Statement of Purpose by Laurie

Statement of Purpose by Laurie - December 2016 Scholarship Essay

When people ask me “Why did I want to be a nurse?” it’s hard to distinguish just one answer. Growing up and discussing with my parents about career choices, they always highlighted nursing to be the most optimal career path. They would give me points about how nursing is meaningful work, a good way to earn a living, and in high demand. While I agreed with my parents about pursuing nursing, it did not become my own passion until I started nursing school.
I got accepted into George Mason University’s Nursing Program in 2010. Nursing school is a different experience for everyone, but I remember it being gruesome. Not only did I have to attend classes, but also I had to balance my life between attending Clinicals, working as a Psychiatric Technician in Dominion Hospital, and studying for my exams. Also, my father was hospitalized during my senior year of nursing school. During that time of his hospitalization, I recall feeling frustrated and helpless because I could not understand the things that were happening to him – from his diagnosis of colon cancer, to having a wound infection after surgery, to staying in the ICU due to sepsis, etc. With the little experience that I had being a nursing student, his hospitalization was one of the hardest things I had to endure and had to comprehend. It became imperative that I stayed strong for my father, and work through finishing school. Luckily, he finally did get to leave the hospital and is currently healthy, alive and cancer free. And in the end, I graduated nursing school and made Dean’s List by the end of my senior year.
After graduation, I worked at Inova Fairfax Hospital in the Intermediate Care Unit (IMC). The high acuity of patients on this unit gave me my basis and foundation of the nurse I would become today. My very first year as a Registered Nurse, I was expected to have good time management. Considering how chaotic this unit gets, time management was important in order to get through your daily work tasks for each patient. It wasn’t until my second year in IMC that I was able to start thinking outside the basic fundamental skills. I started to develop more critical thinking and really focus on the “bigger picture” outside of just doing tasks. I became someone that other nurses can approach to solve situations. And with this, I started a new era in my career in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) at the same hospital.
CVICU is a very specialized unit with the patient population recovering after open-heart surgery. No longer was I dealing with a broad spectrum of patients in IMC, but I had to learn specific cardiac procedures and specific details regarding devices, such as Ventricular Assisted Devices and Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumps. My first year in IMC, while it was overwhelming, had no comparison with my first year in CVICU. I had higher expectations for myself and for my care in my patients. I took my time to study procedures, attend classes, and re-read my notes from nursing school regarding cardiac care. It was an exciting experience. And as I finished my second year on this unit, my growth brought me to start teaching new nurses on the unit. They say the best way to learn something is to be able to teach it, and I can definitely say that I have learned so much working in CVICU.
My growth as a nurse has been exponential. It started as a dream from my childhood and now it has become a reality. I learned the fundamental skills of nursing through IMC, and advanced my critical thinking skills in CVICU. After five years into my career, I believe I am ready to take it to the next level and move my practice beyond the scope of bedside nursing. I would like to be a Family Nurse Practitioner. I believe the skills I have obtained these past few years have given me the perfect foundation to become a Nurse Practitioner. I know that by gaining the role of both a nurse and a primary health care provider I can provide for my patients at a more deeper and intimate level. I strive to bring the best quality of life to my patients and their families. This is my lifelong journey, which I hope would show in my high quality care to my patients.