Why I Became A Nurse

Making the journey from LPN to BSN.

The journey will be long and difficult, yet we all know this is the pathway into the future of nursing. The Licensed practical nurse has slowly faded into the background; the duties once performed now removed from the scope of practice. The LPN's are being forced to either return to school to obtain an ADN, BSN, or MSN in order to continue working in the nursing field or remain stagnant and have no hope of career advancement has created a rise in the LPN to RN-BSN programs now offered. This paper will allow you to see this journey through the eyes of the LPN.

As a Licensed practical nurse on the team, we more often than not receive the short straw. We have sometimes been working in the nursing field for longer than some have been out of school yet we do not receive the recognition that we most often deserve. Due to the constraints and restrictions that have continued to increase on the scope of practice, the duties of the LPN have dwindled over time to very closely resemble those of a certified nursing assistant or Medical assistant.

The LPN that makes the difficult decision to return to school will benefit from gaining the ability to work with autonomy while also having the accountability that he/she is unaccustomed to possessing. They will suddenly be the primary nurse, the nurse responsible for all aspects of care pertaining to nursing whereas before they always had the RN to fall back on. As an RN, will be their responsibility to make accurate clinical decisions and judgments while maintaining a professional rapport with, staff, patients and families.

We play an active role in promoting and maintaining the health and well-being of our community, and it takes a great deal of patience, commitment and sacrifice to balance home life, school, and the job, but as nurses, we find this rewarding and we are proud to be in the wonderful profession of nursing.

In the field of emergency nursing, the staff will experience many different challenges during a shift, one minute they may be taking care of a child that is having a febrile seizure and then have a patient that has suffered a gunshot wound. The emergency department nurse must wear many different hats; he/she is a nurse, counselor, housekeeper, and dietician just to name a few. The fact that the nurse possesses the ability to be what some may call a chameleon is what makes them such unique persons.

Nursing is one of the few professions where one can say that their job gives them great satisfaction in knowing that they are truly helping someone regain their full potential and bringing them back to a healthy state of being. Being a nurse is not just an occupation; it is more like a commitment to the profession of nursing. It is a very hard yet fulfilling job and success or failure in the profession is entirely up to the nurse. There is a tremendous amount of stress and many great challenges that nurse faces each day, yet somehow they are able to somehow cross these hurdles and continue.

The changes in medicine are dramatic and will continually remain so. There is no more exciting a career to be found in life. The basics never change, and the human touch is necessary for good health. Bedside nursing provides the daily interactions with patients and their families that provide the nurse with a feeling of satisfaction and completeness in knowing that the care delivered provided the patient with the care and understanding they needed to help them cope with their medical condition. Nursing is not only taking care of the medical needs of the patients, when a nurse makes a terminally ill patient smile, comfort a lonely elderly patient, alleviate a child's fears, or feed a hungry disabled person then they have fulfilled the credo of what a nurse truly is.

After being an LPN for 22 years, the paradox of nursing has long since formed and the reality is that each person who is going into nursing needs to be informed about the many trials and tribulations they will face. The nitty-gritty dirty things that nurses do along with the paperwork and the time they will spend at the bedside just listening to how the day