What led you to your profession?

I had a person walk in today wanting to interview a nurse for a class she was taking or something. “Are you a nurse? I need to get through 5 questions”. Yep, I’m a nurse. I was busy but figured 5 questions couldn’t take that long and I didn’t want her taking up any of my other nurse’s time. She first asked me what led me to choose my profession. I told her I wanted a job that would allow me to be self-sufficient and would be something that I enjoyed learning about so I chose nursing. She looked at me blankly and said, “so… would you say helping people?” It was my turn to give her the blank look. ...Sure.

I would have liked to have taken more time to explain that helping people is just an added bonus, and my initial decision to go into nursing was 100% selfish (because I found it interesting for myself)- but I was busy and needing to get back to work and I honestly don’t think she understood much of what I had said so I didn't think it would help to repeat it. There may have been a language barrier. I still have no idea what she was trying to ask in one of her questions. I answered her after I made her rephrase it 3 times and I don’t even know if I answered it appropriately. I kept telling her I didn’t understand what she was asking. At the end of her 5 questions she wanted to know my position and I told her(after I had already told her earlier in the interview in response to the question of what kind of education and background a person needs for my job). Then she wanted to know how to spell it. I started out D-I-R… and then felt ridiculous, so I just gave her my card.

Best of luck to her in whatever she is endeavoring to do. I have no idea what she took away from that interview, because I'm still confused about some of it myself.