Call to Serve Humankind

     That is what Nursing is all about, a calling to serve.  I felt the compulsion to help others from a young age.  I didn't realize it at the time, but this was my life's calling.  I started as a candy striper in the hospital in high school, then a nursing assistant after I graduated.  I want to play a bigger part in the care of others, so I'm going to nursing school to get my license.

     The training needed to get a nursing degree and license starts at an Associates degree.  If someone feels compelled to achieve more responsibility, they can continue their education to get a Bachelor of Science  or even a Master's Degree. The student sits for the NCLEX-RN test for a nursing license once required education is completed.   Since science is achieving greater advances every day continuing education is needed to stay current and licensed.

      If the newly minted R.N. thinks the training to get to this point took a lot of work  As the saying goes; they ain't seen nothing yet. Hospital nurses usually have a set shift of 8 to 12 hours, but sometimes the unexpected happens.  Of course, an R.N. may choose to work in a school or office where that setting closes at a certain time. 

      What ever setting the R.N. decides to work in the work will be physically difficult.  Nurses spend an enormous amount of time on their feet (confirmed by the varicose veins my nurse friends and I have)("LNC").  The amount of physical support R.N.'s give their patients varies from one setting to another, but nurses always have to be mindful of their own health.

      The risk to one's own health seems a small tradeoff to me in being of benefit to someone in need.  One day we all will be in need of help and I would hope my calling would leave me deserving of someone's generosity.  Nursing is a productive, and useful way to spend life beneficial to both patient and the person of service.

     

Works Cited

Bureau of Labor Statistic's Occupational Outlook Handbook. United States Department of Labor. 2010-11 Edition. Web. 17 Sept. 2011.

Donaldson, Robert M., Jr., Kathleen S. Lundgren, and Howard M. Spiro. The Yale Guide to Careers             in Medicine and the Health Professions; Pathways to Medicine in the 21^st Century. New        Haven, London:   Yale University Press, 2003. Print

Swanson, Barbara Mardinly. VGM Professional Career Series; Careers in Health Care.   NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, 2000. Print.

Lippincott's Nursing Center.com, Wolters Kluwer Health/ Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. Web. 19      November 2011.