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Bridget Angus
ENGL 1010
Jillion Bennion
April 15, 2016
Life as a Nurse
Nursing is a rewarding self-sacrificing and hard career to want to do, not
everyone is made to do it and those who think it will be easy are crazy to think so. I
have always wanted to be a nurse ever since I was young; my grandmother was an
LPN then became an RN in 1974 at the age of 42. She was always caring for others
and even though she was older she knew she wanted to do more in life. It showed
me that no matter how old you get you can always follow your dream and make a
better life if you are strong enough. Back then she was only making $4.00 as a
Licensed Practicing Nurse and had to take 3 years of school to become one. She
then went and did another year and tested to become a Registered nurse and made
$5.00 per hour. She worked in nursing homes and hospitals and then retired.
During her time as a nurse the only places you could find work were just that in
nursing homes, hospitals or during the war. She never went into the services
because my grandfather already did. My grandmother and I are the same on many
ways like her I started school late in life, I am 32 only ten years younger than her,
she went to school while balancing children and a job, I myself am doing just the
same. I got the privilege to portray her as my hero in elementary school during a
career play In this play we got to dress up as our future selfs and I chose a nurse, I
wore a white nurse dress and I even got to wear her nurses hat, this was the
moment I knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

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Nursing has changed a lot since she was a nurse and there are many
differences. For instance, 97% of nurses were women and only 2.7% were male
nurses in 1974, now there is over 41% of male nurses as reported in an article in
the US Times. They also reported that most male nurses prefer to be a nurse
anesthetists, this is the highest paying role and title of all the nursing professionals
and can make over $162,900 a year. I would love to go into that field, but sadly I
would most likely be looked over and the job given to a man, but that wont stop me
from trying. When researching if nursing is worth sacrificing not only my time but
the time with my family I decided to start asking questions. I went looking for
information about the pay scale for each job title for nursing. On the site Bureau of
Labor Statistics the pay is $68,490 yearly for Hospital jobs, $70,540 yearly for
government positions, $63,810 for home health services and Nursing homes and
Physician offices make about the same at $59,840 and $59,550. (As of May 2014).
Another field of work in the nursing felid that interest me is a surgical nurse, I love
all the aspects about this position. As a Surgical nurse I would work in a hospital
alongside of many surgeons and assist during surgeries if needed. It would
defiantly be something different then I am used to doing. I am, used to being in a
clinic setting working with a provider who can be a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner.
With this experience it has also made me think of other avenues to stay in
the clinic setting, I have been thinking about becoming a Nurse practitioner only
recently while working alongside of and in my opinion one of the best Nurse
Practitioners Sandra Mcnicoll. Sandra has really been the number one motivator for
me to really get in gear and get my schooling done, she has told me that I should do
nursing for a little bit before I move on to the next step of becoming a nurse
practitioner. She has also told some of our patients that if I had been done with

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schooling I would be taking over for her, I was totally taken away by this simple
statement. It really set in stone that I am headed where I needed to be.
As I talked with my grandmother to get her opinion of how things have
changed she has told me how proud she is that I have chosen to follow her down
this path. She and I have had many conversations about her career, and how it
feels to be so late to the game of nursing. She told me that one of her classes she
had to take was chemistry she did bad on all the test but when it came to
demonstrating the work she passed. The instructor asked her how she was able to
perform the takes but not the test all she could reply was that she was a hands on
learner and it came easier to her when shown. Starting late in the nursing field did
not come easily to me I had my mind set in starting after graduation, but I ended up
moving to Colorado to live with my older sister who was going through a painful
divorce and needed family. This lead to me postponing schooling for the time, my
intent was to start once I got out there with her and ended up needing to help out
with bills and things. One good thing during this time was I met my husband in
Colorado after four years of living there, we moved back go married and now have
four beautiful children. My children are another driving force I want to be there for
all their school plays, field trips, and activities they choose to do, nursing gives me
that flexibility to do so I just must first establish myself. I didnt think I would get to
this point really but after long drawn out conversation we, my husband and I felt it
was time.
I know no matter where I end up I will love what I do, the medical field is
where I am to be. I know that schooling for nurses just to become one is a 2 year
associates degree, but now most companies are looking for you to have a 4year
bachelors degree. This has also changed from 1975 as well it used to be called

