In your first classes of nursing school, your professors will go around the room and ask each one of you why you chose nursing. There will be those kids in the class who say for money and then laugh, those kids who chose the profession because their parents are in it, the kid who just wants to help people, and the kid who was affected by an illness and saw how compassionate the nurses were. Most people will have the same answers. Most of these answers will end up being changed as your journey through nursing school progresses.

When asked that question I found it hard to answer. I wanted to be a nurse for all the classic reasons most of which i just listed. But it wasn't until I began my clinical rotations where I realized the real reason I wanted to be a nurse. I ofcourse wanted to help people and make the world a better place. But I realized that my drive, my compassion to be a nurse is so much more that it's hard to put into words unless you have been through nursing school.

I want to be a nurse to be there for the patients who have no one, who don't have anyone to keep them going, I want to be there to help them and give them a reason. I want to be there holding my scared patients hand before surgery, calming his/her nerves and seeing them relax. I want to be the one at the bedside holding my dying patients hand to comfort her as she passes. I want to be the one helping a patient smile again and regain their life after a failed suicide attempt. I want to be the one a patient goes to when they need help. In my patients weakest moment, I want to be the one to let them know that they are not alone. I want to be the last resort of protection before administering medications to a patient. I want to be the one to catch the potential medication slip ups a doctor might have. I want to be the one to catch the signs and symptoms when a complication can develop and I WILL be the one to fix that complication. I want to be there for all the ups and downs that a patient might have. I want to be there for it all.

No, I am not in nursing for just the money, or for all the "thank you's" , the praises i get, or the "wow your amazing". Those are just a benefit that I don't even need. I am in nursing to make a difference. I am in nursing for many more reasons that are impossible to explain unless you have gone through or are in nursing school yourself.

So all the people i have to bathe, vomit I have to clean up, people i have to wipe, ulcers i have to clean are all worth it. All the long 12 hour shifts of no sitting, barely eating, barely drinking and no bathroom breaks are worth it. It's worth the endless amount of stress i have to undergo, the days of maybe 2 hours of sleep and the constant crying. These 4 years of being under constant pressure and anxiety will all be worth it. I am determined to be a nurse. Because at the end of my hectic 12 hour long shift, I will go home and simply just smile because I know the impact I had on one's life and it is then, at that moment, everything becomes worth it and no one can take that feeling away.

So when your nursing professors ask you, why do you want to be a nurse? what will you respond? Because I guarantee you, your answers will change and you will not feel the real meaning of your words until your first clinical rotation.

Sincerely,

A 2nd year Nursing student