I want to go back to school to become a nurse
When I had Nora - I mean really HAD her - delivered her - it was the first time I was ever a patient in a hospital. The first time I had been cared for by a nurse. And the first time I ever really knew what I wanted to do in life.
I had gotten my degree s already, but I never had a desire to use them or to pursue those fields. After I graduated I took a job as an administrative assistant at a computer consulting firm. I was successful there, I moved up quickly and I was good at what I did, but I never truly felt fulfilled and I'm not sure I ever would have. After I quit I never missed it once. I am good at that stuff, but is it a calling? I don't think it is for me.
However, after coming home from having Nora, I honestly felt like I knew what I was meant to do - I wanted to be a nurse. And I still want to be a nurse. I dream of it. It is my biggest dream/wish/desire for my personal/individual future. Someday when the girls are older, Dave's schedule allows it and we can afford it I will go back to school and get my nursing degree. Right now I want to be a labor and delivery nurse, but that may change in time. It won't matter to me as long as I am doing what I feel called to do.
Over the last year or so I have felt even more passionate about wanting to do this. For me, nursing is probably one of the biggest ways that a vocation and ministry can intersect. How better for me to be an extension of the hand of God than to physically touch people, help people and give them a cup of cold water. Literally. How can that not be ministry?
As I reexamine my role in church, my views of ministry and my personal belief system it becomes clearer and clearer to me all the time that this is what I am called to do. I am eager to get started, but know that it will be several years yet until I can even go back to school and then another couple of years until I'm actually working. I'm anxious, but I'm willing to wait.
QOTD:
What is your biggest dream for your personal/individual future?
getting to know me in 100 days - day 22
12 comments:
Me too, me too! I swear I could have written that post.
One other reason it is so appealing to me is the flexibility it offers moms. When I was at Calvin my dad told me to be either "a nurse or a teacher because then you can take time off or work part time with kids." I got mad and called him a sexist pig but he was right. All my friends who are nurses or teachers took time off or switched to part-time when having kids/babies and then were able to swing back full time when their kids were all in school.
I have another 6 years til I get to go back to school so I'll be like 90 when I'm actually a nurse, but hey, a girl can dream!
And yes, you can be my doula. But I'm not very nice in labor. :-)
Ditto. When I was a kid I had a huge interest in being a nurse (mostly l & d), but never pursued it. I was too grossed out about the learning to draw blood part, coupled with the fact that you practice on each other to do that. I had heard that dental hygiene was also a good field for family raising, so I went into that instead. I make a great wage working on a substitute basis, and can pick which days I want to work. It is extremely flexible. But, it's not fulfilling. I, too, became more interested in nursing after I had Luke. My nurses were angels, and I longed to do something that impacted people in that way. I'm over my fear of needles (you HAVE to be when you've had this many kids!), and I really really feel that it is my calling, too. I took a class on Spiritual Gifts, and my biggest one is mercy. So fitting for what I feel called to do.
L & D is my first choice, but Hospice would be my second. When Jared's grandma died, I was in the room with other family members, surrounding her bed and singing to her. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed...to see a woman breathe her last breath and go to meet her Savior. I know death is not a pretty thing, nor is every situation that peaceful, but I think I could do that well, too.
Sorry to be so verbose...but you've touched on a passion in my heart. :) Now, if I can stop having babies, I'll get closer to being able to go back to school! :)
Well let's see. I love just about anything having to do w/ "work" - but, I think I want to do one of two things.
a.) Get a degree so I can teach (very young children). I think I would have figured this out at a much younger age but, I was not raised in a home where you were encouraged, taught, etc. so I never gave it a moments thought. Until I turned 39. ;)
b.) Get into the adoption circle. More about that on my blog.
And one of those will happen...when I grow up. Not if, but when. :)
Well, I am a nurse, and yes it is a wonderful calling. I have chosen though, for now, to put it aside and be a Mom full-time. Things are changing for me though; my little one is almost 3 and I'm thinking about going back. I actually have an interview tomorrow..more about that another time.
Moments stick in my head forever though...holding a man's hand who was in so much pain, stopping at a funeral home of one of my patients' who died and we tried to resusitate, putting a doppler on a woman's belly to hear the tiny heartbeat of her child, hearing patients say they really understand what it going on because I explained it to them, etc.
I want to be a published writer somewhere other than blog world!
I'm not there quite yet, but am loving all that I'm learning in the process! And I've already gotten to feel like I've made a difference in some people's lives. I have found it to be very fulfilling already, and I'm not even done with school yet!
That is so awesome. I truly think nurses are the closest thing to angels on earth.
My girlfriend is a neo-natal nurse, and I remember us talking about our jobs one day. As an editor, I was always working nutty hours and traveling like crazy -- stress was basically in my job description. But then she told me how one night after she started the day shift for the first time, her body clock was all goofed up and she woke up crying. She didn't know where she was and thought she had forgotten to feed a baby. For a second, she thought she had killed a child... Now that's stress!
Doing that job HAS to be a calling. And I think you'll be great at it!
I have two dreams I often think about:
1. Being a Christian author and/or speaker
2. Becoming a high school English/journalism teacher.
We'll see what God has planned!
This question resonates with me...I'm still looking for an answer and think I need to take up more space than a comment should...I'll blog on this...thanks Jana for making each of us take time to consider what is important to us as individuals...not to mommy or wife. We can't deny that we fill those rolls but we shouldn't deny ourselves opportunities or dreams because of the rolls we fill. Does that make sense?
Is Mommy Brain dreaming of cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls and swiss cake rolls? Not her new role in life? :-)
You caught me this diet is going to my head!
Possibly tech design. Love to make art with the computer because I've never been able to with my hands.
My job interview didn't pan out.
I am actually applying for a L & D nurse position!
I'll let you know what they are looking for...I don't have the right experience, so I'm going to learn what they want and how to get it!
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