Having completed an undergraduate degree in Flute Performance, I like to think that my background in music has helped me to cultivate creativity, dedication, perseverance, and to learn to prioritize at an early age—all qualities that have been instrumental so far to my success in nursing. Adaptable, flexible, always expecting and preparing for the worst-case scenario—I am a nurse who is ready to always perform.
The single greatest strength of my application to your extremely competitive program at XXXX University is my level of professional experience. Not only will I have 4 years of ICU experience by the time I begin your program, but I will also have three years of service as a Preceptor in ICU. Helping our new nurses to hit the grown running and adapt to a very face-paced environment has done wonders to develop my leadership skills and my ability to provide direction to our nursing team. Thus, I am a natural for entry into a doctoral program where I hope to excel, especially because of my involvement with nursing research in a variety of areas. Throughout my years as a nurse, I have grasped every opportunity to take responsibility, participate, and learn everything that I could, learn from my co-workers, including many physicians.
My transition from music to nursing coincided with the loss of my mother to colon cancer in August of 2006. In October of 2004, she was given only 6 months to live, yet would go on to retain her good cheer for almost two years more. Her nurses were wonderful, helping both of us to survive unsuccessful treatments. The determination that my mother had to live every day to the fullest inspired me to a career in nursing, living each day making a positive difference in people’s lives in their greatest hour of need. While caring for my mother during her last months, several Hospice RNs encouraged me to become a nurse and make music my hobby, playing the flute to unwind after my shift. They complimented me on my calm, soothing demeanor, and my ability to learn very quickly how to care for my mother, and our conversations left me feeling cut out to be a nurse.
My mother immigrated to the USA from Chile when she was thirty-six. We always spoke English. But I have special memories of her in Spanish as well that I am recovering as I have returned to practicing, salvaging my Spanish, since I am also very much aware of its critical importance to our placing a priority on helping the underserved.
During my last year finishing my music degree, I began volunteering at XXXX hospital and came to feel enormously comfortable there, finding the source of my most intense joy in life. Since then, I have continued to thrive in every nursing position that I have had, always looking for more educational opportunities and responsibility. Graduate school is my logical next step and your doctoral program at XXXX College is the best fit especially because I earned my BS at XXXX, and I feel at home here and love my college. I can continue to excel here.
I want to earn the DNP-NA because I crave autonomy, and the capacity to work miracles and to do so quickly, always multitasking. Devoted to lifelong learning, I want my critical thinking skills to be taxed constantly for many decades to come at the patient's bedside. I hope to work extremely hard to do all that I can in the future to ease the transition for post-operative patients and to do so as gracefully as humanly possible.
I moved to Brooklyn, NY to launch my nursing career and earned my associate degree in nursing. In August 2013, I came home to Baton Rouge and enrolled at XXXX College and just recently graduated in May 2014. I look forward to giving my all to your distinguished program for several more years to come so that I might prepare for a lifetime of participation in vital research in nursing. I am already devoting myself to research in ICU delirium which attracts me because of the high percentage of ICU patients that experience this disorder. I often find myself reading up about sedation/analgesia that promises to ease the uncomfortable aspects of a patient's ICU experience and decrease delirium simultaneously.
My long-term objectives include obtaining a job in a major hospital in either Baton Rouge or New Orleans as a CRNA. I hope to spend the balance of my professional life working in an OR assisting with major surgeries. I thrive on challenges and learning every day with my current job, and I hope to continue to grow professionally by completing your program. Working in ICU these past three years has given me the opportunity to learn many important things, especially at the bedside with my patients.
CRNA Personal Statement