hey adamzaman,
u made me think....and belive it or not....i don't know why
by the way ,is adamzaman an afghan word?

why nursing
I wanted to be a nurse when I was a little girl. I spent my grade school and high school years preparing to be a nurse. Science fairs, candy strippers, summer programs for college prep. More importantly is why I stay a nurse. Good nursing jobs are hard to find, but there are some with a tremendous amount of satisfaction related to them. I have worked in research, medical cardiology research with some of the finest doctors in the world. Usually there is nothing written about the research project and you learn as you go. You get a tremendous amount of responsibility and when you see your patients improve, you know it is because of what you did. I did home care and took responsibility to get what my patients needed from the doctors and their insurance companies. I watched their wounds that I alone was treating get better and better until they were healed and I discharged them. I taught my patients how to improve their own hygiene and health care and got satisfaction from watching them make the changes I suggested. I taught scientific experiments to the teenagers I did IV infusions on, encouraged them to get better educations for their futures. On a regular job I give patients advice, comfort the dying, teach patients how to care for their disease processes. Where else can you get such job satisfaction to know that every day you influence peoples lives for the better, their health for the better and even prolong their lives based on what you do and say.

my 16 yr old was at childrens hospital for 7 weeks with cancer fighting like a champ for his life. But he died-- went to heaven.
I lost my mind for a period of 14 months. With the help of God and a top notch psychatrist, it was decided that I would take this overwhelmingly pain ridden experience and do good with it.
I am not a nurse yet. I am an aid at a nursing home in pursuit in college to become a pediatric nurse someday.
I have found that my experience with my son has been such a help to others because I can feel their pain--from my heart.
I hope to find hurting parents and help them. I hope to possibly help some sick kids get well. And help those dieing to have a peaceful passing like my son did.
And each that i help, I will thank God for the opportunity to be there to be a help to them. For me, it is not about the money.
It is about helping people with a most extreme of situations to survive it.
then after surviving, shine brightly like a champion.
I only have one more required chemistry class before i am elgible to be RN trained. I can not wait to get started to be available for hurting people and possibly, maybe , help someone see some hope in a hard situation.
thanks for your listening ear. i do appreciate it.
God bless all you nurses for what you do, day in and day out.
rascal

i went in to nursing
I went into nursing due to helping people lead a better life for them selfs. I love working with people. I had a daughter that got burned and that is when I started nursing school I am a LPN and worked as a burn nurse for 8 1/2 years now I am a Pool nurse and still love it

Honestly my mother wanted to be a nurse and she had babies young instead. She always told me about nursing, even to the point of handing me silver ware as if I was in surgery. She always saw it as a positive, I would always be able to support myself and could work anywhere.
As I think back, I would have become a writer if left to my own devices.
My high school offered a early entry nursing program so I went into that. I mean, come on, when you are 16 there is a tendancy to go where you are directed. At least from some direction, not always good, not always bad.
After quiting the early entry program I got married and had babies but was always drawn back to nursing. I even tried the business world for a while.
So here I am, 50 years old and have been in nursing for 27 years, 19 of them as an R.N., primarily in ICU or ER.
I call it a calling, an art. I can't imagine doing anything else.

Why did I become a nurse?
I needed a job that would support my son and I. That was in 1980. I went half way through my clinical rotation saying to myself..." what am I doing? I hate this!!" Then I had my OB rotation. I LOVED it! I spent the next 18 years working L&D and NSY. I enjoyed the excitement and the challenges. After 1998 I went to being a Nanny. Loved the kids.. parents...well... that was another story. So back to nursing I went and I still love working with the families and their new little ones.

Why I choose nursing...
After a long 12 hours shift that has turned in 14 hours, I often ask myself the same question On a serious note...at first I wasn't really sure. But now I can honestly say that it is a driven passion. It is a career choice that most definitely keeps me humble. And what a feeling to know that we as nurses make a difference in peoples lives more than most do in a lifetime.

Why I studied nursing
When I started nursing school, 41 yrs ago, it was one of 3 options for women, teaching, nursing, or housewife. My Mom told me to be sure I had a career to fall back on because housewife wasn't stable. Nursing education was cheap, and I'd read loads of Cherry Ames books, lol. When I entered nursing nurses were highly respected, and treated like human beings. Had I known that healthcare would become what it is, and that nursing would become a job where you were expected to be a robot, never tiring, getting stressed, frustrated or upset, actually having no personal feelings at all. A job where a drunken visitor can berate the nurse infront of everyone but if the nurse speaks back she's in trouble, I would have gone into computers, then in their infancy.

Why I became a nurse
I have always wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl of about 4. I think it is the calling God has placed on my life. Although like the rest of us I sometimes ask myself why am I doing this? But then a patient blesses me and I remember why. I do it because God called me too, and because it is my ministry. I am pursuing my RN degree so I can work in peds or OB. I wish nurses were more respected by more doctors, patients and families for their dedication. Most of us put our heart and soul in this job. We deserve respect for that.

