Personal Goal Statment

[mdeibler]

I'm preparing to apply to graduate school for WHNP and was hoping to get some feedback on my personal goal statement. I would appreciate all the help! Thanks!

Nursing is a field that never remains stagnant and is constantly growing. This aspect of growth is one of the many qualities that attracted me to the field of nursing. Throughout my whole life I have never been one to settle or to not be aspiring to reach my next goal. Growing my knowledge through attending college was an early goal of mine and when it came time to decide what I wanted to major in nursing seemed like the perfect fit. Showing compassion for people, lending a helping hand, anatomy of human body, and researching constant new innovations are aspects that are significant to me and are also aspects that I believe embody the field of nursing. Those interests are what inspired me to initially start my nursing career. I first started my nursing journey with an Associate Degree in Nursing and accepted a job on a medical surgical orthopedic unit directly after passing my boards where I worked for two years. Even after just a few short months of starting as a nurse I was reaffirmed that this was the career made for me. I cared for complete strangers who in turn became patients I sincerely cared about, stood by a patient and their family as they took their last breath, assisted in a resuscitation that brought someone back to life, and was learning something new in terms of healthcare every single time I worked. Nursing is an extremely stimulating career because it is constantly changing and there is always something new to be learned. Continuing to grow and learn new knowledge is very important to me as well as being the best I can be at my job. For these reasons is why I decided to further my growth and career by going back to school to obtain my bachelor's degree. Now that I have completed my bachelor's degree it is time to take the next step in attaining my ultimate goal.

Achieving a Master's degree as a nurse practitioner is something that I've been striving for since the first day I decided to enter the incredible world of nursing. Becoming a nurse practitioner is an important goal of mine and I would not want to trust any school other than the _________ to aid me in achieving this goal. I believe that the ________ is the ideal educational institution to further my education and to aide me in achieving my end goal of obtaining my Master's degree as a nurse practitioner. I firmly believe that in alignment with the university's mission statement the knowledge and experience that I will receive from the university will fully equip me to take on the role of a nurse practitioner upon completion of the program. Advancing my nursing career will give me the professional skills to prescribe, diagnose, and manage the health and wellness of patients. The flexibility of online learning will give me the opportunity to remain working on my current unit continuing to learn valuable skills I will be able to utilize in an advanced practice role. As a nurse practitioner my passion would be to specialize in women's health. The vigorous coursework at the _________will prepare me to work as a WHNP where I will promote the health and wellness along with providing disease prevention and diagnoses to the women population. In the role of WHNP I will help educate women over their lifespan on reproductive and sexual health.

While I was obtaining my bachelor's degree I was able to acquire a job on the Women's and Children's unit at my community hospital. Working on this unit has been an aspiration of mine since beginning nursing school and the experiences I've attained on the unit have confirmed that my passion is women's health. I've been able to be with women to help them bring their child into the world and I've also been by their side to grieve the loss of their unborn child. I've been a support person for women when they've had no one else to turn to and I've provided reassurance and education to women who felt overwhelmed and needed guidance in relation to their health status. I can honestly say that I love working in the specialty that I do and even a couple bad days of my work are outweighed by a single good day of work. I have worked on the Women's and Children's unit for almost two years and during this time I have become very comfortable in assessing and planning and managing the care of the patients on my unit. After obtaining a degree and certification as a WHNP I would like to practice in a clinic setting with emphasis on prevention and promotion of young women's sexual and reproductive health. Working labor and delivery at my community hospital has opened my eyes to the number of young pregnant patients there are and how lack of antepartum and postpartum education seems to be a common thread among many of these patients. I have also experienced how providing appropriate education to these young patients can positively impact their experiences and even improve patient outcomes. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power, and I want to educate young women, so they can feel empowered and have control over their own health and make informed decisions about their health. Aside from receiving education, sometimes young women just want to know that someone is there to listen and talk to them. I want patients to know they have a safe space to talk about difficult issues that can tend to surround women's health. While working in labor and delivery I've had to deal with heartbreaking situations of fetal demises which has strengthened my skills of empathy and has reinforced my ability to handle difficult situations and the importance of developing strong and meaningful patient relationships. Building bonds and strong patient relationships is a key characteristic in nursing and is a beneficial quality I believe I could bring to the role of being an advanced practice nurse.

As a nurse practitioner I would provide a whole-body approach to the management of patient health. As a nurse you spend an immense amount of one on one time with patients and learn not only their physical characteristics that pertain to their health but also the mental and emotional characteristics that make them who they are. I truly believe that not only understanding the patient physically but also mentally is vital in providing the best care possible for patients and that it helps provide the best patient outcomes. One of my favorite parts of being a nurse is bedside patient care and as a nurse practitioner I would utilize the nursing patient care background and combine it with the diagnostic role of a physician. As a nurse I am also an advocate for my patients. For example, I had a patient where the doctor wanted to use a great deal of artificial interventions in the patient's labor process, but the patient wished to have as natural of a labor as possible. To try and provide my patient with the labor experience that she wanted I communicated with the doctor in private expressing the patient's wishes and how having a delivery as natural as possible was exceedingly important to the patient. By communicating with the doctor and expressing the wishes of the patient the doctor agreed to allow the patient to labor naturally and in the end the patient delivered naturally and achieved the labor experiences she wanted. I remember how appreciative the patient was to achieve the labor experience she desired and for me that is what I love about being a nurse, getting to be a patient advocate and making patient's healthcare experiences what they desire and deserve. As a nurse practitioner I would use the role to continue to be a patient advocate with the new responsibilities I would acquire.

I believe that my compassion for patients, passion for patient advocacy, professional communication skills, and thirst for knowledge and growth makes me an ideal candidate for the _______ Women's Health Nurse Practitioner program. My previous experience with distance-based learning at Western Governors University will aide me in transitioning into the role as a distant learning graduate student. If given the opportunity I would utilize all the resources that the ________ has to offer to graduate with a Master's Degree in Nursing and become a exceeding capable Women's Health Nurse Practitioner.