Essay for employment

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Part of the application for a new grad at the hospital in my town is writing a letter/essay on why nursing, why that hospital, and what you think you may gain from their program (200 words).

I'm stuck on what I think i might gain....obviously experience... but I'm stuck, I've never been a writere, PLEASE HELP!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Wow! I hope this is for a special new grad program of some kind. I would hate to think that they subject all nursing applicants to this mess.

As a nurse educator who has created & managed new grad residencies/internships/externships, etc. over the last umpty two years, I feel I can shed a bit of light on this requirement. The essay will be scrutinized not only for content, but for grammar, spelling, flow of ideas, etc... as an indicator of your own educational ability & (for lack of a better term) intellectual horsepower. So make darn sure that everything is perfect in terms of your essay format. Be sure to follow all the application instructions exactly - this is also part of the criteria.

That being said, I would encourage you to focus on the benefits that are realized by beginning your career in a program that is sensitive to the unique needs of new graduates. Generally, this includes an analysis of your unique developmental (skills & knowledge) needs, establish clear training/education goals and providing you with the resources and guidance to accomplish the goals. Formal programs normally have preceptors that have been specially trained to work with new grads; not only helping them achieve both competency goals and the confidence to step out into independent practice.

I would avoid mentioning any specific clinical area you want to work in - unless this is part of the program requirement. Instead, you can say that you hope to be able to experience a variety of different settings.

Best of luck to you!!

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Specializes in Ambulatory care.

Haha well be thankful that you have been given the topics ahead of time. I know a friend of mine that during the interview they gave her a surprise essay exam, asked her to write a 2 page essay on the spot with pen and paper. You see that was a test to see what her writing abilities are, english proficiency, ability to handle unexpected situation, how her mind works etc and etc. Good luck and make sure like above poster said answer the questions, proof, it get someone else to read it over.

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