Hello. For this Thoughtful Thursday, I plan on discussing people of “higher medical education” MAY view nursing majors. This are all based on my experiences so far in my internship-style program this month. Please share your experiences and why you chose your career/career path!

Disclaimer: This a blog. All opinions mentioned are my opinion and do not reflect the opinion of  all healthcare systems/professionals. Over time my opinions may change my only purpose is to document that change over time. Any potential indicative patient information will be altered/deleted to comply with HIPAA. I am not responsible or liable for any comments. I encourage everyone to share their opinion.

Throughout these past couple of weeks I have been interacting with my internship-program peers, the majority of whom are following the pre-med track. Only about four of us are nursing majors, making me a part of the minority. Many of my peers are extremely condescending during our group discussions on why we chose our specific career track. However, I am extremely passionate about nursing, despite being told by close friends and peers that I am an underachiever especially being so young.

One of my internship days we participated in a writing workshop and I wrote the following statement during my daily reflection:

“The writing workshop today was very invigorating. I really enjoyed writing down my values and seeing how the way I express them has changed over the course of two years. There was something really sad that I noticed. When the lady asked us to write about our values and passions, I saw my peers struggling. I heard each of my peers agree on the fact that they had never thought about why they wanted to become a physician. I encouraged them to find their passion from some sort of incident or thought and they still struggled. Passion may not always direct everyone’s career choices; however, I feel if one simply self-reflected more they may find even the slightest interest that could evolve into a passion.  

For me, this activity explained the look of puzzlement I see on some aspiring physicians’ face’s when asked “Why medicine?”. This is not to stereotype or discourage  anyone, simply a mere observation. “

This explains that whole activity. I also have another statement which I used to explain to a rude fellow student on why I chose nursing and why I hope to become a pediatric nurse someday:

“I believe fulfilling your passion is more than what others may dictate over your life. I will become a nurse because I am brave enough to care about bedside patient care, hold a dying child’s hand and deal with the challenges that come with the role. I will not allow anyone to discourage me because of my career choice.”

I understand that the human quest for power especially in medicine, contributes towards this negative view of nursing. However, after several years of shadowing experience, I realize that a doctor can only face an issue for 5 minutes at time before they have to move on. A nurse faces this for the entire twelve hours of their shift.

We all need to value each other as healthcare professionals no matter the amount of letters or years of schooling attached to your name. You cannot carry all of those letters with you six feet under. Our job is bring all of our knowledge and expertise together to take care of a patient. This may sound cheesy, but it’s the best I can do to explain this as brief as possible.

 Thanks for reading!

Anna