Is Nursing For Me?

When I tell people that I am a nursing major I usually get one of two reactions. Either amazement, saying "wow, I don't know how you do that, that is such a hard major!" or belittlement saying, "must not have been smart enough to be a doctor!" Either way, I would not choose anything different. It is a great major (even though it is hard!) and it will be a very rewarding career.

I see nursing as a major for individuals who are kind and patient enough to deal with people, answering their smallest of questions, smart enough to converse in medical terminology with providers and other members of the patient's care team, yet even more intelligent to then translate all of that information from very complex, to a 5th grade level, to explain to the common person who does not understand the complex discussion of their care team. Nurses have to be soft enough to show compassion and therapeutic care, yet strong enough to watch things that no one wants to see and continue to show up anyway. The face of a terminally ill child who no longer has the energy to play, the palliative care of a mother of four who is not going to recover from her illness, and being part of the journey of a family as they navigate deciding whether to withdraw care from their child who no longer has any brain function are examples of the situations that nurses have to face daily. Not only must they face them, but they must face them with bravery, positivity, and comfort, because they are the ones the family is leaning on to give them strength. Nursing is for the soft and strong, the brave and honest, the tough and kind.

Now nursing is not always so sad and serious. You care for people on the very worst days of their lives, but you also care for people on the very best. Caring for a young woman who has been struggling with infertility for months or years, you get to celebrate with her when she finally gets pregnant, and watch her and her husband erupt with joy because they had given up hope and had stopped trying. You help women endure the worst pain of their lives, who have lost babies or who have struggled to have babies, bring a life into the world and hold their babe in their arms after a long and hard labor. You get to celebrate with your patients who have fought a disease for years of their lives after they have been told that finally, they are cancer free. And you get to see the babies you took care of in the ICU when they were only a couple pounds, grow up and live meaningful and fulfilling lives all thanks to your care and effort.

So in summary: nursing is complex, exciting, taxing, and rewarding. But what does it take to be a good nurse/nursing student?

Well first, it takes a lot of time. Time to do your work/homework. Time to devote to other people, listening to them, encouraging them, advising them, and understanding them. But mostly it takes a lot of time for yourself. Time to refill your cup after pouring love, patience, and attention into the cups of others. It takes perseverance. Perseverance to keep going when you have a difficult patient, family, or coworker. Perseverance to come back after an emotionally draining shift. Perseverance to remember why you chose the profession in the first place, and to keep working toward your dreams/goals even when you feel like they are impossible or out of reach. Nursing takes intelligence. Intelligence to know what you are doing and why you're doing it. Intelligence to know that your care matters, even though it may be undone once the patient is discharged. Intelligence to know the difference between someone's unkindness toward you actually being about you, and when it is really just a reflection of how they feel about themselves. But lastly and most importantly, nursing takes a big heart with a whole lot of love and care. Love and care for what you do, better the lives of people every single day of your life. Love and care to continue to give 100% to the people you serve. Love and care to know that each person you have in your care should be treated like you would want your own family member or yourself to be treated.

Nursing is not for the faint of heart. It is for those with the time, perseverance, and intelligence to keep going. But I will be the first to tell you that if you do not have all of these things, or any of these things previously mentioned, you will still make an amazing nurse. You see, all of the attributes you have, smarts, endurance, talents or skills, are so useless without the last. Having a caring and giving heart, the selflessness to know when to put others before yourself and the awareness to know when to fill your cup and care for yourself, is the one and only thing that separates the mediocre nurses, and people, from the unforgettable and incredible, the people worth holding onto. So go into nursing. But please for one second don't believe that you will come out the other side of the journey without being changed. Every day this profession changes you for the better, teaching you more about yourself and the world. Let this life of service consume you and transform you. I promise you, you will find the best version of yourself, and in turn, change the world for the better, one person at a time.

you are blessed. you are gifted. you are loved and appreciated, just as you are.

mindfully, molli