by Miss D Charnia

Created on: July 01, 2007

Why become a nurse?

Of all of the professions, why a nurse? Finding a career right for you is a difficult task. Some people decide what they want to do with their lives during their childhood, some during high school, yet others, not until they are older.

The profession of nursing requires a person or persons who have certain characteristics. To be a successful nurse, someone must be courageous, caring, dedicated, multi-tasked, have empathy, and be flexible.

To take care of patients, regardless of the age, race, mentality, gender or financial status, still requires the people skills as well as the professional skills needed in a nurse. The care may be as minor as first aide or as critical as a dying patient, a nurse needs to give her best quality of care to that patient. Support, laughter, touching, honesty and most of all a little tender loving care.

At times the field of nursing sounds like it is all work and no play. That is not a correct statement. Some of those patients can bring so much joy, laughter, hope and faith into a nurse's life, that it makes it all worth while.

Another factor that is important when thinking about becoming a nurse is, plenty of support from your counterpart. He or she needs to be able to understand the partners need to work long shifts, or shifts that vary. It is not easy coming home feeling so fatigued that you don't know where the energy will come from to take his or her next step. The job of nursing is very stressful at times and sometimes can get very emotional, even though nurses are suppose to have empathy and not sympathy.

One reason not to go into nursing, is for the money. Money can not buy happiness. A person's goal in nursing is to care for patients and bring them to their optimal level of functioning. Yes, it is true that money is a necessity to live, but, if life is not fulfilled with rewards, then money is worth nothing to you.

Being a nurse for 30 years, I still love every minute of my career. There are moments of frustration, moments of discouragement, moments of wanting to give it all up, but if a nurse looks back on her days, months, weeks, and even years of giving life back to the patients it is all worth it. During all the days of nursing if a person can think about caring for the patients just as if the patient would be a family member, then where can someone go wrong? How do I want my family members treated? With respect, consideration, warmth, skill and equality is how they should be treated.

Taking careful consideration with the question of why to become a nurse, take a look of what your goal is in life. If someone has realistic goals in turn this will better help you to decide. Again, keeping in mind if this patient were a family member, and how would you want them treated,then how can someone fail?

Finally, before anyone makes the decision of whether to be in the nursing profession or not, they may want to do some voluntary jobs in local hospitals and interview some nurses for better understanding of the job of nursing.

Learn more about this author, Miss D Charnia.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.