by D. P. Noe

Created on: September 27, 2008   Last Updated: July 24, 2010

Nursing is a passion that you feel inside, it is much more than just a career.Deciding to choose nursing as a career can be a great career choice. Becoming a nurse is hard work and has many tasks that are not for the gentle hearted. The rewards and experiences of the impact on patent's lives is what keeps a nurse in the profession. Nursing is a challenging professional that attracts compassionate and caring individuals that want to make a difference in people's lives.

The experiences of nursing and dealing with life and death keeps you in touch with how precious life is. Nurses all understand that you should never take your life for granted, it can be gone in an instant. You are faced with many difficult situations with illness and surgeries that are life changing for many people. The first time you hold a dying patients hand will stay in your memory for a lifetime. There is also the joy when a patient gets well or conquers a disease and can go back to living a normal life.

Nursing has grown as a very respected profession. Nurses are the link to make sure that patients receive excellent quality care. Nurses are the individuals who make the difference in countless patient lives and also their families. The tasks that you perform and the decisions you make as an RN carry a tremendous amount of responsibility and accountability.

Nursing is a profession that needs to attract individuals who are compassionate, and must possess excellent people skills in order to communicate effectively with patients and their families. You must be able to utilize critical thinking skills and be able to think fast on your feet. Nursing is demanding and stressful, but the rewards that you receive are something that no other job can ever give you.

In nursing there are no two days that are alike. You will see some of the same patients every day and some of the tasks will be similar or the same, but you never can predict what changes will occur. The patients condition may change or a procedure may change, medications may change, nursing is not a job that is predictable. Change is a key element of the nursing profession.

A nurse represents honesty, integrity and practices with the highest code of ethics. There is nothing to compare to knowing that you were vital in saving a patients life or you where there to hold a patients hand when there were dying. You were the individual who comforted the family when a patient was taking their last breath.

Handling stress is a key factor in making a decision to become an RN. Stress can never interfere with taking care of a patient. You must always be able to assume accountability and accept responsibility. You need to have a compassion for life that is unbiased and non-judgemental. You need to be prepared for the unexpected and understand that nursing does not have fixed hours. There are days where you will stay over because taking care of the patient is always your first priority.

If you are thinking about nursing as a career, talk to other nursing professionals. You can always volunteer in a hospital or nursing home to see how nurses interact and accept responsibility for their patients. Yes I believe nursing is a calling and not just a job. It take a special person to assume the accountability and responsibilities of a nurse. If all of this fits your profile, than nursing may be the right career path for you.

Learn more about this author, D. P. Noe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.