A hundred years ago nurses did not always happen into the profession by choice.  The book of medicine as we follow it shows us that 90 years ago, it was expected that most mothers would perform the nursing functions for their entire family. They were expected to have a rudimentary understanding of how to care for their family if they became ill or injured and to care for them long enough until a doctor could arrive.

Professional nurses, did not always enter into the career by choice.  Treated as much as a servant almost as opposed to a medical professional or care giver.

Today, things have changed dramatically.  Nurses often find themselves in very lucrative and respectable careers.  The times have changed a great deal and its no longer uncommon for men to take up careers as nurses.  There are many types of degrees and even more importantly specialties that nurses can track into within school.

With all of the specialties available from nursing anesthesiologists, to nurse mid-wives that can prescribe medicine, to LPN's and RPN's and much more, its very important for people considering a future in nursing to look closely at themselves and determine not only if nursing is a good fit, but why nursing might be a good fit and then what area of nursing to study and pursue for a career.

There is a huge demand for nurses all across the country.  Pay scales for different specialties in nursing vary widely.  If money is important its important to understand that the difference in starting pay for nurses with specialties can be as wide as $120,000 per year (that's the amount of the difference between starting salaries of $150,000 per year versus $30,000 per year!).  Choosing the right path for financial reasons can definitely be important up front.

If the degree of responsibility is important, or if a certain degree of autonomy is desirable then its important to consider certain specialties that might provide the right fit for these types of personalities that are predisposed to responsibility and autonomy.

Then if you are looking to ask yourself where to start, its also important to consider what learning environments work for you and how you learn certain subjects in those environments.  As an example, I can study history online easily, but I took a statistics course online once and was miserably lost for several weeks.  I had to repeat the course in a real class and it was much easier.  I went on to get my master's online and soon realized that some classes require hands on instruction in a classroom and some are best suited for online study.  The subject matter comes into play, the professor's styles and organization levels come into play and much more.  Online learning can be a massive relief for people that have inflexible schedules, but it does not mean that you will spend less time working. 

This is a highly demanding career path both physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Some people are naturals and some people are not naturals at all but through perseverance and very hard work become extremely capable and skilled.  You have to ask yourself if this is a fit for you, why its a fit, how its a fit, what you can do to be successful in nursing and what you will need to do to be successful in obtaining your nursing degrees and certifications.

Good luck, based on my own studies online and through my examination of this book, I can tell you that learning to be nurse today is much easier, much more rewarding, and at the same time much more challenging and possibly more dynamic!

Additional Articles from the Book of Medicine:

• Cockroaches
  
  

  Cockroaches.–Cockroaches are brownish or black in color, broad and flattened in shape and smooth and bard to the touch. All cockroaches should be destroyed. They not only annoy, but, even though it has not been proven, they, no doubt, carry disease germs by coming in contact with discharges, etc., from ill persons and convey filth and germs to food, etc.

  When we lived in Boca Raton several years ago, we used to see extremely large ‘palmetto bugs’ which look a great deal like a cock roach but are a little different.  Many people only run into these bugs taking Orlando vacations or hit the beach in Florida or the gulf, but when you live there the relationship is up close and sometimes personal!

  They are very numerous in pantries, kitchens and in the walls near a stove and fire places. They are apt to be abundant in oven rooms or bakeries and wherever the temperature is kept above normal. They usually appear at night or wherever light is absent and thus are protected from their common enemies. Owing to their shape they can squeeze into tiny cracks. They scurry away when surprised and generally escape capture or destruction, due to their speedy gait. They feed on animal matter, cereals and any food material ; also eat woolens, leather cloth and leather bindings of books (clue to the presence of paste). They give off a fetid, nauseous odor, which persists even after thorough cleaning. They taint food supplies, stain shelves and dishes and when present in large numbers, render the air of a room unbearable. This is duo not only to their excretion, but mostly to an oily liquid secreted in the scent gland and a dark colored fluid in the mouth. They will destroy bedbugs. No contagious disease can be said to be properly treated or isolated, if cock­roaches are scurrying about the walls, carpets, food, etc., of a sickroom and allowed to persist and possibly convey the germs of the disease to others in the house or to neighbors.

