As a kid, I never thought of being a nurse. It wasn’t until my mid-20s, after a degree in a totally unrelated field, that I started thinking I might become a healthcare provider. Here were my clues that I was destined to be a nurse…what were yours?
10 funny signs I was destined to become a nurse:
10. I had an obsession with really comfortable, supportive shoes.
9. Given the choice, I’d prefer to wear drawstring pajamas all day.
8. Blood doesn’t bother me. Neither does poop, or vomit, or smelly things. Phlegm does, though, so being a respiratory therapist was right out.
7. I’ve always gotten up before the sun; why not use that to my advantage by getting a job where I had to leave the house at oh-dear-thirty?
6. Germs don’t bother me in the least.
5. I’ve always been really good at translating complex technical terms into English without making the other person feel like an idiot.
4. Drawing blood and starting IVs turned out to be really cool.
3. My parents taught me to be endlessly patient while at the same time teaching me to stand my ground against bullies.
2. I don’t have to pee very often. I’m like a camel but in a bladder-contents sort of way.
1. I was born with a third arm and eyes in the back of my head. What gets me strange looks when I walk down the street is an asset in the nursing world.
Funny, but I could have written this. I think I realized that this was where I belonged on my first day of clinicals. 33 years and counting. Thanks for sharing your memories 🙏🏻
As a child, I was taught the importance of sharing. As hospital nurses, we obtain and share samples of mucus, urine, emesis and stool with the lab, the docs, CNAs, RTs and other nurses. We are then encouraged, nay required, to describe, in detail and in writing, the appearance, weight (and aroma at times) of each and every substance. Nursing is the career for me. Caring
and sharing!
I was eating dinner in a Houston seafood restaurant with a friend who had a shrimp reaction. I had been a lifeguard in my teens, and as my friend lost his airway, I splashed his throat with his martini, cut a small hole with a steak knife and put in a Bic pen. The Paramedics arrived about ten minutrs later and my friend was still breathing thru the minuscule airway I created. I knew then IT was healthcare but due to funding & prior education, & the fact I liked contact with people Nursing was a better fit than med school. I have never regretted this choice.
#8. Is me all the way!
Double down on that for me. Can’t do phlegm.
Number 8 😂. Me to the core! I love this crazy field that chose me after 40….& the fact I still have amazing bladder control @ 50+. Lol!
I can relate to the above. I think since I was a little child and the oldest of 6, that I was destined to be in healthcare. As a teen, I was the one that got a pearl out of my younger sister’s nose, that she just decided to see if it would fit! No training, but successful! And my main peeves were dirty ears—loved cleaning the wax out! And nothing bothered me—blood, poop, vomit, or mucus! It was destiny! And I am thankful for being in this profession.
I took all my toys apart to see how they worked. I needed to understand how things worked. I wasn’t so good at putting them back together so a surgeon or orthopedist was out of the question.
I also can relate to the above. What solidified my path into nursing was when I was 16 and in the hospital for minor surgery. My evening nurse came in and asked if I wanted a sleeping pill, that my surgeon had ordered it. I remember being a little nervous since I had never taken anything except Tylenol. When I asked the nurse, whose name was Mrs. Fink btw, what would the effect of the pill be, she replied in a very stern and curt manner, “IT WILL PUT YOU TO SLEEP!” From that moment on, I knew that if I ever became a nurse, I would never speak to my patient the way she spoke to me. And no matter how busy I got during my career, I always took time to explain things to my patients.
This is strange, but I loved reading books written by Doctors and Nurses. So I was CNA first, loved it and then got a LPN degree which took me to worlds of new things.
Ann Freda Bishop
I was in hospital at 10 years old with a fracture. The nurse held my hand and she looked real
cute in her white uniform. I especially liked her cap. It accentuated her dark brown hair(same colour as mine) She had a soft kind voice & dark brown eyes like mine. I definitely wanted to be like her.
My father became very ill when I was 15. It looked like university wasn’t in the cards but if I could get into a nursing school everything was pretty well paid for. I just had to endure 3 years of institutional living but there was the bonus of getting away from home. Nursing School curfews were a picnic to what I endured at home.
In 2nd grade I got into trouble for show and tell by grossing out another student. I showed them pictures of their pacreas and told them all about what it was supposed to do when working properly.
I brought my tonsils to school for show and tell, so it could have been worse!
I can relate to all 10 of those lol
I also have a bladder the size of a camel and enjoy being in my pajamas all day