Goal statement/interview questions help

[azuretide]

Hi I am getting ready to apply for a bridge FNP program and welcome constructive critisism and any help you can provide. Thank you in advance as this is my first draft.

Family Nurse Practitioner Goal Statement

Over the last several years I have been evaluating my career and where my life is going. Having a career in medical research has been a wonderful and educational experience but the lack of personal contact and being able to see that what I am doing impacts people on an individual level has left a hole that begs to be filled. I met _____, a family nurse practitioner, at an event about two years ago. We discussed our careers and her passion about her job and her description of how rewarding it was to see patients that she had worked with improve their quality of life intrigued me. I began to shadow ____ to see first hand the day to day activities of a family nurse practitioner. It was amazing to see her bedside manner and see how much the patients appreciated her help. I was also enchanted with her use of logic to figure out what would best help each patient for each situation. Having always been a lover of puzzle solving, this stood out to me as the ultimate puzzle. To take information and observations in a patient to formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan exited me and stirred within me a passion that I had not felt in a very long time. I continued to follow and observe ___ and thrived on the pure diversity of the patients she worked with and the variety of situations and conditions that she diagnosed and treated.

Shadowing ___ opened my eyes to a whole new world of satisfaction in helping people at a personal level. While I know my career in medical research is important to improving the quality of life to people all over the world, I strive for one on one interaction with patients. Shortly after completing my undergraduate degree I began a career in the physical fitness industry. Creating personal plans based on individuals needs and goals was a daily part of my job. Being able to see how people improved as time went on was extremely rewarding. I worked with people from a variety of ages from teen to geriatric. I genuinely loved going to work each day and seeing personal goals met and seeing how lives were changed at a personal level was very fulfilling. It is my hope that this experience will lend to my ability to not only diagnose and treat patients but also give them the tools to improve their healthy practices without me so that they can reduce the amount of time for recovery and decrease the amount of time that they have to spend under medical care.

Growing up in a rural area, I worked from an early age. I have gone to school and had a job since I was 15 years old. I have had the opportunity to gain interpersonal skills through volunteering, youth group activities, college political activities, and throughout my career as a health professional. I have much training on both substance abuse and forming meaningful and healthy personal relationships between people through my work with programs in college like "No More Lies" and "Great Sexpectations." I have experience with working with people from a variety of ages and cultural backgrounds. I believe that all of these skills I have gathered will be instrumental in how I form trusting relationships with patients of any age.

I know that there are many underserved rural areas in the U.S. Having grown up in a family that was not always able to afford quality healthcare, I understand the difficulties that can occur as a result of not having good health insurance. Being able to work with people in areas where medical professionals are really needed is extremely important to me. First hand experience with watching my stepmother deal with her lupus has been very trying on our family. Much of my time is spent researching new treatments that may be affordable for my family or at least make my stepmother more comfortable. Being able to provide affordable high quality healthcare to people in these areas as well as provide a resource for research and treatments that they might not otherwise have access to is a goal that I am striving to achieve.

Through my discussions with ___ on the nurse practitioner bridge program, I look forward to the challenging program ahead of me. I have continued to take college classes following my undergraduate degree to improve my skill sets and knowledge. I thrive in high workload environments. I have great expectations that the FNP bridge program will provide me with the skills that are necessary for the treatment of a variety of people. In medical research there are many deadlines and activities to perform. Being able to multi-task is a necessity in my current line of work and will be a crucial asset while going through the program. I believe that the bridge program will provide me with the essential knowledge to not only be a nurse but a primary care professional.

The diverse experiences of my life whether it is through family, school, volunteering, and work have molded me into the individual I am today. My years in the health industry and as a personal trainer have given me skills listen closely to individuals and effectively communicate with others. The ability to multi-task and time manage has allowed me to be successful in school and at work. I hope to enhance patient satisfaction through personalized lifetime health programs that patients can take home with them. If given the opportunity, I will do all I can to provide for my patients and to pledge my life to improve the health of others every day. Being a primary care professional, I hope to change lives in areas that have little access to quality health care. I hope that ____ can be the school that will provide me with the tools that I need in order to deliver excellent quality of patient care.

Interview Survey

1) What is your concept of nursing? Why do you want to become an advanced practice nurse?

Nursing is the field of identifying and treating health problems and risks. It provides personal individualized treatments and working with patients and their families as well as other health professionals to provide the highest quality of healthcare. I am extremely interested in what I can provide the medical industry through my skills in risk assessment and injury prevention as well as learning advanced techniques in patient care and wellness. I believe that a highly qualified medical professional can change the lives of not only the patients that they treat but of the friends and family of those patients. Also, providing healthcare to high need areas where there is limited access to quality healthcare is extremely important to me.