• How Mosquitoes Develop
  
  

  How mosquitoes develop.-A Female mosquito lays from 200 to 300 eggs at a time and always in standing water, as the eggs must have still water and no matter how filthy the water, it will not destroy the eggs or prevent their development.

  This is such a basic description that it is almost not worth the ink it is printed with.  But if you take a look at Wikipedia, you might get just a simple sense of how much our knowledge has grown.  Below is what constitutes a basic reference on the biology of Mosquito from Wikipedia.  Where are previous knowledge of a mosquito could be measured in a couple dozen bits, it might now take a few megs of ram to contain our knowledge.
  

  Anatomy

  The mosquito is composed of a head, thorax, and abdomen. The head contains two compound eyes and proboscis. The proboscis is a piercing mouthpart used to suck blood from its prey. The mosquito’s head is mostly eye. Each eye is made up of many tiny lenses forming a compound eye. This type of eye allows a very big field of vision that easily detects movement. Next is the thorax. The thorax has one pair of wings and one pair of halteres. The thorax also has markings that are used in the identification of the mosquito. The abdomen, or gut, expands as it ingests its prey’s blood. The abdomen also has many markings that are used to identify the mosquito species.

  
  

  [edit] Life cycle and feeding habits

  

  

  Culex mosquito larvae

  In its life cycle the mosquito undergoes complete metamorphosis, going through four distinct stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult, first described by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.^[28]

  
  

  [edit] Egg

  Female mosquitoes lay their eggs one at a time or together in rafts of fifty or more eggs on the surface in fresh or any stagnant water. Anopheles and Aedes mosquitoes do not make egg rafts but lay their eggs separately. Culex, Culiseta, and Anopheles lay their eggs on water while Aedes lay their eggs on damp soil that is periodically flooded by water. Most eggs hatch into larvae in about 48 hours. A female mosquito may lay a raft of eggs every third night during its life span if it can find enough blood to develop the eggs.

  
  

  [edit] Larval stage

  The hatching eggs turn into larvae that live in the water, coming to the surface to breathe. The first larval stage is known as the first instar. As they grow, they shed or moult their skin about four times, growing larger after each moulting. After the first molt they are second instars, then third, then fourth. Most larvae use siphon tubes going to the water surface for breathing and hang on or near the water surface. Anopheles larvae do not have a siphon and typically lie parallel to the water surface. The larvae eat micro-organisms and organic matter in the water for food. Mosquito larvae, commonly called “wigglers” or “wrigglers”, must live in water from 7 to 14 days depending on the water’s temperature. At their last moult they may be up to 1 cm or 1/2 inch long. In each stage they may be eaten by other insects or fish. Mosquito larvae in the genus Toxorhynchites eat other mosquito larvae.

  The length of the first three stages (or instars) is dependent on the species and temperature, with lower temperatures increasing the length of the development stage.^[29] Culex tarsalis may complete its life cycle in 14 days at 20 C (68 F) and only ten days at 25 C (77 F). Some species have a life cycle of as little as four days, whereas in other species some adult females can live through the winter, laying their eggs in the spring. Many species of mosquito live their adult stage in roughly two weeks to two months. The larvae are the “wrigglers” found in puddles or water-filled containers. These breathe air through a siphon at the tail end. The pupae, or “tumblers”, are nearly as active as the larvae, but breathe through thoracic “horns” attached to the thoracic spiracles. Most larvae feed on micro-organisms, but a few are predatory on other mosquito larvae. Some mosquito larvae, such as those of Wyeomyia live in unusual situations. These mosquito wigglers live either in the water collected in epiphytic bromeliads or inside water stored in carnivorous pitcher plants. Larvae of the genus Deinocerites live in crab holes along the edge of the ocean. On the fourth molt the larva changes into a pupa.

