Being a Nurse Is My Calling

Witnessing the patience, strength, and compassionate attributions that nurses convey within their care was remarkable. Having the opportunity to make a positive difference in the life of another human being was a very overwhelming and humbling experience for me. Therefore, these encounters set the foundation towards my pursuit of a nursing career.

Regrettably, the existence of nursing depends on the medical inadequacy of others. Unfortunately, nursing exists because people get hurt, cannot care for themselves, or need assistance with daily activities. Carol Taylor (2011), author of Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care, writes, “Nursing care involves any number of activities, from carrying out complicated technical procedures to something as seemingly as holding a hand” (p. 5). Taylor explains it is the duty of a nurse not only to learn the pertinent skills but also to bond with and comfort others. Nurses have to do and become many things: They must be stern when necessary, compassionate when needed, open minded

One thing that makes nursing a good career is the difference that I can make in someone’s life. Although it requires commitment and dedication, nursing is one of the most rewarding professions. It’s about caring, listening, thinking, organizing, and leading. Nurses make a difference in their patient’s lives by providing hands on care and assisting complete strangers in leading a healthier life. The warm feeling of ‘helping others out,’ giving back to the community, and influencing the success of nationwide healthcare makes nursing an intrinsically rewarding career field to pursue. Nurses are helping patients and families during their intimate times of need.

Van Gogh once said “your profession is what you’re put here on earth to do, with such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling”. That is what nursing is to me. A passion that started early in life. During my senior year in high school, I completed the nursing assistant course over a holiday break in order to begin working as a certified nursing assistant at a local hospital and nursing home. I continued serving others, in this capacity, while I pursued higher education earning my Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Clarkson College. After graduation, I began my career as a Registered Nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital. Over the last nine years at Sacred Heart, my experience grew as a staff nurse on a Cardiology Step-down Unit,

Nursing is as much science as it is a study in the human condition. Combining caring and the notion of human flourishing allows the nurse sharpen her understanding of patients’ needs by observing and understanding herself (Husted & Husted, 2008). A nurse is able to better anticipate the needs of her patients by noting similarities and differences between the two of them. With caring in the nursing corner, even under less-than-ideal conditions, one can still create havens of hope, nourishment, and the possibility for flourishing (MacCulloh, 2011).

For me nursing was not something that I initially intended to do as a career. During elementary school and into high school I contemplated many different career paths such as cosmetology, teaching, psychology, and forensics. It was not till the later years of high school that I started to notice my desire to help other individuals and love of science, health, and different disease processes. My desire to help people has originated from the admiration of my grandfather’s

Nursing is a noble profession that will help me expand my horizon by letting me focus outside of myself and my self-interest. By focusing outside of myself, I will get to be an advocate for people’s health and a humanitarian who will have a chance to see the other aspect of medical

Growing up I did not dream about becoming a nurse. I graduated from high school with honors and was planning to go to law school. However, several months later, my life drastically changed. Unexpectedly, my beloved mother was diagnosed with stage II ovarian cancer. Spending countless days and nights by her side at the hospital made me recognize how significant and life-saving her care was. Nurses were highly skilled professionals who worked together to provide essential care for my mother, give immense support and encouragement, ensure that her treatment would be delivered timely, promptly assess and address her physical and emotional needs and manage her distressing symptoms.

Nursing is an excellent career choice, where an individual acquires great gratitude while attending to others necessities. If someone is constantly trying to improve themselves and wanting to be challenged in life, “as nurses, we face tremendous challenges and often see and do things that are extraordinary” (Ulrich xix). By becoming a registered nurse the individual will make a difference. Nursing allows an individual to continuously be benefiting a fellow human being, not only with the patient but with their families as well, having the opportunity to becoming someone especial in the patient’s life. Nursing is a

I realized I wanted to be a nurse in 2010 when I was sitting by my grandfather as he was diagnosed with a stroke. As the physician explained to my family and I that the man we knew and loved would not be able to speak or walk again we were struck with heartache. The compassionate and holistic care that the nurses provided him solidified my determination to become a healer to patients who were not able to care for themselves. Today, I have the joy to work in an Emergency Department caring for acutely ill patients and their families, as they are vulnerable and grieving just as my family was. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that my journey will not end until I become more involved with patient care by earning a degree as a Nurse Practitioner. In this paper, I will discuss my educational and professional goals, short term and long-term goals, and how earning a Nurse

The nursing profession is a challenge. As a nurse, you must remember every day that you can both alleviate suffering patients by administering treatment prescribed by a doctor and by a good word and a smile. For a good nurse should not matter how hard the day was, how much trouble it encountered, but must remember the core values of the profession and why he/she chose this profession. Nurses play an important role in the healthcare system. This is why they have been correctly referred to as the heart

According to the American Nurses Association, “Nursing is the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations” (ANA, 2010b). Nursing has come a long ways. From primitive times when caring for the sick was predominantly the rule of medicine-men who acquired the skills from their ancestors, to the era when it was viewed as a mean profession for prostitutes and nowadays when it is considered a noble profession with trained and skilled personnel.

The profession of nursing is often looked at as taking care of sick people or treating physical well-being. Many do not realize that nursing encompasses so much more than that. It is very important to me to have a positive attitude that transfers to my coworkers and patients. I want to be committed to helping those in need and desire to be able to be a confident health educator. I think it is very important to use the knowledge I have in my area of expertise to instruct others where it is needed. I would like to be able to say I gave the highest quality of care that I could at the end of each day. I realize that not everything will always be perfect or smooth, and there is only so much I can do. However, many of the rough patches can be eased with hard work and a good outlook. I want to be able to form great relationships with my colleagues as well as the client and facilitate everyone working together. Nursing is a respectable profession and I hope to contribute my own compassion to the entire community.

When my grandmother was dying of cancer in hospice, I had no intentions of becoming a nurse. Consistently, I repositioned her because she was in pain. Dutifully, I opened her windows because she loved the sunlight. Respectfully, I rubbed lotion on her skin because it made her comfortable. Devotedly, I prayed with her because her faith was strong, and she was ready to be reunited with my grandfather. Wistfully, I held her hand as she took her last breath, and told her it was okay to go. Afterwards, when the hospice nurses had told me that I would make a great nurse and I should consider nursing as a career, I politely said “No, thank you, nursing is not for me.”

The greatest aspect about nursing is that it is never going to be just a job and is even more than a merely profession. Instead, it is a belief system or way of life and not a discipline that can simply be practiced then abandoned to the dictates of a time clock. To simply say that “I love people” or want to “help people get better” does not demonstrate the drive behind this feeling. Articulating my philosophy is not an easy task, to better explain my philosophy of nursing, I am going to use some values that I have learned. These tools truly explain how I feel and what has motivated me to pursue nursing as a career.