2) Describe talents, aptitudes, gifts and personal strengths you possess and how these could contribute to a career in nursing?

I am an extremely charismatic person and I am confident with my skills and education. This will provide patient confidence in my diagnoses and treatment options. I have been able to develop strong interpersonal skill. I recognize that I do not know everything there is to know about subjects and I work extremely well with other professionals and draw from their experience and education to enhance my abilities. This will enable me to grow as a professional and be more knowledgeable than a person that is not open to learning new ideas and techniques. I am also highly organized and excel as a multi-tasker. I have experience developing health programs including improving personal diet, physical activity, and other healthy practices. I also have experience teaching in the class room as I was a teaching assistant for college level physiology for two semesters.

3) How will you apply your personal strengths to assure success in ______ School of Nursing's intense accelerated program?

My strengths in communication, learning, and organization will enable me to balance school workload along with the clinical experience I will gain while proceeding through the accelerated program. I have high academic and professional expectations of myself and staying focused using my skills will allow me to excel. My natural gift for logical deduction and my experience in health prescription will enable me to more quickly adapt to medical prescription. My strong interpersonal skills as well as my natural sympathetic nature will help me form a relationship of trust with patients that I see during my clinical rotations. Having worked and gone to school for my undergraduate degree and for subsequent classes, I will be able to balance both the course load and clinical rotations expected from me.

4) What has influenced your decision on a specialty? Describe any life experiences that have contributed to your interest in your selected specialty.

Having been a personal trainer previously working with a wide variety of cliental, I really enjoyed the diversity that comes with working with people from a broad spectrum of generations. Patients of different ages require different treatments and may have other considerations from each other. I feel that this spectrum will lead to continuously changing and interesting cases and help me to further develop my skill sets. I feel that being a family nurse practitioner will also enable me to treat a larger segment of the population in high need areas. I know that _____ is highly known for preparing family nurse practitioners and will provide me with the very best skills and tools to be successful with people of any age.

5) What is your understanding of the responsibility of an adult learner in graduate level education?

As an adult learner in a graduate level program, it is extremely important to have a more self-motivated style of learning. Being more autonomous and self directed is extremely important as information will not be as spoon fed as in an undergraduate degree. Graduate school work is more relevant and practical than undergraduate work. My experience in the workforce has helped me gain an importance seeking out and taking the initiative to learn new things and stay on top of current projects. It has also enabled me to continue learning and gaining knowledge in updated standards and expectations of my career. Having this base will provide study and application skills that an undergraduate young adult would not yet have. Graduate level programs are for those who desire to experts in their respective fields.

6) How will your acceptance into this program impact your current living and working situations? What challenges do you anticipate if accepted and how will you manage these anticipated challenges?

I expect, upon acceptance to the Nurse Practitioner program, to focus completely on school and would no longer work for the company that currently employs me. I will move to Nashville and will focus on my studies as well as my clinical experience. I am currently single and do not have family ties that prevent me from fully committing to the furthering of my education. This will enable me to excel at school with minimal impact from my personal life. The biggest challenges to expect will occur during the move between states and the chaos that a life decision like going back to school entails. I have a support system in Nashville that have already offered to assist in the location transition. I ultimately expect that while the move will be full of complications and obstacles, I have the resources and ties that will make this change successful. I have also saved up a considerable amount of money and this will help me cover the costs of living and expenses of school while I am enrolled.

[mtsteelhorse]

You are honest and filled with passion about your chosen career path. As I focus on developing a goals statement for the FNP program I am giving this considerable thought. I would replace words such as "chaos" and "obstacles" with challenges and opportunities...more positive. Also perhaps, "I would resign from my current position to allow full time focus on my education."

I am no English major! You are well on your way to a great personal statement. Please let me know if you are accepted and how things are going. What school(s) are you applying for admission? Good luck to you!

[azuretide]

Thanks for the response steel. I'm applying to the bridge program at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. I have several friends who went through the program and rave about how prepared it gets people for nursing without having already gotten a bachelor's degree.

[mtsteelhorse]

Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. Let us know how it works out!

[campton]

Please let us know their response! You're statement is very well written and there are no grammar errors. Good luck! Hope it all works out for you

[mtsteelhorse]

Is that online or brick and mortar? Good luck to you! You'll do great!

[LetsChill]

Follow up: Did you get into Vanderbilt with this interview survey?

I am applying for the direct entry for Fall 2013

Just wondering how to go about this interview survey...