I was a late bloomer, boomer. I had a BA,Ed (degree), but at age 27, was still not in a career. I worked and lived with nurses in Boston, and one day it just occurred to me—I can be a nurse.
From that day forward, I worked to make it a reality. What a wonderful decision. I have worked in many areas of nursing, but my most meaningful job was working with women with breast cancer in the early 1980’s. It was a time when not much was being discussed on this subject, and women really needed care and understanding. Education was key, and I was able to combine both my nursing and education background. I continue to this day to be a nurse educator.
I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and the knowledge I gained over the years has helped me personally to get through this-all because of a decision I made in one day.
Ellen
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Nurse 30 years

My mother and grandmother were nurses as are my sister and aunts. At my high school graduation in Vero Beach, Fl., the typical professional choices for women were teaching or nursing and of course with the influence of family members who were nurses, and my father being a physician, I attended a three year Diploma nursing program in Charlotte, N.C. I have been working in hospitals at the bedside for over 34 years in various services. It has always been for me, a heartfelt service, helping others who are vulnerable, that has brought me joy in my profession. By working in emergency rooms, ICU’s and then various specialty units, I have had the priveledge of sharing my patients joys and sorrows in their situations with health care. Even now at age 64, I have found a place that I can be useful and caring to others in teaching positions. What a comfort too in this ecomomy to know that my life skills are always needed and that I could find a niche that still brings me pleasure. I have been an encourager of this profession whenever possible and have not regretted ever the choice those many years ago. I dedicate this story to my parents who were role models; my mother who I have always loved and admired for all she was to me, and for all the support and encouragment she gave to me in my life and to my father who spent his life serving those in need.

Hi, I am Michele from Jax, Fla. and have the honor of being a nurse for 30 years. Wow-30 years!-I can hardly believe it! I chose nursing because I was so inspired in my Freshman year of college by a nurse.

Our professor had a heart attack right in front of the class. The college nurse ran in after someone called 911 and I quietly observed her calm and efficient demure and actions during the emergency. She saved the professors life and I found myself saying “I want to do that someday and be just like her”.

I promptly changed my major and the rest is history. I am so grateful to have been lead to the greatest profession in the world. What an honor to provide for the deepest human needs during illness both physiologically and psychologically. To have the courage to help ill people live and also to have the courage to be there when they die-to provide dignity and comfort to not only the patient, but their loved ones.

I am convinced a competent nurse can do anything! Thank you Florence Nightingale for leading the way, it is now up to us and those coming after us to continue to carry the torch. Nursing is a bright light, perhaps one of the only ones left in the health care arena. Hold your light up high and shine brightly.

August 27, 2009 – I finished the narratives today for the entire suite for the Florence Nightingale exhibit.  It has been an exhausting effort, and I hope I was able through seven paintings and two Legend panels of ephemera able to capture the essence and character of Florence Nightingale.  It was certainly a stretch of my capabilities as an artist, and I welcomed the challenge.  I hope folks enjoy the narratives in order that each may learn about the history of modern nursing and the life and times of nursing pioneer, hospital administrator, statistician, hospital designer, and author, Florence Nightingale.

My name is Carolyn from Jacksonville,FL and I have been a registered nurse for 38 years. I have never regretted, not even for one day, choosing nursing as my career. It has been my “calling” and my ministry for all these years. I knew from the first day in my pediatric rotation as a student that I was meant to care for ill children and their families. I may not have seen myself in my present role when I began so many years ago, but my passion for children and families has never waned. I believe nursing is the heart and soul of healthcare. Very few professions allow you to care for people during their most vulnerable times in their lives. Patients and families deserve knowledgable and caring nurse. My life’s passion has been to provide that kind of care to some of the sickest children in our area.

I’ve nearly completed the suite of paintings now. The two “legacy” towers include ephemera from Florence and her life and times, including a 10″x14″ bronze plaque with her Nursing Pledge; stamps and the ten pound sterling British currency note, original carte de vista (calling card) with her Kilbern photo and signature on the back, return envelope from the U.S.S. Nightingale, a signed Christmas card from Florence to her neice, Joan Bonham-Carter, and more. I am excited about the Florence Nightingale exhibit as it is being readied for 2010 and the celebratory efforts going on around the world in her honor. It’s been a very busy three months!

