What does it take to become a registered nurse?

What does it take to become a registered nurse? Age 18. You graduate high school. You tell people you want to be a nurse. Someone says, "Why not just be a doctor?" You smile. They have no idea that nurses are the reason hospitals actually function. Salary? Zero dollars. Age 20. Nursing school. Anatomy, pharmacology, clinical rotations. You practice injections on rubber arms until you can do it in your sleep. You are having a daily mental breakdown over sad exams where every answer is technically right. What you have to guess which one is most right? Salary? Zero dollars. Age 22. Clinical rotations. You rotate through every unit. ICU, pediatrics, labor and delivery. You hold a newborn for the first time and think, "This is why I'm doing this." Then you lose a patient for the first time and sit in your car for 20 minutes before you can drive home. Nobody told you about that part. Salary? Zero dollars. Age 23. NCLEX. One exam that decides whether the last four years mattered. 75 to 145 questions. The test shuts off and you don't know if that's good or bad. You check the results 48 hours later. You pass. You're officially a registered nurse. Then came the first nursing job. You have five patients. One is calling for pain medication. One is pulling out their IV. One needs vitals. Your preceptor looks at you and says, "Prioritize." You realize this is not a simulation anymore. Every decision you make is real. Salary? $58,000. Age 28. Experience nurse. You can start an IV in the dark. Doctors ask for your opinion because you've been at the bedside for 12 hours and they've been there for 12 minutes. You know things about the patient that charts don't capture. Salary? $75,000. Age 35. Charge nurse. You run the floor. Newer nurses come to you when they don't know what to do. You teach them what no textbook ever will. How to hold a dying patient's hand. How to deliver bad news to a family. How to go home after a 12-hour shift and still be a person. Salary? $90,000. Age 50. You've been a nurse for 27 years. You've missed holidays, birthdays, and sleep. Your back hurts, your feet hurt, your heart hurts sometimes too. But a patient looks at you from their hospital bed and says thank you for taking care of me. And you remember why you never became a doctor. Because this is exactly what you were supposed to be. If you want to make videos like these, download Flash Loop.