Nurse Practioner Admission Essay Essay

Since graduating in 2008 with my diploma in nursing, I have had many personal and clinical experiences. The challenges I have faced have facilitated my competency as a nurse and increased my desire to continue my education in nursing. My introduction to emergency room nursing was during my senior year as a nursing student, as a patient care technician. Even though some days were trying and there was a lot of learning to be had, I almost immediately knew this is where I belonged. I have continued my career in the emergency department, where I have been working as a registered nurse for 5 years. During my career I have performed in many different roles, including patient care technician, new graduate nurse, staff nurse, triage nurse, preceptor and mentor for students and new employees, and even the role of charge nurse. The challenges of working in a high volume emergency department, caring for a diverse and complex patient population have been abundant. Emergency nursing is my passion and I am driven by the opportunity to expand my knowledge base and nursing practice. Now that I have fulfilled my goal of completing my bachelors in nursing, I aim to challenge myself further by obtaining a master’s of science in nursing. The independence and autonomy required to provide high complexity care is crucial in an emergency setting and these traits are what draw me to the role of a nurse practitioner. My experiences as an emergency room nurse have enhanced my knowledge and ability to manage and care for critically acute, as well as chronically ill patients varying in ages from infant to elderly, with different cultural and religious backgrounds. Becoming a nurse practitioner will allow me to continue providing care to varying populations, with a variety of health issues, while still giving me the opportunity to make a difference in people’s health and overall well-being. My professional goal is to use my studies and skills to become the most competent clinician I can be, while maintaining one of the most important qualities, compassion. Becoming a nurse practitioner who treats the whole person and not just a medical condition is very important to me. The diversity of the emergency room has taught me that providing excellent care is much more complex than treating an illness. Each patient has unique needs and the ability of the healthcare provider to tailor their approach in assessing and treating each patient is crucial in providing optimal care. Follow through is an aspect of nursing that I look forward to in the role of nurse practitioner, as the setting I currently work does not often allow for this. In the emergency room, we stabilize patients and then they are moved to another department or unit; we infrequently know the final outcome or see the end result of our care. Building on existing skills and the opportunity to implement new ones, such as this, to better serve and assist the same patient population is what pushes me to continue my education in nursing. I thrive in situations that are challenging and intense, which the nurse practitioner program will prove to be. The lifelong reward of a career that has meaning and value to me is worth the sacrifices. I am confident with my experience, the skills I have developed and the challenges I have faced, not only in my career but in life, I am capable of succeeding in almost any situation and I look forward to the challenges and success of becoming a nurse practitioner.