's life for the better.