Is Nursing a Job or a Calling?

I truly feel it's a calling -- especially after reading Liv B's response!! I know I couldn't do it.

I am a nurse
Nursing is extremely difficult. You have to want to do it or you will be miserable. The hours are long, you have to beable to put someone elses needs above yours (you may miss lunch or have to pee for hours before you get a chance to stop long enough to use the bathroom), it is incredibly stressful both physically and emotionally, The work is heavy and fast paced, people die, people don't get better, you see suffering, you see unimaginable things, people get angry at the nurse because they need to take their grief out on someone, doctors yell and sometimes are disrespectful, you have to put up with administrative BS, co-workers are burnt out, understaffing, more work piled on you, the acuity of patients is higher these days needing more interventions, everyone wants you at once, you are spread thin, You care for all kinds of people, people who are nice as well as mean people, you risk physical attacks from mentally ill patients, patients in pain or detoxing, risk of body fluid exposure, frustration at people who are sick and refuse to make life style changes that will help them get better, and on and on and on....

Nursing is wonderful and gratifying, You relieve people of pain and suffering, You have special moments with patients, SAVE LIVES, you are a patient advocate, you see things the doctor does not see because you spend the most time with the patient, you comfort the families, help people die in comfort, you help improve peoples quality of life, you help solve problems, you are your patients confidant, you see the most amazing miracles, It is interesting you see things that people outside the field could not even image, you share special moments with patients, hold a hand, calm them before surgery and then be there for them when they wake up, special bond with you co-workers - you are all in it together, a thank you from a patient, patients who take your advise and make healthy life style changes, you learn to not judge, and on and on and on and on......

This profession is hard, you have to want to do it, you have to love it! I think it is a calling because when I think about what I do for a living, the situations I have been in, it makes me laugh and cry, I couldn't do this unless it was a calling. There is no half way in nursing you are dealing with peoples lives and one mistake can have grave consequences.

we have quite a few RNs in our family/friends. The ones who are happy felt "called"....the ones who complain went into the field for the salary. The complainers feel the most angst over policies & rules/regulations. Some of them openly admit to just being there for the $$.

I think the same holds true for each profession! I think you've made an excellent choice based on your own personal preferences! Good Luck.

Nursing is a calling. No doubt about it.
My mom is an RN. It is definitely her "thing".
She retired at 72 and only because they moved.
If you aren't called to do it - skip it.
LBC

I would say both. I am in school to become a nurse as a start over type of thing. As a nurse you have a lot of ability to influence people to a healthier lifestyle. In some ways more so then a doctor.
HOnestly every job has administrative BS. THat is part of being a grown and having a job. Heck even Mcd's does. People that can't hang with that, probably just can't hang with anything. It is a field in transition from being an associates field to a bachelor's field. The reality is nursing will always need to draw from associates degree programs. This change is really hitting some currently in the field hard.
But again as with everything adapt or die. I pick adapt. HOnestly I don't see myself as a floor nurse in 20 years, but you never know.

You can get a BS in Nursing and use it to go into administration. But it still leaves you the flexibility to do hands on nursing if you find that you love it. Often people go into clinical rotation and thier career path takes off in a whole new direction. They start off looking for a job and it ends up being a calling. I am not a nurse, but regret with my whole being that I didn't pursue it. I come from a long line of nurses in my family and had to rebel and go into Political Science. I regret that on a regular basis!! I wish I had been mor career minded rather than following my pashion. i am an idiot.

I went to nursing school because we were only going to be in the same town for two years and I could get into the program. I hate it! I always wanted to work in physical therapy, but the program had a two year wait and we would not be there long enough. Nursing is very stressful and lots of room for mistakes to be made due to understaffing. I have been a SAHM for the last 4 years and I'm not sure if I will ever go back to nursing. If you are considering this as a career I would definately get a Certified Nursing Assistant degree first and see if you like it before going to nursing school. (Some schools require this anyway to be in the program.) I don't think the program is very long. Anyways, good luck with your decision.

I guarantee you it doesn't have to be a "calling". My brother goofed off for 10 years after highschool. After several years of goofing, he got a job as an orderly and saw that that could be improved and so got an LPN degree. He was an LPN for a few years while he worked on an RN degree. Finally, in his 30's, he had a career. He actually reallly likes the work, but he was definitely not "called" to it - he was one of the lucky ones that sort of fell into it.

Also, hospitals do need people that are great at administrative tasks. You could pursue an HR degree that is slanted towards the health industry.

Good luck!
L.