by Jamie Jones

Created on: January 04, 2011

There are many reasons why a person chooses to become a nurse. One might argue that it is one of few the recession-proof career choices. One might also argue that one can make a decent living as a nurse. While these arguments may be true, the prospective nurse must have more than just the drive to make money and keep a job.

Nursing is first a science. The prudent nurse must be ethical, precise, and filled with integrity. The public trusts nurses with extremely sensitive information, so lips must remain sealed, and things must be done "by the book". The nurse must also be able to analyze laboratory and diagnostic test results to determine his or her next action. One look at a cardiac monitor strip could cause the nurse to grab a crash cart and start resuscitation measures. Additionally, the nurse must be able to weigh all sides of ethical issues, which are arising on more and more occasions. The nurse must look at these issues in a precise, objective manner to ensure that all variables have been taken into consideration.

Nursing is also an art, contrary to what others may believe. The nurse wraps a newborn infant in a warm blanket and nestles it in its mother's arms. The nurse ensures that the elderly gentleman with cancer does not suffer during the last days of life, and makes sure that he dies with dignity. The nurse is a shoulder to cry upon, a soothing voice, a sounding board, a teacher, a disciplinarian, a security guard, and even a janitor. The nurse sees people at the worst times in their lives...and she is also there when they are ready to again face the world.

So why become a nurse? You can and will change the lives of many others. You will give your all to someone who needs it. You will be there to hold the hand of the mother who will not live to see her first grandchild being born. You will work a trauma in the ER and help a teenager live to see graduation. You will provide chemotherapy to a young woman diagnosed with breast cancer, so that she can enjoy her career as an elementary school teacher.

Become a nurse so that you can change the face of nursing into something even better. Become a nurse so that you can make a patient's day just a little bit brighter. Become a nurse to become a better you.

Learn more about this author, Jamie Jones.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.