  
  

  [edit] Pupa

  The pupae are lighter than water and float on the surface as the mosquito larva metamorphoses (changes) into an adult mosquito in about two days. Pupae do not have mouths and therefore do not feed. This is important to know from a larviciding point of view because most larvicide has to be ingested by the mosquito. A surface oil or mmf (monomolecular film) should be applied to the breeding site as a means of suffocating the pupa.

  
  

  [edit] Adult

  The newly emerged adult must rest on the surface of the water for a short time to allow itself to dry and all its parts to harden before it can fly. This requires still water: mosquitoes do not breed in fast-moving water.

  The total time to go through all four stages depends on the temperature and the type of mosquito, but typically takes 14 days or less in warmer weather. In various species the time varies from 4 to 30 days.

  Most mosquito species outside of the tropics overwinter as eggs, but many overwinter as larvae or adults. Mosquitoes of the genus Culex (a vector for St. Louis encephalitis) overwinter as mated adult females.

  Most mosquitoes stay fairly close to the ground and do not range too far from where they were born, but may be dispersed long distances by wind. Mosquitoes are not strong flyers, making only 1-2 km/h (1-1.5 mph); therefore, an electric fan may suffice as an effective mosquito screen. They feed mostly in the mornings and evenings and occasionally at night, avoiding the heat of the day. During the day they usually find somewhere cool to rest. Mosquitoes can tend to live over puddled water or grassy areas.

  

  

  Mosquito biting finger

  Only female mosquitoes bite animals to get blood needed to produce eggs. Male mosquitoes do not bite, but both the male and female feed on the nectar of flowers for food. In most female mosquitoes, the mouth parts form a long proboscis for piercing the skin of mammals (or in some cases birds or even reptiles and amphibians) to suck their blood. As opposed to a syringe’s typically smooth needle, the mosquito proboscis is highly serrated, which leaves a minimal number of points of contact with the skin being pierced — this reduces nerve stimulation to the point where the “bite” is typically not felt at all. (See the Mosquitoes and health section below for an explanation on the swelling). The females require protein for egg development and laying, and since the normal mosquito diet consists of nectar and fruit juice, which has no protein, most females must drink blood to lay eggs. Males differ from females, with mouth parts not suitable for blood-sucking.

  The female mosquitoes locate their next blood donor victims primarily through scent. They are extremely sensitive to the carbon dioxide in exhaled breath, as well as to substances found in sweat and various body odours such as 1-octen-3-ol. They are believed to be able to track potential prey for tens of meters. Some people attract more mosquitoes than others, apparently based on how they “smell” to a mosquito. Mosquitoes can also detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals and birds very easily once they get close enough. Repellents like DEET work by disorienting the mosquito as it gets close to its potential next meal but do not kill mosquitoes. Surprisingly this works about 95% of the time.^{[citation needed]}

  Male mosquitoes may tend to be smaller than females, with features such as feathered antennae and conspicuous external genitalia.

• The Pancreas, or "Sweetbread"
  
  

  The Pancreas, or “Sweetbread.”  — The pancreas, or “sweetbread,” is a single glandular organ, situated transversely across the upper and back part of the abdomen, on a level with the last dorsal spine bone.  It is of an irregular, elongated form, from six to 8 inches in length, an inch and a half in breadth, and from a half to 1 inch in thickness.  It secretes about 7 ounces daily of a slightly alkaline fluid containing the organic principle — pancreatin, which is the property of changing the starchy food into sugar.  Whilst it has this power, yet its chief work in the digestive process seems to be the breaking up of the fat globules into myriad of my new particles which mix freely with water, and thereby promote their absorption by the lacteals.

  _____

  This section definitely exhibits a lack of understanding of the workings of the pancreas.  It’s not too far off and its description and characteristic described within it are not too far off.  You can can understand where they were going with their logic based on what they were observing.  I suppose if someone were to cut open some golf balls, they might as them that the plastic white shell is there to protect the rubber bands inside from the bludgeon of the golf club.  That’s not incorrect but it’s not exactly the purpose either.