Puke, Poop and Pee...Sign Me Up!!!

Nurses deal with things on a normal basis that others simply do not have to deal with very often or at all. Nurses care for the most basic needs of people when they are too ill or injured to do it themselves. Gross? Yes, maybe at times. Noble? Absolutely. I cannot think of anything more raw then helping someone else when they are at their absolute lowest, allowing them an ounce of respect or modesty when they feel like it has all been removed.
No, I haven't been a nurse yet. I don't have all of these experiences to draw from. I do have a mom who worked in healthcare my entire childhood-which definitely has made clinics and hospitals seem way less scary to me! I have friends that are nurses that I have grilled about all aspects of their job, and I have read. A lot. About the nastiest, most gut-wrenching things that nurses do. There has not been a single story that has made me think "that's not for me." There have been many stories that have made me laugh and many more that have made me cry. I want to feel that passion. I want to be there to hold hands, smile at patients and perform tasks that they cannot. I know that not every patient will be likable, but I believe that every patient will teach me something.
Life is a set of lessons. It is the big school that teaches us through every triumph and through every failure, who we don't want to be, and who we can become. I have a lot of debt from going to school to become a teacher. I have a failed marriage and divorce in my past. I have two young boys when I wasn't sure I ever wanted children. College was not a waste. Education never is. Having children made me who I am today. They made me more compassionate, more selfless and more imaginative. Some of my best traits probably didn't exist before I became a mom, or at least they were hiding in dormancy. My failed marriage of ten years taught me so many things about who I wanted to be and what I needed in a partner. My time as a teacher taught me to care about the needs of others, what inspires them, what gets to them, and what makes them listen. I am thankful for my meandering journey that has lead me to discovering what I feel really matters in life.
In class the other day I heard a girl say that nursing just simply wasn't for her. "I guess I didn't realize that people can and do die during my watch and that I could even be responsible for it," she says. A boy (who does not want to be a nurse, but to go into a much "cleaner" healthcare profession) says, "yeah and there's blood, and puke and poop." Me? I laugh and say, "Bring in on." I am a mother of two. Do you honestly think   I am grossed out easily? While I am also not grossly attracted to it, bodily fluids are part of life. Life and death situations I am sure are stressful, but they matter. 
I have a long road, and I am not sure what specialty I will choose later on, or if fate will decide for me. I can tell you that I am seriously considering oncology. Yes, in regular people terms that translates to cancer patients. My husband says, "Honey, can you think of a more depressing place to work?" I guess I just don't see it that way. I know that when I make it through, I will be a great nurse. It's in my heart. So, my response, "Can you think of a better place to be?"