My family comes from a humble village in India, and I was born and raised in Africa. I will always be conscious of my humble origins, which motivate me to contribute to helping the underserved, the poor, and members of marginalized or underprivileged communities. I hope to be accepted to your distinguished DNP Program in Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University for several reasons, including the sheer excellence of your program and its location, which is convenient for my family and me.
I know how competitive it is to gain acceptance to your program. However, I hope to be selected to contribute to the diversity of your program, not only as an Indian woman and someone born and raised in Zambia. I know poverty in-depth and up close, which leaves me most highly motivated to distinguish myself in the future in the cause of providing nursing care to the underserved in Africa and organizing and participating in medical missions to Africa, which I see as my first home.
After earning my BS in Biology in 2001, with my eye on nursing, I entered a rigorous 13-month accelerated nursing program (BSN). Unfortunately, however, I became ill with DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). I had never been diabetic; an infection had shot up my blood sugar. I passed out in my apartment and was not even found for 2-and-a-half days, and I did not wake up for eight days, finding myself in the ICU, where I remained for another 11 days with an entire hospital stay of one month. The infection resulted in Drop Foot and Tracheal Stenosis (TS) complications. The TS required seven surgeries from 2015 through July 2017, including a near-total reconstruction of my trachea. The CRNAs who attended to me kept me pain-free throughout this period, and we talked a lot. I learned and absorbed everything I could about Nurse Anesthesia since, at the time, I already knew that this was my central goal. I also studied for my classes in the hospital bed.
Thanks to my medical care, I am fully recovered and have as much stamina as my colleagues, dealing daily with the stress of ICU nursing. I fell behind a semester in my studies but soon returned and finished my BSN Degree in August 2016 and began working almost immediately in the ICU. I also have experience in ER nursing, and trauma nursing will always be one of my principal professional interests as a nurse anesthesia professional. However, nothing compares to ICU; it remains the center of my intellectual and physical worlds.
My path to Nurse Anesthesia was not direct and immediate. I thought about making a career change to nursing or healthcare administration, utilizing my facility with numbers, computer systems, and leadership skills. For this reason, I also earned an MBA. I do not see this as wasted time at all, however, as I am convinced that earning the MBA has taught me many valuable skills that will serve me well as a CRNA leader.
I helped diagnose my father, who was struck with spinal stenosis in 2017, which required nerve block injections. I was with him every step of the way, which enhanced my dedication to Nurse Anesthesia.
Earning the DNP Degree in Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University will be the crowning achievement of my life so far, setting the stage for a long and productive career. I hope to teach Nurse Anesthesia someday and practice it, in Zambia, which I know best and the land I feel needs me the most.
Increasingly, as my nursing career progresses, I plan to engage with and participate in mission trips to Africa, attending to the health needs - especially surgery - of some of the most vulnerable and impoverished people on the planet. I am convinced that this is where I shall find my greatest joy. I feel incredibly fulfilled as a human being when I volunteer. I teach at our temple, help organize and run youth camps, and I volunteered extensively at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Conventions Center after Hurricane Harvey. I play Indian classical music to unwind, always uplifting me for another day of nursing.
I appreciate your consideration of my application to the DNP Program in Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University.