Why Nursing?

I got my undergraduate degree in sociology, with a minor in English. I have always wanted to be a writer. So, why, you might ask, am I working toward a degree in nursing?

Well, it wasn't my idea. 

Moving here, we discovered the there is a university in town. I have always wanted to do grad school, and Katie was approaching the age of starting school herself. I began to look at grad programs offered. Specifically, I began eyeing the writing or sociology programs. 

But I kept having a feeling, all fall, that I should become a nurse. I laughed off the idea. Me, a nurse? Lol, nope. I watched my Dad's care and thought that there was no way in hell. I could never do what these people did. I don't have the patience, the compassion, or the desire. But the thought persisted.

Then, Nora, sparked by watching the same care of my Dad, said offhandedly that she could never be a nurse, because she couldn't deal with other people's bodily fluids. Immediately, I replied, "I could handle amniotic fluid." 

A light went on. I could be a labor and delivery nurse. I began looking at programs quietly, wondering. And it just seemed to be the direction I was supposed to go. I told Kevin, and I registered for the local community college, because of course none of my existing undergrad was geared toward this kind of career. 

It has been almost two years since that prompting. I've gotten my CNA license, and I am on my final prerequisite course for the nursing program. I have applied to two schools, and I have a perfect GPA. I'm pursuing the course, because I believe it is the one the Lord has set for me. It is one that will give me marketable skills that are in high demand should I need to support my family. The skills will also be useful in an array of different scenarios, from sick kid home from school to stitching wounds in the wilderness. 

And I want to have these skills. I do. I just don't know if I want to be a nurse. 

I don't know if I would actually like the work, and I definitely won't like the hours. I want to be home when my kids walk in the door. Maybe I can be a school nurse for their years at home.

But I will cross that bridge when I get to it. I have nearly a year before the program starts, two after that for my RN, another one for a BSN, and maybe two more after that for my master's. Meanwhile, I do love school. I just don't want to look at what comes after. 

In that way, this degree is remarkably like my first one.