Why I Want to Become a Nurse

During my childhood and early teenage years, I can remember my English teachers asking things like what do I want to be when I grow up? What to you want to study in college? As a child I would give a quick sentence or a couple of words. I would say that I wanted to be a cop, a firefighter ,or a chef. As a teenager, I was expected to contemplate and compile a three page written paper . My answers varied each and every year from wanting to be a teacher, a chef , to a social worker. I can remember many kids saying they wanted to become a nurse or doctor . I can never recall wanting to become a nurse myself. I have been told so many stories by my mother, that I was actually turned off from ever wanting to become a nurse. Then I had an experience that changed my mind, will change my future and what I will be doing with the rest of my life. My mom has been an adult critical care nurse for twenty-five years. I have gone to work with my mom on several occasions and have seen first hand how challenging and physically demanding a career in nursing can be. I have also heard some of the horror stories she has experienced. Hearing her experiences dealing with a delusional patient with dementia, avoiding a full urinal thrown by an out of control withdraw patient. Working with a psychiatric patient who keeps telling me that I look just like her sister, keeping in mind that she has been institutionalized for attempting to kill her sister. Having to change an incontinent patient with severe sacral decubitus. Hearing all of these experiences turned me away from ever thinking about pursuing a career in healthcare. Many of the jobs I have actually wanted to do and tried have never really worked out. I’ve tried cooking and working in restaurants. Office work never quite caught my attention. Answering phones, sorting files, and sitting behind a computer were too impersonal. I loved the human interaction of the restaurant work, however the work itself was not challenging