I am busy completing the nine paintings for the upcoming show at the Karpeles Museum on September 11 (Jacksonville, FL). They will include a portrait of Florence before she left for the Crimean War, six “points of inspiration” paintings depicting those life-changing times that formed her character and passion, and two what I call “tower” paintings. The tower paintings include ephemera from the times and bring the viewer through the history of nursing from gentlewoman times to today, noting Dr. Jean Watson as the global leader of “caring science”, the future direction of modern nursing. This journey has been very exciting for me, and I hope as the blog continues to grow we will all enjoy reading about why people have chosen the field of nursing as her or his life’s work. Thank you for joining this blog, and please share this historical narrative opportunity with your friends and colleagues.

Anna, West Haven, CT, United States
Years nursing: 2.5

It’s a strange feeling when people ask me why I became a nurse. When this question was posed in college, many classmeate raised their hands and said there were nurses in their family and so it felt like a good path for them. To this day, I can’t pinpoint the moment, the experience, the real reason for going into nursing. And each time I explore it, I discover new insights.

To a very large extent, I agree when people say it’s a calling. However I do believe our experiences mold us.
I held my father’s hand when he passed away a few weeks before my 14th birthday. I was too young to have participated in his care, to fight for information when provided updates by the MD’s at the hospitals. But at the same time, just old enough to realize that once he was gone, there were all those landmarks in time he would not be present for.
As much as I have denied this to myself in the past, I feel like nursing is my chance to fight for my father. To care for every patient as I would have cared for him if given the chance… if given the time.
For me, it was a profession to go into to really LIVE life. As a nurse I knew I would see the moments in betweeen the moments. A privilage to see the shared glances at a loved one when the other was looking away. Of loved ones gaining perspective of antoher day while in the sterile walls of a hospital room, and swearing to themselves to appreciate the same moments once they return home. To watch people get the chances I missed, and to make those moments of sadness and realization easier for those in pain.
This story is a new one I have discovered while writing just now. And I’m sure there will be more to come.
As I’m still not certain what lead me to arrive here, I believe all roads would have eventually led me to the same place.

First of all, I am not a nurse. However, the inspiration I received from my grandmother, who was a nurse, and my sister, who is a nurse, is not quantifiable. My grandmother went into nursing when it was increments above day labor. At a later date, she retired to nurse her daughter full-time. Jo Ann was never diagnosed, but was an infant in an adult body–never able to walk, or care for herself in any way. My grandmother devoted herself to feeding, changing, turning and nurturing this child who reached her fifties due to that care. My sister was an RN who did traditional nursing, was a cardiac care nurse, and then, due to the incomporable burden of the paperwork and the lack of time with patients, became a home health nurse. The stories she can tell about dealing with people in the backwoods of North Carolina belong in a book I’m encouraging her to let me write. From rescuing boa constrictors to being accosted by a crone with a rifle, her life was one of dedication to her patients and run-ins with the bizzare. I admire her without reservation and commend her to you as a nurse with heart who gave me a wonderful hero to look up to. Her name is Mary and she lives on Oak Island in North Carolina, retired and happy.She was a nurse for 46 years.
Therese
Indian Shores, Fl, USA

Buffy Port Orange, Fl. USA

Nurse 30 plus years

Since childhood I can’t remember anything but wanting to be a nurse more specifically a nursing nun. Well, I accomplished half of that equation, nurse. I started nursing school immediately after high school but only finished one semester. I spent the next six years working in Medical Records. While working, I went to LPN school and began my nursing career. I wanted to work where my sister, a nurse, worked – Childrens Hospital. This is where my love of Neonates developed. To be able to care for very small babies, some weighing about 4 sticks of butter, & many with cardiac or surgical problems was most rewarding. Not only do you care for the baby, you had to emotionally care for the parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles. It was a true family affair.
While a NICU nurse, I continued my education and became an RN. My nursing career has included NICU, SICU & OB-Gyn. I have been so blessed to be a nurse. This has allowed me to make a difference in patients lives now with a career in Biotechnology. Whether giving patient care or working to make lives healthier, it is always about the PATIENT.