Choosing a career path is never easy and there are many things that ultimately influence our final decision. Frida and I are always interested in the influences that affect a woman or man’s choice to pursue nursing as a career. Below are several stories of how these nurses chose their life profession.

Susan H. Postell, RN, BSN, CBCN, wanted nothing to do with nursing.  Her mother was a nurse and Susan knew how hard her mother worked and Susan wanted no part of that lifestyle. But things changed when she and her mother witnessed a serious automobile accident. Susan’s mom pulled off to the side of the road and, although she was shaken, she immediately assessed the situation and helped all the injured drivers. One driver was a young woman who was 8.5 months pregnant and was unconscious. Susan stood on the sidelines and watched as her mom cared for those people in a professional, compassionate and authoritative way, and knew at that moment that she was destined to be a nurse. Susan has been an oncology nurse now for 36 years.
For Shawn M. Smith, RN, MSN, there was never a question about what she was going to do as a career. She knew at an early age that she was going to be a nurse. She has been in healthcare for over 20 years and received her nursing degree at the same time she graduated high school by attending regular high school for half a day and a vocational school half a day her junior year. During her senior year, she attended the vocational school all day and was able to graduate both high school and nursing school at the same time. At the age of 18, she sat for her boards and began her career as an LPN.
For Hannah Readling, a Spring 2014 nursing graduate, at the age of 15, she found herself being air lifted following an automobile, tractor-trailer accident in which her sister was killed instantly and Hannah’s chances of survival were slim. She received so much love and genuine care by complete strangers, nurses and doctors, that she started questioning how much better the world would be if all people were like this. All of these things gave her inspiration and the motivation to pay it forward and five years after her hospitalization and years of recovery she started her adventure on the road to become part of the healthcare and nursing team.
Frida and I would love to hear what inspired you to become a nurse.  We invite you to share your stories with us. Please send your stories for consideration to stories@barcosnightingales.org.