acute care personal statement

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Hi! I'm looking for feedback on my personal statement for USF's adult-gero acute care NP program. The questions were 1: Why acute care over other types of advanced practice nursing and 2: What does your future as an NP look like? Include clinical setting.

Statement of Professional Goals

After two years of working on the orthopedic unit at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, I had an epiphany within myself to learn more about my specialty area as well as others. When Sarasota Memorial Hospital became a Level II Trauma Center in May 2015, I knew I had found my niche. This was the perfect opportunity for me to expand my skills and knowledge. I am passionate about orthopedics and have gained multitudes of information about total joint replacements and fractures, but as I matured in my career I started to become captivated towards the acutely ill patient population. I find myself intrigued by patient admissions from the emergency room and intensive care unit. When the hospital received its trauma certification, our orthopedic patient population changed drastically. I was no longer dealing with the usual joint replacement and hip fracture patients. My patients were now involved in vehicle and motorcycle accidents as well as other traumas. It has been a major, dramatic learning curve for me, but also thrilling. When my unit was turned into an orthopedic trauma step-down unit, I received the chance to expand my knowledge into other areas of nursing. This experience overall has helped prepare me to further my education by becoming an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

The patients on the trauma step-down unit are not always guaranteed to be orthopedic patients. I appreciate using my skills and knowledge to help heal patients that have multiple system traumas as well as orthopedic injuries. It allows me to think critically and work closely with the mid-level practitioners and physicians on the trauma team. The adult patients on my unit are seventeen and older, and I enjoy the diversity that comes along with caring for a wide variety of patients. I want to immerse myself into patient care by becoming an AG-ACNP. The increase in the acutely ill older adult and the lack of physicians creates a need for more nurse practitioners in the hospitals. The percentage of Sarasota County's residents over 65 years of age is expected to increase from 30% to 40% by 2030 (How are we aging? 2012). The hospital populations will more than likely reflect this. I want to be at the front lines in making decisions about these patients' care beyond the bedside. Furthering my education is how I feel I will be able to be the most proficient advocate for my patient's in the future. I will still be able to provide care in the holistic way that bedside nursing has taught me, but it will be catered toward the specific needs of the community.

As an AG-ACNP, I want to work in a hospital setting. Hospitalists and Nurse Practitioners play a vital role in the health care system. After working extensively with the trauma nurse practitioners on my unit, I feel that I could make the most prevalent impact as a nurse practitioner on the trauma team. I want to work mainly in the emergency room, intensive care units, and step-down units. I would care for trauma patients on several different units of the hospital, all who have different levels of acuity which interest me the most. Additionally, I would provide follow up care and education at a clinic once a week for trauma patients who have been discharged.

Attending the University of South Florida for my Master's degree would provide me with the proper tools and skills to advance my career to provide the best patient care that I can. It is the only AG-ACNP program in the state university system, so it is the opportunity of a lifetime for me. USF's mission statement and values align closely with mine, placing an importance on research and evidence based practice to improve patient health. Completing my Master's degree and gaining experience as a Nurse Practitioner will prepare me for my future doctoral study at USF. The AG-ACNP program will challenge and help me to further pursue a rewarding career that has meaning to me. The last time I saw my grandfather, he said, You are built for a challenge.” I agree with him; I am highly motivated and determined to succeed.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

This wall of text is overwhelming and hard to read. Please consider asking the mods to reformat your post with paragraphs so other members don't pass it by. Best of luck to you in your endeavors.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

You really need to rework this. You go about answering the questions in a very round about way and you need to be more succinct and the first sentence needs help plus many others can be improved.

I really have to hunt for the answer of why you desire acute care over other settings in advanced practice nursing. One way to do this is just to restate the question. My desire is to practice as an advanced practice nurse in an acute setting because my experience thus far as taught me (or shown me) that I thrive in a fast paced dynamic environment and one in which I can work collaboratively with other providers and nurses.The acute care setting also offers a diverse patient population that affords me the opportunity to continually learn and then apply that knowledge to provide therapeutic intervention and care. I also enjoy formulating a plan of care for patients suffering from acute injuries or illnesses since the care and treatment provided can have an immediate impact on the health of the client

That is just an example. You also seem to give your nursing history and experiences and the reader is supposed to gleam the answers to the questions and you need to just answer the questions directly. I think the first one is more important and you need to list more reasons than I did in the sample because they really need to know why you are committed to this setting.You can give a little bit of history but way less than you did and more reasons why you are attracted to acute care. You can say for example. I realized that when I began to work with complex acute orthopedic trauma patients that I had an intense passion to further my knowledge about this patient population and sharpen my ability to critically think to meet their complex needs.

I can give you a lot more suggestions but I am getting tired and you will need to tell me what you think thus far but you can and should make this a lot better!

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First off, good for you for wanting to do more.

