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Should you become a nurse? It's not an easy decision. Nursing is one of the most rewarding careers that there is, but at the same time the most frustrating. It is a hard job with long hours and low pay. You have to be thinking all of the time and you always have to be able to make life and death decisions while doing a lot of other things at the same time. One thing is for sure, nursing is not for everyone.

I started my nursing career in 1990 on a large and very busy med-surg floor. I took my first job on the night shift working with 2 LPN's and 2 nursing assistants. I went in to work each night and came home each morning and cried. I could not have imagined how hard this job would be! I was taking care of my own 13 sick patients and supervising 2 other nurses with 13 patients each. I worked like crazy, never took a break and learned more than I ever did in nursing school. I learned all kinds of nursing skills, I learned how to deal with people and how to help them, I learned how to interpret medical orders and how to implement them, I learned how to do 15 hours work in 8 hours time and I learned that I could truly make a difference in people's lives.

After 3 years on the med surg floor, I applied for and accepted a job in Critical Care. Again I had many new things to learn. In the ICU things moved even faster, and the decisions were even more critical. Here I learned even more technical skills and much more about the human spirit. I have been a Critical Care nurse for 14 years now and I still love it, and sometimes hate it too. It is the best job and the worst job. You will cry and scream and get really frustrated and want to leave and never come back. But then you will come back and realize that it is a powerful feeling to come home from work and know that you made a real difference in someone's life that day. I am glad and proud to be a nurse.

Learn more about this author, Dorothy Matrale.
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