We are pleased to announce a new contributing member to the Nurses Station Blog.

Deanna, a nurse currently working in emergency care, kept a journal throughout her days as a nursing student. She will graciously share he thoughts, experiences, lessons learned and feelings during nursing school.

My name is Deanna and I am an RN.

I am a nurse in very busy, very large ER. Prior to this, I worked in maternity, oncology/hospice and med/surgical nursing. I’ll soon be starting my Bachelor’s degree and then plan to get my Master’s, with the intention of becoming a Nurse Educator when I am ready to leave bedside nursing.

I first attended nursing school when my son was very young. I’d always had an interest in biology and medicine, but I chose nursing mostly because the talk of the nursing shortage seemed to promise a secure job with good wages. I quickly realized that I was too young and too busy as a new mother to fully appreciate the educational opportunity. I left the program and concentrated on my family instead.

I worked part time while my kids were growing up, and always stayed on the fringes of the medical field. It wasn’t until my husband was diagnosed with leukemia in 2002, that I realized how very much I wanted to continue my nursing education. While we journeyed into the murky waters of being an oncology patient, I began to admire and appreciate what the nurses were doing for us. I was feeling a subtle but urgent scratching that was telling me it was time to revisit my earlier educational pursuits.

After my husband’s health was stabilized, and with the support and encouragement of my family, friends, and co-workers at the clinic, I entered the community college to restart the degree program I had begun almost two decades ago. This time I felt I had a true calling to the profession and that I was prepared for the rigors of nursing school.

I graduated in May 2006, just a month before my son graduated from high school.

Becoming a nurse has fulfilled a space in me that I never knew existed before. I truly feel it is a calling, and one for which I am very thankful.