Secondly, this is good, but it could be better. You are writing as if you are sure that you CAN be an NP in a hospital setting. Can you? Are these jobs available? And you would bounce from one unit to another? As a hospitalist? What is the feasibility? Have you had a conversation with the powers that be about your goals? In other words, is your goal in alignment with a job?

Trauma/acute--these are 2 different things. As is a doctorate and an NP--are you talking a doctorate in nursing or an MD? Would it be feasible to get your critical care/trauma/ortho RN certifications prior to starting the NP program? Would that make you more marketable in the long run?

Love your passion and your use of mission statements, and your grandpa analogy. But be more specific on what this means in a way that is specific to the need in your area. In other words, you do not want to go through a program of study that at the end of the day you can not be employed due to your facility, or others in your area, not using NP's. Further, if this is the only program of its kind, how large is the class? Will you be one of 100 or one of 10?

My suggestion would be to get your certifications and work them first. Then as you get a sense of what advanced practice people your facility uses (some use PA's for this kind of stuff) THEN decide where to go from there. For instance PA school requires several hundred clinical hours prior to their programs. NP (which in some areas is the new black) requires several hundred clinical hours as part of the program.

I am not trying to quash your dreams. Just that you need to be sure that you can be employed once you achieve them.

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Thank you for your suggestions and taking the time to read this. I am going to rework it.

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Yes, these NP jobs are available. I work with several of them. Thank you for your feedback. I knew I needed to rework my essay but I didn't know where to start. Greatly appreciated.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

Great..will look for the new version when you post it!

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I decided to make it flow better by adding a bit of organization:

History, Why acute care?, Why gero?, What clinical setting?, Conclusion

Here is a copy with your examples worked in. I will have to reword it completely and add more specific examples, but take a look at this very rough draft for now:

After two years of working on the orthopedic unit, I found myself wanting to learn more about my specialty as well as other areas of nursing. When Sarasota Memorial Hospital became a Level II Trauma Center in May of 2015, I knew I had found my niche. This was the perfect opportunity for me to expand my skills and knowledge, and it happened at just the right time. I am passionate about orthopedics and I have learned so many interesting things about total joint replacements and fractures, however I started to become more interested in the acutely ill patient population. I found myself interested in the patient admissions from the emergency room and intensive care unit. I realized that when I began to work with complex, acute orthopedic trauma patients, I had passion to further my knowledge about this patient population and sharpen my ability to critically think to meet their complex needs. This experience has prepared me to advance my nursing career by becoming an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.

My desire is to practice as an advanced practice nurse in an acute care setting because my experience thus far has taught me that I thrive in a fast paced dynamic environment and one in which I can work collaboratively with other providers and nurses. The acute care setting also offers a diverse adult patient population that allows me to continually learn and then apply that knowledge to provide therapeutic intervention and care. I also enjoy formulating a plan of care for patients suffering from acute injuries or illnesses because the treatment provided can have an immediate impact on the health of the patient. There is nothing more rewarding than caring for a trauma patient who is able to be completely rehabilitated and be discharged home.

I want to work with older adults because the increase in the acutely ill older adult patient population and the lack of physicians creates a need for more nurse practitioners in the hospitals. The percentage of Sarasota County's residents over 65 years of age is expected to increase from 30% to 40% by 2030 (How are we aging? 2012). The hospital population will likely reflect this, as the geriatric population represents the majority of traumas and other hospital admissions in my area. I want to be able to make decisions about these patients' care beyond the bedside. I will still be able to provide care in the holistic way that bedside nursing has taught me, but it will be catered more toward the specific needs of the community and I will have more autonomy.

As an AG-ACNP, I want to work in a hospital setting. Hospitalists and intensivists play a vital role in the health care system, and there is a lack of them in the hospital where I work. After working closely with the trauma nurse practitioners on my unit, I feel that I could make the most impact as a nurse practitioner on the trauma team. I would be working mainly in the emergency room, intensive care units, and step-down units. I would care for trauma patients on several different units of the hospital, all who have different levels of acuity. Additionally, I would provide follow up care and education at a clinic once a week for trauma patients who have been discharged.

Attending the University of South Florida for my Master's degree would provide me with the proper tools and skills to advance my career and provide the best patient care that I can. It is the only AG-ACNP program in the state university system, so it is the opportunity of a lifetime for me. USF's mission statement and values align closely with mine, placing an importance on research and evidence based practice to improve patient health. Completing my Master's degree and gaining experience as a nurse practitioner will prepare me for the Doctorate of Nursing Practice program at USF. The AG-ACNP program will challenge me and help me to further pursue a rewarding career that has meaning to me. Furthering my education is how I will be able to do the most good in the nursing profession. The last time I saw my grandfather, he said, You are built for a challenge.” I agree with him; I am highly motivated and determined to succeed.

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Hey itsjilarious! How did it go? Hope you got into the school!

I also thought about sharing some samples of personal statements I think are helpful:

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