Nursing Essay Assistance needed!

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 31, 2009

Are you actually hoping to use other people's personal stories for your homework? I certainly hope not!

I'll assume the best and give you a little advice on how to approach how to respond to these questions yourself.

When you are asked to describe examples from your own experience, it's usually a good idea to really think deeply about the concepts they want to learn before you dive in head first and start focusing on your past experiences. You want to be sure that your example is a good illustration of those concepts -- and to do that you really have to clarify and understand those concepts well first.

So, for the first question... you'll want to start by identifying your core values. What do you strongly believe? Have you ever changed your beliefs because you learned something new or were exposed to someone or something that caused you to question those values? Have you ever been in situation in which you were tempted to violate your core values? Have you ever "gone along with" someone else who was violating one of your core values? etc. Such situations would make great examples to discuss for question #1.

For question #2, you would start by thinking about critical thinking. What is it? How does it differ from other types of thinking? How would critical thinking help a person resolve an issue or solve a problem? As you are contemplating the nature of critical thinking, let your mind start generating examples of it from your own life. Choose one that involves your use of critical thinking to solve a problem.

Too many students take the wrong track in their attempt to write such essays. They jump right away to the example and spend all their time and effort on the describing the details of the situation. The teacher wants to know that you truly understand the concepts he/she is trying to teach ... so focus on the first and formost in your essay. Choose your example by letting it flow from your contemplation of those concepts ... and then be sure that your written essay highlights those concepts, using the example to illustrate them.

That's how you write a good essay of this type.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 31, 2009

Your instructions are "experiences have you had in the field that enabled you to obtain the skills and values that you have or have strengthened due to your working environment." I've interviewed a lot of people for jobs and these are the same basic questions that are asked of almost all candidates to elicit information about your character. You are to write about your enlightenment (how you gained new wisdom) as a result of these experiences. You cannot own someone else's experiences and gain much wisdom from them.

Any experience where you worked with one or more persons could have challenged your core values. Core values are things like honesty, integrity, ethics, etc. Did someone ask you to do something that was wrong? Did you do the right thing or the wrong thing? Why? Critical thinking skills to resolve an issue merely refers to the ability to rationally solve problems--that's the nursing process. Did you find a problem and correct it? What steps did you take to do that?

Giggles999 · Oct 31, 2009

Hey thanks for you response Daytonite. I added the "What experiences have you had in the field that enabled you to obtain the skills and values that you have or have strengthened due to your working environment" As a general question that Im asking people in this forum. This wasn't part of the essay question. The essays were just #1 & #2.

The reason Im having a hard time with this because for question #2 do they want me to describe and emergency situation that I encountered, for example a person that stopped breathing, and how I followed protocol? Like I "yelled 911 then I proceeded to clear the airways then..." etc. Since I'm a medical assistant, do they want to get a snapshot of how I deal with the flow of the clinic? ..."If I have a patient coming in for a biopsy these are the steps I take..." etc Does it have to be an actual clinical situation? I'm asking this because I know you have experience in interviewing and know what nursing schools are looking for so I appreciate and advice that you give.

The situation that I was thinking of using kinda ties in both questions (1&2). So don't know if I should give one long answer to both questions and risk getting dinged for it or answer both questions separately.

Let me know Daytonite! I think your tips are golden! I appreciate your time in advance.

~Gigi

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Nov 1, 2009

If these are essays for a nursing school application they are looking for insight into your character not what kind of information you possess about the healthcare field. They want to see what kind of insight you have into yourself and others. What have you learned about yourself from a difficult situation that challenged a value you believed in? How do you face and deal with problems? The reason is because professional, licensed nurses are trained and expected to be problem solvers and managers of patient care. By the end of their training they are expected to be leaders, to step forward and stand up as advocates for those who can't speak for themselves and to be solvers of problems. We're not just pushers of pills and fluffers of pillows. They are trying to determine if you have the character traits to be that kind of leadership person. You either are mature enough to have these character traits or you don't. An emergency situation could have been how you handled preventing a little child from running into the street while you were at a garage sale or how you tactfully intervened and prevented a frustrated dog owner who was about to slap their dog by redirecting the owner's attention so the dog didn't get hit. Those kinds of incidents demonstrate how people practice their own beliefs in challenging situations without stepping on the toes of others. As nurses we deal with all kinds of people and must often find a compromising way to respect others beliefs as well as our own. They are trying to see if you have the maturity to do that; if you understand that learning is also about your own growth; if you are open to change (because that is what is going to happen if you get into a nursing program--make a lot of changes in yourself and how you think about people and the world around you).

Giggles999 · Nov 1, 2009

OH my gosh! Thank you so much! This definitely helped me narrow down what experience I wanted to talk about. Wasn't sure it was a strong enough experience to put down on my essay but thanks for the clarification/direction. Is it at all possible to email you my rough draft to get some more feedback? or am I pushing it? lol. thank you Daytonite! Let me know.