My immediate short-term goal is to be accepted to study for the DNP Degree in Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University. XXU is my first choice for several reasons, most of all the sheer excellence of the program. The location is also essential since my home base is in XXXX. The experience of serving as a nurse at a university medical center has geared me toward a passion for research and nursing education. Lifelong education stands at the center of my professional goals. At some point in my career, I would also love to acquire the experience of teaching, at least on a volunteer basis, and precepting nursing students. I come from a diverse cultural background, half Puerto Rican, which helps me relate easily to populations from all backgrounds. I look forward to continuing to enhance my Spanish with a focus on the most critical vocabulary for medical emergencies.
I received news of my grandmother’s cancer diagnosis while a student in nursing school 3 hours away. Every other weekend, I would come home to be a caretaker so my mom (a nurse) could work. I learned a lot about nursing and caring for my grandmother towards the end of her life and graduated in the top 20% of my class. I also joined the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society. I believe that my years at the University of Virginia and my time spent as a travel nurse have built a solid foundation for my advancement in what I see as the ultimate stage of nursing: Nurse Anesthesia.
Working at a university medical center, I have had a fantastic opportunity to openly ask questions, observe, and work as part of a team with top-notch surgeons, intensivists, NPs, and PAs. I have learned to stay calm and focused when faced with intense, fast-paced situations and not let fear play any role. Working in the thoracic cardiovascular unit came with quite the learning curve, requiring many outside hours of independent study. This way, I quickly became a resource for new nurses and staff members. Within one year, I was orienting new nurses. I was then given the responsibility of being a charge nurse just a year after moving to the thoracic and cardiovascular intensive care unit.
As both a minority and a woman, I have always been a careful learner, and applying what I learn is where I excel. You will have other applicants with higher test scores but few if any more devoted to their careers. Travel nursing up and down the east coast has taught me how to assess the community's various needs and best serve them with flexibility and adaptability. I have actively cultivated and sought to refine a keen sense of emotional intelligence, dedication, and patience. My years as a bedside nurse has taught me complex skillsets ranging from interpreting hemodynamics, critical thinking, bedside open chest procedures, and ECMO cannulations to creating and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships with the medical team and providing kindhearted bedside care to the patient and their families. The part about nursing that I love is being able to connect with someone during such a vulnerable time, making them feel taken care of, and achieving the best outcome.
I am thankful that travel nursing has helped me better understand the needs of various populations, something that working at only one location would never have afforded. I have traveled both out of the country and throughout the US on personal trips to see friends. This has allowed me to expand my understanding and appreciation of diversity, celebrating the cultural factors that make the world go around, language, food, music, etc.
Among issues in Nurse Anesthesia, I am primarily concerned with the opioid crisis and how this hurts nursing care, resulting in shortages, tighter constraints, and increasingly limited access to those using the medication appropriately. I see the best solution as lying in the use of non-opioid anesthesia.