Why did you choose the nursing profession?
On several occasions in my life, I feel the nursing profession chose me. Looking back, the first caregiving experience I had was when I was six years old and my brother was born with severe medical challenges. Being the oldest of four children, I had to step up and learn how to monitor my brother’s breathing, understand when he needed a nebulizer and help my mom provide 24-hour supervision. At a young age, I learned about asthma, aspiration, complications with breathing and, most importantly, how to handle emergency situations. Since my mother was not able to work, shower or do laundry without someone watching my brother, I learned how to be a caregiver, pay attention to small detail and take responsibility. When I was 12 years old, I became the secondary caregiver for my grandpa. He was in the late stages of Parkinson’s disease and losing the ability to perform activities of daily living for himself. After school each day, I walked to my grandma’s house to allow her time to run errands, attend church and visit with friends. During this time, I would visit with my grandpa, assist him in walking, cutting his food, eating, putting his shoes on and taking the proper medications. Although some days were more challenging than others, I always left feeling …show more content…
I learned about all the opportunities I was going to have from the nursing field continuing to expand. The increase in choices and autonomy nurses are beginning to see was extremely important to me. I did love the patient care, but I wanted the involvement, autonomy and knowledge the house nurse carried with her position. Not only did I want to be a nurse, but I wanted to be a great nurse. With my knowledge, compassion and respect, I decided I was going to be the nurse able to change the atmosphere of a hospital room for a patient and his or her family during a blessed or devastating
On several occasions in my life, I feel the nursing profession chose me. Looking back, the first caregiving experience I had was when I was six years old and my brother was born with severe medical challenges. Being the oldest of four children, I had to step up and learn how to monitor my brother’s breathing, understand when he needed a nebulizer and help my mom provide 24-hour supervision. At a young age, I learned about asthma, aspiration, complications with breathing and, most importantly, how to handle emergency situations. Since my mother was not able to work, shower or do laundry without someone watching my brother, I learned how to be a caregiver, pay attention to small detail and take responsibility. When I was 12 years old, I became the secondary caregiver for my grandpa. He was in the late stages of Parkinson’s disease and losing the ability to perform activities of daily living for himself. After school each day, I walked to my grandma’s house to allow her time to run errands, attend church and visit with friends. During this time, I would visit with my grandpa, assist him in walking, cutting his food, eating, putting his shoes on and taking the proper medications. Although some days were more challenging than others, I always left feeling …show more content…
I learned about all the opportunities I was going to have from the nursing field continuing to expand. The increase in choices and autonomy nurses are beginning to see was extremely important to me. I did love the patient care, but I wanted the involvement, autonomy and knowledge the house nurse carried with her position. Not only did I want to be a nurse, but I wanted to be a great nurse. With my knowledge, compassion and respect, I decided I was going to be the nurse able to change the atmosphere of a hospital room for a patient and his or her family during a blessed or devastating