So You Want to Become a Nurse?

Students come into our program every year seeking a nursing degree. These students come for so many different reasons. Early on in the program I like to do an activity with the new students to get to know them and to get an idea if they have a passion for nursing. One of the questions I like to ask them is, “When did you decide to become a nurse?”

Now before I give you some of their answers, let me share mine. I actually always wanted to be a teacher, always, as long as I can remember. In high school the idea of nursing was brought up to me, and I really can’t say that I had ever considered that before. I liked to help people and blood didn’t bother me, but I only knew one nurse growing up and that was my friend Amanda’s mom. I knew she worked at a hospital but that was my only exposure to nursing (she has since become my role model and mentor). After graduation I went to Lake Land College where I took some general courses for education but actually had decided that I wanted to pursue hospital administration. Then one of my best friend’s sister was in a life-threatening accident and I spent time with my friend visiting her in the ICU, I was hooked. One evening while watching a nurse empty the catheter I knew I needed to be a nurse. Urine thrilled me! I then transferred into a nursing program where I knew that nursing education was in my future. Hmmm, it is funny how things come full circle.

Anyway, do you know what one of the most popular answers are? “I know I can get a good job if I am a nurse.” And the second most popular answer?, “My Mom, Dad, Grandma (fill in the blank) wants me to become a nurse.” Let me tell you from experience, these students usually aren’t successful, and if they are, they are miserable. I also often hear “Well I only want to be an OB nurse because no one dies, or I can’t be a Psychiatric nurse because I can’t deal with those people.” Guess what? People die in OB, sometimes babies, and Psychiatric patients are in every kind of nursing possible. Let me be the first to say that Nursing isn’t for everyone!  Please do some serious sole searching about this one before you waste time and money. Find your passion, whatever that may be and do it for yourself, not someone else.

Last week I was reminded of the passion nurses can have for this amazing profession. I went to a visitation of a nurse that had been in the profession 30ish years and do you know what was at the table next to the guestbook? Her nursing school uniform and pin, cap, graduation picture, and her hospital badge adorned with several pins that held meaning to her like her school pin, her certifications and other nursing symbols. What an example to our profession.

She was so proud of her chosen field and passionate about nursing. Are you? Is it just a “job” or is it your “love.” Thoughts? Please share.

H. Farley

What Would Florence Do?

As nurses, we all know Florence Nightingale, the pioneer in nursing, the founder of nursing as a scientific profession that we value today, the “lady with the lamp.” I venture to guess that if you are reading this and you are not a nurse, you still have an idea of who I am talking about. If not, in brief, Florence Nightingale is best known for her work with soldiers during the Crimean war, the formalization of schools of nursing, and improving the care and standards of hospitals. Every year around her birthday on May 12^th (also my birthday), our country celebrates nurse with a whole week that recognizes the profession of nursing.

This past week I thought of Florence during a clinical orientation at one of our local hospitals, a nurse educator posed this question to my students, “if you are walking by the room of a patient in isolation and you see the patient is about to fall, what do you do? Let them fall, less risk the possibility of coming in contact with the germs that they are being isolated for? Or run in and help them? Or do you gown and glove up then go in?” All my students said, “go in,” of course, but really, are there nurses out there that would let a patient fall because of the risk of getting Clostridium Difficile or Methi

cillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus? Isn’t it our job to heal and protect the sick? Has nursing come to this?

The work of Florence Nightingale has had a huge effect on our society, she touched everyone reading this. Her work created healthcare reform, standards of care, improving care of patients by focusing on cleanliness, nutrition, and psychological treatment. She contracted diseases that she would help to eradicate. Yes, she contracted diseases while caring for the sick. I know what Florence would do, she would run into that room and catch the patient. I think if she knew that question even had to be asked of a nurse today, she would be disappointed. What would you do? Thoughts?

You can learn more about Florence at the link below.

References

Florence Nightingale, Homecoming and Legacy. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415020/Florence-Nightingale/280688/Homecoming-and-legacy