I was inspired to become a nurse by my daughter Catherine who survived a liver transplant at 4 years old. 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, and I treat them in accordance with their cultural and spiritual as well as physical needs, seeking holistic triumph over disease and the fullest recovery possible. I find my greatest joy in client-centered care driven by all of the needs of the patient rather than the presence of disease alone. I like to think of the nurse as the conductor of an orchestra of care-givers all of whom must first and foremost ‘care’, not just for the patient but also 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, my grades did improve a lot in my studies towards the BSN. With extensive experience and dedication to nursing, I am highly responsible, very organized, and an extremely hard worker. We live on a farm in Kentucky and would have it no other way. So studying online is a natural for me and XXXX University is well known for its innovative nursing programs. I truly enjoyed earning my BSN online and XXXX University is the only program to which I am applying because I see it as ideal for my purposes. Most of all, I want to be a Family Nurse Practitioner and I see XXXX as the premier online program in this area, especially since I want to study part time. I am also confident that the flexibility and mission of XXXX combine to make it the ideal place for me to be able to make a special effort and investment in my FNP studies from the perspective of rural health.
I am thirsty for the kind of quality immersion experience in the field of Family Nurse Practitioner afforded by your program. Being accepted into and completing your program will give me the freedom to practice independently and to provide my rural clients with the highest quality of evidence-based nursing practice on the planet. 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 a host of nursing-related subjects with an eye towards applications for the communities I serve, family planning services in rural areas, obtaining comprehensive medical histories, conducting thorough physical examinations, and interpreting diagnostic studies.
I want very much to become a fully fledged professional in the identification, diagnosis, treatment, and especially the monitoring of acute medical problems. I am well aware that seeking advanced responsibilities in nursing will be accompanied by profound challenges, irregular hours, and the potential for increased levels of stress. I am undaunted, however, in my determination to become a Certified FNP because nursing is where I find my greatest joy in life; and I expect that to increase exponentially in the future as my children require less and less of my time. I entered into the field of nursing out of a sense of duty, out of a need and a calling to serve my community. I look forward to living the balance of my professional life for others, doing everything that I can to improve nursing care in my community. I feel strongly that my grades during my ADN Program do not accurately reflect my ability to excel in your program and for this reason I enclose the following addendum to address this issue. I thank you for considering my application to your truly exciting program.
Addendum
Probably my principal weakness as a nursing student has been my lack of test-taking skill. This was particularly the case early on, during my studies towards the ADN. Still, since my grades in my BSN Program—while far from stellar—do fall into the acceptable range; thus, I feel that I went a long way towards redeeming my performance while studying towards the ADN. Now 40 years old, I would have liked to have come to you sooner. I am off to a late start at graduate studies because, first and foremost, I was a nurse to my daughter, Catherine, to which my career naturally took a back seat. A very sick baby girl, I nursed her to the point where she was strong enough to survive a liver transplant at 4 years old
1 year after Catherine’s liver transplant, however, she had an AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm); they fixed it, but then she developed another one that grew a horrible bacteria and she had to be on IV antibiotics for an additional 6 months. It was this experience, including my own study of all of Catherine’s medical issues that inspired me to become a nurse. Catherine was always my first priority and she was nine years old when I finished my ADN at XXXX Community and Technical College and begin my BSN Program. I ask for special consideration in the case of my low grades because I feel strongly that working to save my daughter’s life is the primary reason why my grades were low during my ADN Program.
Catherine is now 16 and doing marvelously. I have gained a lot of maturity as a nurse and I now feel strongly that it is my optimal time for attending graduate school so as to be able to advance in my profession. My husband and all of my children are very supportive of 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.
