My daughter, Catherine, who survived a liver transplant at four years old, inspired me to become a nurse. A highly disciplined and hard-working nurse, I have extensive experience in acute, critical, and emergency room settings at teaching hospitals. My philosophy of nursing is to find the individual in each patient. I am from a rural area of Kentucky, just like my patients. I treat them by their cultural, spiritual, and physical needs, seeking holistic triumph over disease and possible complete recovery. I find my greatest joy in client-centered care driven by the patient's needs rather than the presence of illness. I like to think of the nurse as the conductor of an orchestra of caregivers who must primarily ‘care’ for the patient and their loved ones. Optimal nursing entails always looking for ways to make the best better.
My entry into health care followed the completion of my AS Degree in Radiologic Technology at XXXX University in 1995. I went on to earn my ADN at XXXX Community and Technical College and my BSN online through XXXX University. Not an ´A´ student, but my grades improved during my studies for the BSN. With extensive experience and dedication to nursing, I have become highly responsible, organized, and an extremely hard worker. We live on a farm in Kentucky and would have it no other way. So, studying online is natural for me, and XXXX University is well known for its innovative nursing programs. I genuinely enjoyed earning my BSN online, and XXXX University is the only program I am applying to because I see it as ideal for my purposes. I want to be a Family Nurse Practitioner and see XXXX as the premier online program in this area, especially since I want to study part-time. The flexibility and mission of XXXX combine to make it the ideal place for me to make a special effort and investment in my FNP studies from the perspective of rural health.
I am hungry for the kind of quality immersion experience in the field of Family Nurse Practitioner studies afforded by your program. Completing your program will allow me to practice independently and provide my rural clients with the highest quality of evidence-based nursing practice. In this way, I will have the necessary foundation for making my maximum contribution to family nursing in my community. I look forward to studying various nursing-related subjects with an eye toward applications for my communities, family planning services in rural areas, obtaining comprehensive medical histories, conducting thorough physical examinations, and interpreting diagnostic studies.
I want to become a fully-fledged professional in identifying, diagnosing, treating, and monitoring acute medical problems. I understand seeking advanced responsibilities in nursing will be accompanied by profound challenges, irregular hours, and the potential for increased stress levels. However, I am resolute in my determination to become a certified FNP because nursing is where I find my greatest joy. I expect that to increase exponentially as my children require less and less of my time. I entered the nursing field out of a sense of duty, the needs of my daughter, and a calling to serve my community. I look forward to living the balance of my professional life for others and doing everything to improve nursing care in my community. My grades during my ADN Program do not accurately reflect my ability to excel in your program. For this reason, I enclose the following addendum to address this issue.
My principal weakness as a nursing student has been my lack of test-taking skills. This was particularly the case early on, during my studies towards the ADN. Still, my grades in my BSN Program—while far from stellar—do fall into the acceptable range; thus, I went a long way toward redeeming my performance while studying for the ADN. Now 40 years old, I would have liked to have come to you sooner. I am off to a late start in graduate studies because, primarily, I was a nurse to my daughter, Catherine, to which my career naturally took a back seat. I nursed her until she was strong enough to survive a liver transplant at four years old.
However, one year after Catherine’s liver transplant, she had an AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm); they fixed it, but then she developed another one that grew a horrible bacterium. She had to be on IV antibiotics for an additional six months. This experience, including studying Catherine’s medical issues, inspired me to become a nurse. Catherine was always my priority, and she was nine years old when I finished my ADN at XXXX Community and Technical College and began my BSN Program. I ask for special consideration for my low grades because I feel strongly that working to save my daughter’s life is why my grades were low during my ADN Program.
Catherine is now sixteen and doing marvelously. I have gained a lot of maturity as a nurse, and it is my optimal time to attend graduate school to advance in my profession. My husband and all my children support my decision to return to nursing school, and they have assured me that they will pull their weight around here when mom needs to study.
Thank you again so much for considering me for your program.