Hard decisions

Fresh out of high school, I started college as a chemical engineering major, switched to electrical engineering when organic chemistry didn’t tickle my fancy, and even spent time pursuing a degree in education. But as much as I tried, all of these choices failed to arouse my senses, peak my curiosity, or motivate me. After three full years without heading in any clear direction, I came to the conclusion that college wasn’t for me, and instead, fast food management was where I belonged.

Wrong again!

It wasn’t until I took a late night online interest inventory that I finally saw the light. The results suggested that my analytical thought processes should lead me into engineering (been there), education (done that), or the medical profession. What?!?!

I had not really thought of the medical profession before, but it was definitely intriguing. Being a doctor was out of the picture as I didn’t want 10+ years of more school, and how long do you really see a doctor for anyway? I wanted to talk to people. A respiratory therapist, paramedic, and X-ray tech were also out of question, because again, no time spent with anyone.

Finally, I saw Registered Nurse on the list. At first, I dismissed the idea entirely. After all, the only male nurse that I had seen portrayed in Hollywood was Ben Stiller’s “Gaylord Focker” character in Meet the Parents and they made fun of him by calling him a Murse (short for Male Nurse). But, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. As a nurse I would be able to use my analytical skills to care for patients, and also be able to get to know them. It would be the best of both worlds. The only trouble would be convincing myself that my ego could handle being a Murse. So I did some research.

Right in front of my eyes

Have you ever failed to notice something that is all around you until your attention is called to it? The same thing happened when I started looking for males in nursing, suddenly they were EVERYWHERE.

In the emergency room with my grandfather - a male nurse
In the ICU when he got worse - a male nurse
In the dialysis clinic - a male nurse
Even in the hospital where we were evacuated for a hurricane - a male nurse

This realization seemed to defy the image that I had burned into my head. These people were strong, strapping men, caring for patients as well as any other nurse. They seemed to blend effortlessly into the surrounding hospital, and they were respected, both by the patients and their colleagues. How could I have missed it before?! My reservations seemed to melt away, and I started to plot college courses to get into the profession.

You can’t become a nurse overnight

Even with three undergraduate years under my belt, it still took me a full year and a half to fulfill the admission requirements for nursing school. At my college, a pre-nursing student is not only expected to complete basic anatomy and biology requirements, but they are subjected to a series of general examinations in order to determine the skill level of every applicant. There was a reading test, English test, math test, nursing aptitude test, even a complete physical. All this seemed overkill to me at the time, but a quarter of my class didn’t even make it past the first clinical semester, so I guess you can never truly tell.

So here I am, 12 years out of high school, on my 4th major, and 5 years into my four year Bachelor’s degree, and I can finally call myself a senior nursing school student. It has been a fun journey, and I would like to share with you my thoughts and experiences from the highest highs to the lowest lows and all the strange and funny moments in between.

Keep checking back to read more tales from this student murse.