How I Became a Nurse...

Someone asked me today how I had decided to become a nurse. It got me thinking, "Hey, that would be a good Blog subject." So I will share my story and the rest of ya'll can post yours too :-)



Growing up, I had never even considered going into the health care field. I had never been to the doctor, never had antibiotics, and was scared to death of needles (I was one of those kids who would get the mail and throw away the immunization reminder card before my parents could see it and be "reminded" that I needed booster shots). Anyway, my mom was (is) very much into holistic / natural medicine so I naturally adopted many of her views.



When I was 21 and living away from home, my friends were concerned because I had lost a lot of weight from an already skinny frame and they thought there was something medically wrong so they made me go to the doctor. This was at a time when I had very little specific direction for my life and what to do next. While I was in the doctor's office, I had a "eureka!" moment as I watched the medical staff run around doing tests, charting, interacting with patients and doctors. I thought to myself, "I could do that!"



So I looked at different schooling options and decided to take the Surgical Technologist program from Eastern Idaho Technical College. I thought surgery would be fascinating and that I wouldn't have to deal with "sick" people in the O.R. After my first semester at EITC, I felt directed to change programs and go into the Practical Nursing program. I wanted a skill that I could use on the mission field and in raising a family and felt that nursing would be a more practical and versatile tool.



After all the prerequisites and the fall semester of the program were complete, I freaked out. Nursing was nothing like I had imagined it to be. I found myself learning how to put "bandaids" on patients' problems by administering medications that had side effects a mile long, and then gave them another pill to mask the side effect symptoms. I served sick people hospital food that was devoid of any real nutrients. Seriously, how can the body have what it needs to heal itself on white bread and bologni sandwiches and a bowl of pudding? Charting was tedious and I was scared to death that I would say or do the wrong thing or administer the wrong thing and kill someone. This was certainly not what I had signed up for and I was determined that I had made the wrong decision. I was not going to complete the rest of the program.



However, I very seldom start something without finishing it. I really prayed for direction over Christmas break and settled in my heart to continue in the program and become the best nurse that EITC could produce. When I graduated at the top of my class the following May, I was delighted that I had completed the task at hand, but had really no intention of ever working as a nurse. Two weeks later, as all my peers from nursing school started new jobs, I went to live in Hawaii for the summer.



Needless to say, after living on Maui for a few months with an aunt who is awe inspiring as a nurse and travels the world on her off time, I was provoked to reconsider my decision to never "be a nurse". I even decided to pursue more education and become a P.A. or microbiologist.



The day after I got home, I applied at the Blackfoot Medical Center and had an interview with Judy. The clinic seemed sooo big and soooo intimidating. Urgent care was sooo busy and everything seemed to be going a million ways at once. I was scared. I didn't think I had what it took to work in a place like that. So I was much relieved when Judy said there wasn't an opening at the time. But I mustered up enough courage and took a job at a local hospital working 12 hour night shifts on the med / surg floor. I struggled with every minute of it. I came home in tears every morning for 3 weeks. Then I got a call from Judy...

Now, five years later, I am so thankful that I became a nurse and that I became part of the BMC family. I have come a long way and still have a long way to go.