Which came first the or the ♥ ?

At some point in your life you decided to become a nurse. So, for you, which came first?


A love of nursing (with the wage secondary)
.....or ....
Did the pay catch your eye and then you 'grew into' the idea of it all?

I've always been a nurturing person....(though unfortunately sometimes in toxic situations.) It's trying at times but whenever I feel a bit jaded, I take a mental health day....to go running, get pampered, and spend time with loved ones.I DO want to travel and volunteer in other countries after I have experience though.Edit: And financial independence is always a plus

Sad to say I think it was the wages. I have cousins that work in this field. I think she just got her BSN or something and shes making like $45/hr. I do really want this job. But I am going to explore other career options while I try to get into this job field.I'm sick of living with my parents!

new grad at $45/hr ...doubt it

I honestly went back to school b/c I wanted to gain more knowledge ( I was a surgical technologist for years)...with the $$ being secondary. My heart was never a big factor. I am not a nurturing person naturally, but I find this job does bring out the caring side that barely used to see the light of day.

The $$ helps but there is more to it than that. If engineers were offering 150k base starting salary, I wouldn't do it cause I could careless about it and it would bore me to death to have to go to work everyday.

My youngest sister said that I should be paid for being crazy and that was what started me on this path. Thanks snort!!

Quote from 50caliberThe $$ helps but there is more to it than that. If engineers were offering 150k base starting salary, I wouldn't do it cause I could careless about it and it would bore me to death to have to go to work everyday.

Neither. I went for nursing because it combined my favorite part of other jobs I have enjoyed. I love teaching and am good at it. I prefer working independently as long as I get to interact with folks through the day. I love changing technology and evolving scientific knowledge. I like people. I really like making a positive difference in the world. I like evaluating my work process and coming up with the most efficient techniques. So, when I learned that there was a career that combined my favorites and I could support my kids with it, I was thrilled.

Quote from GeneralJinjurNeither. I went for nursing because it combined my favorite part of other jobs I have enjoyed. I love teaching and am good at it. I prefer working independently as long as I get to interact with folks through the day. I love changing technology and evolving scientific knowledge. I like people. I really like making a positive difference in the world. I like evaluating my work process and coming up with the most efficient techniques. So, when I learned that there was a career that combined my favorites and I could support my kids with it, I was thrilled.

I'm agreein' with you two, the wage is still a definite incentive. But I do feel I have a lot of characteristics that will be full utilized in this field. As a human I work best when I have an overwhelming amount of things to do. I multi task really efficiently, plus I'm un-phazed by any gross bodily fluid or image. ^_^ The sicker side of me is really excited to be able to deal with all of the things i'm going to be dealing with.

I'm still looking into nursing but I have to say I am excited about the prospect. I am in a different situation in that I will be taking a drastic pay cut to go into nursing. My pay potential is much higher in my current industry but I've always been interested in medicine, I want to help people and I want a more active job.

The <3 came first for sure, but I was thrilled when I quickly found out the $ lol