Someone recently asked me why I still practice nursing and whether I was tired of it. I immediately answered without hesitation, “Because I love it.” My response was genuine – I really do love this profession, even with all the challenges around safe work environments, adequate staffing, and feeling valued. My nursing journey has been a long one. My career has taken me from staff nurse and preceptor to education in staff development and adjunct faculty in graduate and undergraduate programs, and to nurse practitioner. While I understand what it is to love my family, what does it mean to really love a profession? Am I feeling love for the nursing profession or is it something else like duty to the profession? I spent a lot of money earning my degrees – am I feeling obligated to practice as long as I can?

When you look in the Oxford Dictionary, the definition of love is an intense feeling of deep affection. That didn’t seem adequate to me, so I looked further. The Urban Dictionary defines love as the act of caring and giving to someone else; having someone’s best interest and wellbeing as a priority in your life; to truly love is a selfless act. The Urban Dictionary definition seems more in line with what I feel about the profession because the profession is one that is grounded in caring for others, looking out for a person’s best interest, and giving selflessly while using evidence from science and the art of humanity. We use the art of being present with patients during the best and worst times of their lives, we are giving of our time, and we use the simple gesture of touch to let the patient know they are not alone.

I believe I love the nursing profession, but the thought of duty returns to mind. Duty is defined as something one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation. No one is forcing me to stay in any of my nursing roles, yet I feel I need to. I’m the one who is making myself morally obligated to stay in the profession. The bigger question is, “Why?” I’m sure many of you have asked yourself the same question.

I feel an obligation to give back to the profession because it has given me so much. When I was a student and then as a new graduate nurse, I was lucky enough to have faculty, preceptors, professional development practitioners, and managers who invested their time in my success as a nurse. Throughout my entire career, I’ve had incredible coaches and mentors who helped move me along a career path by harnessing my passion for the profession into something constructive. That’s why I have this sense of obligation for the profession. Because of what others did for me, I want to give back to others.

As I look to all the new nurses coming up through the ranks and to those who’ve been here for years in one capacity or another, I say, “Thank you!” Thank you for teaching me to love our profession and to give back to those who will be filling our shoes in the future.  We all have days where we question whether we want to stay in the profession or walk away. I encourage you to stop and reflect. Think about what it really means to love a profession. Enduring love is a choice – we must choose to stay and make a difference!
 

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