Why I became a nurse
I actually started out in housekeeping. The aides were so short staffed, I would set up the easier residents, clean a few rooms, go back, clean up their area, them repeat the process. I would make their beds for them, etc. Anything but patient care. We had a CNA class come up, so I went. After about two months, the nurses wouldn't follow up when the CNAs stated someone was not themselves and something was wrong. So I decided they needed an ally to go to. So I went to LPN classes. I have always been a geriatric nurse, now I know it's not the nurses not listenting, but the doctors not listening to the nurses! I know nursing has become more paperwork thatn ever, but please, don't anyone give up! We fulfill a need for patients/ residents/clients that no one else could! Chin up and be strong! Remember--THIS TOO SHALL PASS!

Thank you all for all you replies.

Below are my reasons why I chose nursing as career. This information was requested by am admissions to strengthened my application for university. I hope it works.

Why Nursing?

Why did I become a nurse
Yes nursing is all those things and can be very rewarding and challenging. Its healthcare itself that has deteriorated, with understaffing and unrealistic expectation. If you can avoid the cats you work with, you can do well.

Hi
Believe it or not i had no desire to be a nurse, I hated school fro kindergarden! My mother forced me to go to community college after high school and i went for a semester of accounting! I hated it. I got a job in retail, was living at home with my parent and wanted to move out. A friend of mine was in nursing school and she lived there, i loved the dorms(they were really nice) and that is what sparked my interest in nursing. Also i realized that if i had to work with the public at least i could get paid better for it.
Well, this all worked out well because it turned out that i was extremely interested and good at nursing, i graduated at the top of my class and have been blessed with an exciting diversified and rewarding career for the past 17 yrs. You just never know, do you?

I'm kind of an oddball on this one. When I first started college I was pre-Veterinary Medicine actually, which is what I'd wanted to do since i was about 5 and had shadowed vets several times including ridealongs. I switched colleges and went pre-Med and couldn't get into the biology of plants so I went for generals for about a year. Starting the second semester of my 2nd year, I heard classmates talking about the application process and decided at that moment that's what I wanted to do. I got my app in and started nursing school that fall, 5 years later I'm graduated with 3 years of experience, my ANCC certification, traveling and will complete my bachelor's degree next May. I have had zero second thoughts and I love the fast pace of the majority of days and the fact that I can continue learning everyday that I work. There is room for expansion and my degree is needed. I love my patients and the different personalities I encounter daily. Even the bad days just make me appreciate the good days and the days you do something that makes a difference for a patient.

In April of last year, my younger brother was shot in the stomach. In the hospital my mother asked me, why don't you be a nurse? I said, "I'm not going to be a nurse, after seeing what these nurses are doing to my brother." My God has so many different plans than I can ever have for myself. The type of person I am, I am a giving kind of woman. I love to serve people and I love to pray. Not being able to really focus on school the way that I need to, after five years, I am graduating from a trade school with my Esthetician License. Having the opportunity to study anatomy and to learn more about the integumentary system and to really serve people, I began to re-think what my mother had asked me back in the hospital. I have decided to go back to college and take up Nursing because I truly believe that the way I serve and the heart that I have to make people feel comfortable regardless of there circumstance will be beneficial in this field. I truly want to become a missionary nurse and travel outside of the country to the fourth ward countries and be of service there. Being a Nurse has it's own ups and downs but I truly believe that if this is what God is calling me to do, it shall be done. I love people and I will forever love to serve them until the day that I die.

I thought I was going to "save the world". Was advised not to do it. Should have taken the advice. Thankless, worthless job. You are responsible for everything that goes wrong from maintenance to housekeeping.

Don't do it! Someone advised me and didn't take their advice and regret it. It's long hours, poor pay in some states and no thank you for a good job - only when you do something wrong. Nurses are blamed if housekeeping, maintenance, the kitchen, pharmacy or anyone else screws up. Not worth the sweat and tears.

Hi
There are many reasons to consider becoming a professional nurse. Career advantages, job security, personal satisfactions and growth are som e of them.

I am 65. I am not a nurse but am considering an accelerated post-bac degree in nursing BSN. My major is integrated studies and my concentration is Health Promotion & Wellness with a psychology minor. I started out as a psychology major but I decided I really don't want to do research. I looked at Human Services, I considered being a medical librarian. I considered studying psychology in masters studies and other options including legal studies. Everything I read says there are not a lot of job openings, people are not able to find work after spending 100,000 in loans. So I thought why not. I want to help people that is what got me started in this. With my Health Promotion major I would be taken more seriously with a BSN and perhaps as a Health Educator. Also I thought to myself with my psychology background I might want to work as a psychiatric nurse. I could spend years in school getting a doctorate degree to be able to truly help people. So at my age I am considering this degree. Do you think I am crazy for doing this now?
Comments welcome.