A Lifelong Story about how my Mom Became a Nurse

I believe that middle-aged adults are important and often unused knowledge resources that today's adolescents and young adults can use. Santrock explains very clearly that the middle-aged adult population is the most informed, educated, and wealthiest group of people within this current stage of life. As an individual of the younger generation, I think that interacting with these middle-aged adults can be very beneficial and open up a wide variety of resources for the younger generations to use. Over this past semester, I had the opportunity to utilize a middle-aged adult in my life course interview and learn about her experience of her practice as a Registered Nurse.

I have known Marcia, my mom, my entire life. Throughout my life, I have had the privilege to not only observe her role as a mom but also as a nurse who loves and cares for others deeply. As I sat down and begin to talk with my mom, I asked her what it was like to take care of the lives of others every day. As I got older, I became more and more aware of what my mom did on a daily basis. Of course, I was able to see her kind and loving spirit at home and wherever I went with her, but I was able to see a side of her that I had not seen before when I got the chance to see her in action at work. After seeing her this day, I knew exactly what I wanted to be. As a college student who is looking to go into nursing, I was interested in what made her choose this career and who her biggest influences were at this time.

To start things off, I was curious as to when my mom first became interested in her career in nursing. After asking her this question, she told me that her interest in nursing peaked when she was a sophomore in college. She told me that she had always had a passion for serving others and that nursing was her way of doing that. She began to shadow nurses on the weekends when she was free. This only lead to her being absolutely sure about choosing her future career. I asked her if she had ever considered any other career. Her response to me was, 'I always knew I wanted to practice in the medical field. It would be my way of serving those around me.' She also considered pursuing a career as a psychiatrist but decided that nursing was more practical for her future plans and starting a family. Even though she was single at the time, she knew that spending quality time with her family would be a top priority in her life. One major factor that allowed her to make her decision to pursue a career in nursing is that she knew she could find a job anywhere.

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