Happy Thursday, and happy October! As promised, I’m here to share the story of why I became a nurse. I don’t think I’ve ever shared it here or on any other platform, and I think it’s a fairly nice story to share. I want to preface this by saying that I didn’t grow up my whole life wanting to be a nurse. I actually didn’t even think of it until after my first semester of college, where I started as a business management major (LOL). I always associated nurses as scary people who gave you shots when you didn’t want them; I guess it was childhood trauma. As a child, I wanted to be a writer, and my interests jumped around from journalism, book writing, and magazine writing. Low and behold, my blog was born in 2014, and I still felt the urge to do more with my life. I love writing, but I still felt incomplete.

I’ve always loved kids, and I’ve always been interested in medicine. I knew medical school was not for me, so I started doing some research. I came across the Nurse Practitioner career and it seemed interesting. From one day to the next, I realized I wanted to be a pediatric nurse practitioner. That was it, that’s what I decided; but first things first, nursing school.

As a lot of you know, my family suffers from a congenital heart condition.

Growing up, I remember countless visits to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at our local children’s hospital visiting different family members, whether it was my sister, my cousin, or my mom. One specific experience that I remember vividly was when my mom was being hospitalized for some complications due to her heart problem. One thing led to another, and they had to call a Code Rescue (rapid response team for immediate medical help) to prevent her from continuing to deteriorate. I remember Chris, her nurse that day, calmly telling me and my sister that she was going to be okay. Essentially, him calling that Code Rescue got her the attention she needed to get better. It was a brief encounter, but I’d never forget him for the excellent care he gave my mom and the way he helped me and my sister feel comfortable and calm when we were scared. When I decided to be a nurse, I knew I wanted to have that kind of positive impact on people like he did on me.

Cardiology is a specialty that I hold near and dear to my heart (no pun intended), so in nursing school, when I had the opportunity to do my first clinical rotation on the cardiac unit, I was really excited. I’d soon learn that adult cardiac patients are very different than the pediatric cardiac patients I was used to seeing. New sizes, new smells, and everything in between, we were not in Kansas (pediatrics) anymore. Anyway, I showed up one of my first clinical days, and guess who there on the unit: Chris. I (extremely) nervously went up to him and introduced myself, and reminded him of the experience with my mom, assuming he wouldn’t remember. He immediately remembered her (room number and all) and gave me a hug. He proceeded to tell me that he was a float nurse (they go to different floors every shift), so it was pure coincidence that he was my mom’s nurse that day and that I was seeing him on my assigned unit now. I told him he was a big reason I decided to go to nursing school, so he obviously got emotional (and so did I). Fast forward to when I graduated nursing school and got hired onto that same cardiac unit, Chris was now a staff nurse on that floor. A nurse who influenced me to go into nursing by saving my mom’s life ended up being my coworker on my first job as a nurse. It’s funny how life works, right?

Another big influence in my nursing career was my first preceptor, Celine. She was my preceptor during my time as a Scholar Nurse Partner while I was in nursing school and again when I started the night shift on my unit. From the moment she began training me, I literally wanted to be her when I grew up. She is such a good nurse and such a good teacher, and she always has the answer to everything. She exemplifies everything I want to be as a nurse. I think the best preceptors have this type of effect on their students, and she definitely positively impacted me as a nursing student/new nurse. We also clicked the first day we worked together, and we’ve grown to become very close friends!

So there it is- the reasons I became a nurse. Although I didn’t get a job in pediatrics immediately out of nursing school, I got to work on a cardiac floor that I did a lot of my training on, alongside two very influential people in my career. Throughout my year and a half of being a nurse, I’ve learned so many different things, ranging from basic patient care to core life values. I love helping people and being there for them and their families during some of their hardest times. Nursing is a beautiful career for those who truly love it, and I’m so grateful and proud that I found my calling in life. It’s crazy how something you never thought of as a child ends up being what you’re meant to do.

I hope you enjoyed story time! I know this was a lengthy post, but I figured a nurse blogger should share her “why” story at some point. As always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments below, or message me on Instagram. Stay safe and wash your hands!

Tons of love,

Nicki G.