HELP! nursing school essay

LauraF, RN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN · Sep 15, 2003

What about why she wants to be a nurse......why she thinks she will make a great nurse.......what about nursing appeals to her..... I wish her luck. I have never had to do anything like that.

kimtab · Sep 15, 2003

I think a creative thing to do would be to do it in the form of Nursing Care Plan, the diagnosis could be something like Potential, unlimited, r/t obtaining Nursing Degree or somone else can come up with something snappier I am sure. I think they would see it as creative and it would show she already had taken the time to learn something about Nursing Process.

Of course most people have quite reasonably never seen a care plan before they get to nursing school so she probably doesn't know how to write one. Have her check out a care plan book at the library to see what I am talking about.

Kim

Eddye · Sep 16, 2003

I had to do this same thing when I started school. Is this a new thing? Did nurses 10 years ago not have to do it?

At any rate, I did what RN2BLPN4NOW suggests here, I wrote what appealed to me about being a nurse, what I knew I would bring to the profession, and why I thought I would be a good candidate for that school. It was glanced over during my interview and put aside so I don't know if I just wrote a really great essay or if it was a mere formality but it didn't matter much. It turned out that the school was completely lame and I should've done better research before I chose. I wound up dropping there to pursue a curriculum with a bit more challenge to it, but that didn't change my views about why I wanted to be a nurse.

Good luck to your friend!!

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2003

Well, I'd write an essay about why I DON'T want to be a nurse. I don't want to be a nurse to make lots of money. I don't want to be a nurse to marry a doctor. I don't want to be a nurse to have an easy job. I don't want to be a nurse yadayadayada. If he's got half a sense of humor he should have no problem (she? Don't know...) writing a snappy little one-pager. :)

SteelTownRN · Sep 16, 2003

I wouldn't recommend going near the careplan" idea for an admissions essay. It is not something that an applicant is expected to know at that point in time, and would not even come close to effectively conveying that the applicant can write a scholarly essay, which is what the admissions committee looks at. They want to know that you can write cohesive sentences and that your essay would have a theme and be structured logically. The content, of course weighs in a bit, but they are reallylooking at your composition skills.

STG

Agnus · Sep 16, 2003

Originally posted by SavageWist
hello

my room mate is tring to get into nursing school and has to write a one page essay. this needs to be snappy and a real eye catcher! any ideas? please help!

thanks Savagewist

I had to write a why I want to be a nurse essay.

I asked a school counselor who worked with the nursing department what they were looking for.

Bottom line they did not care why I wanted to be a nurse. They wanted to see if I could write coheriently, with organization, and be understandable. The essay was to be hand written because I was told that clear handwriting was a requirement.

(didn't seem to have the same handwriting requirement for the nursing faculty before they hired them :chuckle )

So put your best english and writing skills forward.

NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2003

How about forgetting the one-page essay and instead doing a photo-essay about jobs he/she COULD have taken with funny captions at the bottom telling why she passed on it. You could get pretty creative with this- grab some craft supplies, a digital camera, and go at it.

SirJohnny · Sep 16, 2003

All:

- Don't write about how some tragedy in your life steered you towards nursing. About 90% of the applicants write this same type of essay over and over again.

- Write about some positive experience in your life.

- Heck, grab one of your old English essays from high school, change it around a little, and use it as your admissions essay.

- Like previous posters have mentioned. The admissions committee does not care about your previous health care experience.

- Imagine a bunch of old crabs sitting in a conference room for 3 or 4 hours. They are bored, they are tired, they are wondering "why the hell would anyone want to this lousy job.?" Who farted?

- Now you have defined your audience. Write something that grabs their attention. Be different. And don't use pink ink!!!

- Personally, I would be tempted to write about my life as a Big Mac and be tempted to staple a few McDonalds free big mac coupons to my application. Always wanted to do that.

- Seriously: Here is a copy of my admissions essay. I posted this before on the board - so apologies to those that already saw.

Enjoy!

John Coxey

=============================================

1. Describe those life experiences which have influenced your choice of nursing as a career.

2. Describe personal qualities you possess that could contribute to a career in nursing.

3. How do you see yourself as a nurse practicing in the next 10 years?

Last August, as I waded in the middle of the Yellowstone River, my thoughts were concentrated on the native cutthroat trout that were feeding before me. How could I get one of these fish to take my dry fly? What more could I do to convince these fish that my fly was the real thing and not just an imitation?

I don't remember hearing the two grizzly bears. It's when I took my eyes off the trout and prepared to change my dry fly yet another time, that I noticed the mother grizzly and her almost full-grown cub meander out of the woods. Despite the obvious danger, I felt no fear. As I stood in the water, I'd say 100 feet away, I watched these two bears drink and play along the riverbank, and then disappear back into the woods.

That night, as I headed back home to Denver, I had time to reflect on that day's experience. I felt honored to be invited to share a brief moment in these animal's lives. I asked myself, how may people get to go to Yellowstone Park? Of these, how many get to see a grizzly bear while enjoying their favorite pasttime?

Upon graduating from high school twenty years ago, I started my own trucking business. After several years on the road, I left trucking to pursue a career in software design and development. Ten years later I graduated with a Master's degree in that field. It is that discipline of following a dream and sticking with it, that I bring into the nursing field.

Too often, today's society views education as a form of punishment rather than an opportunity. Granted, I too once held this view. Fortunately, I learned the opposite is true. Education provided me with the opportunity to witness those grizzly bears. It allowed me to participate in life, and not just sit on the sidelines as a spectator.

Today, as I write this essay, I do not specifically know what career path I will follow in the nursing profession. With this indecision, I see my career in nursing as an adventure. Academically, I hope that I can build upon the foundation that a nursing education at Saint Joseph's provides.

Someday, I hope to pass what I have learned about education and life to other people so that they too may witness their grizzly bear.

Sincerely,

John Coxey

SavageWist · Sep 16, 2003

wow thank yall so much. what wonderful ideas. i am also impressed with how many responses i have recieved in such a short time. i told my room mate see this is one reason why i wanted to be a nurse, look how helpful other nurses can be. she is very impressed and thankful. God Bless each of you.

Agnus · Sep 17, 2003

Beautifully done, John.