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Diploma Nursing and was only seen this way when practicing in a hospital in an
article I read by Martha Scheckel, Nursing Education: Past ,Present and Future .
After the 2 years of schooling I am going to move on and get two more years to get
a bachelors of applied science and maybe even my masters. One of the hardest
things that you have to do is pass the NCLEX, this is a nationwide test that proves
you know what you learned. It is not an easy thing to pass and it takes time and
practice to pass the test. If you are thinking about going into this field of work there
is a lot of thing to consider. Is this really for you? The schooling for general
education is not hard the hard part is going to be the nursing program you have to
get a GPA high enough to qualify and then apply for the program its self. With
nursing being high in demand right now there is a lot of competition to get into the
nursing programs that are repeatable. Some schools will advertise 18month
programs but to me you are just paying too much for convince of being done early
however I am not sure the success rate nor the credibility you gain from going to
those kind of schools. I choose a school that may take longer but it is accredited and
was once part of who I work for. Do you have the time it takes? I am not joking
about the sacrifice it takes, long days with clinical and then there is the studying
you need to do to pass the NCLEX. And if you are like me I and working full time and
have 4 children at home who still need me, It may be a bit of a balancing act that
you need to think about. Once you get done with school then there is finding a job,
when you first start out you will find that not all jobs are created equal. You need to
know what you are getting yourself into or where you really want to go in this
career. Nurses practice at hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, schools,
community centers and many more options like home health shelters, prisons etc.
Nurses are responsible for many things in an article by nursing world they explain in

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detail of what the job is requiring you to do in the current year. It has 5 different
things a Nurse must do while with a Patient and after seeing them. The First is
Assessment this is a Hands on assessment as well as a mental assessment. The
second is Diagnosis nurses use this along with the assessment and help the Doctor
to see what is going on with the patient. The third is Outcome/Plan using what was
learned in the assessment and diagnosis the nurse will then set an outcome and
plan of action for the patient. The fourth is Implementation this is when the Care
plan is enforced. The last thing is Evaluation after the care plan is implemented you
must evaluate and possibly adjust the care plan as needed.
The medical field is tiring and hard to do especially working in a hospital or a
clinic setting. Currently, I work as a medical assistant in a clinic, and there is never a
dull moment when it comes to patient care and caregivers. The other day a
patients daughter made me re think my choice, with her harsh words, I pushed on
and even thought she had spoken to me when she was angry and as the day went
on I gotten several kind words to replace hers they still stung. Nursing is a thankless
career that you never expect to hear the words thank you, but when you do it feels
amazing to know you helped that person at their time of need. Working in a
geriatric clinic, it is the hardest and most rewarding job I have had aside from the
Neuro Rehab floor of the hospital. When I worked there as a Certified Nurses
Assistant every day I loved to go to work, I got to see people of all ages come in at
their worst and walk away from something that almost took their lives. Watching
their progress on a daily, weekly and even monthly basis was the best thing I have
done and really engrained that drive to advance my career in this field. The one I
remember most of all was one patient who came in with a disease that paralyzed
them from the neck down. With many months of therapy they finally went home.

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After about 3 months after they were released, they came to visit us and to my
shock was walking with the use of a cane, but still on their own. To say I had a little
part in their healing is the best thing I could ask for.
So needless to say if you are wanting to become a nurse like my grandmother
and I, the best thing I can tell you is to take baby steps into it, start out as a CNA
(certified nurse assistant). You will need to get this anyway to go through nursing
school. My belief is that they changed the program to require a CNA Certificate to
weed out the people who are not the right fit for this job. Joking aside, it really helps
to make the decision to move on easier or to drop the idea. The other option would
be to become a medical assistant. This is just a step below a LPN (licensed
practicing nurse). It may take a bit longer but if you succeed then you know you are
in the right place. Not only that but you will have a great job that can lead to
become a nurse, or even help you achieve this.

Work Cited

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"Louisa Darling." Personal interview. 04 Apr. 2016. Grandmother and Retired Registered Nurse
"The Nursing Process." The Nursing Process. 04 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.nursingworld.org/EspeciallyForYou/What-is-Nursing/Tools-YouNeed/Thenursingprocess.html>.
"Registered Nurse:Occupational Outlook Handbook." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm#tab-5>.
Payne, Cathy. "Report: More Men Entering Nursing Profession." USA Today. Gannett,
26 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/25/men-nursingoccupatins/1947243/>.
Scheckel, Martha, PhD RN. "Nursing Education:Past Present and Future." Nursing
Education:Past Present and Future. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.jblearning.com/samples/0763752258/52258_CH02_Roux.pdf>.