I'm Heather, I'm 26 years old and have spent the last seven years of my life in and out of hospitals with my mother who had severe kidney disease. She was in the hospital 75% of the year and I was always the one right by her side every single minute. My step-dad had to take care of my three younger half-brothers so it was just me at the hospital with her most of the time.

My mom passed away a month ago and it has been very very hard on me. I have a great job as a business development manager in the commercial real estate industry making very good money but ever since I returned I have been struggling to find motivation or purpose in what I do. I am a people person first and foremost, which is why I think I am successful in sales BUT I am finding a hard time justifying what I do and why. Making lots of money and having the ocean view office doesn't give me any satisfaction. I think I got into this job to prove a point to my parents and relatives that even though I didn't graduate with Bachelors Degree, I could be successful and earns a lot of money but now I have realized just how lost I am.

There were so many nurses during that seven years that made such an impact on my family's life. They made a lot of those days a little easier to get through. I want to be able to give that back to someone and help other people that are going through similar situations like mine. I want to make a difference in people's lives and still be able to pay the bills. That is why I have been considering nursing for the past six months or so.

I met two travel nurses in October that are here is Los Angeles for a couple assignments and even then I considered going into nursing. My mother and other nurses have said that I would be a wonderful nurse for awhile but never thought I could deal with the blood and stuff. Nursing, specially travel nursing embodies everything I could ask for in a career. Job security, Good Income, Ability to Travel anywhere, work with children as a pediatric nurse (LOVE working with children..was a pre-school teacher for 2 years and it was the best job I have ever had but you cannot live off that pay), make a difference and feel like your job is important and meaningful. What more could you ask for?

The only thing stopping me right now is the long road ahead. Pre-req's, nursing school applications, waiting lists, two years then of nursing school and passing the RN exam. I was also told that after getting your RN license you have to work in a hospital for two years to be able to do travel nursing. And what the heck do I do in the mean time?

Another concern I have is how do you deal with people dying all the time...especially children. My travel nurse friends said you learn to cope with it and all the blood and stuff like that. So I guess my question is to all the nurses that are reading this....Do you honestly think that being a loving, caring person who loves working with people (esp. children) and wants to make a difference and help people is alone enough to be a great nurse?