thank you everyone for your help. i actually have an essay that i put together. please let me know what you think. by nature, i am a sincere, dedicated, caring, individual who has a great deal of ambition. i love to learn, and am always up to a challenge. i prefer to be in a setting where i can interact with others, although i can efficiently work on my own as well. i have the benefit of being able to effectively listen and communicate with others. i efficiently multi-task in a busy, stressful area and at the same time am also able to collaborate with my co-workers toward the common goal of exemplary patient care. i understand that each individual is unique, with distinctive needs. through my employment in the past six years at community medical center in the intensive care unit as a ward secretary/telemetry technician, i have learned to adapt my approach to meet the needs of the individual with whom i am interacting. as a nurse, there are many different ways that i could share my passion to provide the best possible care to patients as well as to their families. nursing is a profession that affords me the opportunity to use my mind and heart, which would allow me to provide all aspects of care to individuals at the most vulnerable moments in their lives. i believe nursing to be a noble profession and i feel it would be an honor to be a nurse. the field of nursing has many attractive qualities; the scientific aspect to medicine, being an integral part of the health care team, being a patient advocate, and working in a motivated, needed, and such an essential field fascinates me. in the summer of 2000 an event occurred that influenced the rest of my life. my mother lay in the intensive care unit on a ventilator due to a critical illness without a very promising outlook. my mother has always been there for me, and now it was my turn to be there for her. i was unsure of what to do. i spent many anxious days and nights at her bedside feeling frightened and helpless, waiting and hoping that she would recover. her fate was now in the hands of god and the health care professionals that buzzed around her. my family and i had so many questions and concerns and it was the nurses who guided us with their care and compassion that helped us through a very difficult time. i was amazed by their vast knowledge and integrity. my mother did recover under the watchful eyes of her nurses and doctors; however she was never going to be quite the same again. it was then that i found nursing as my calling. i realized that nursing is a profession where you can really help people, and i wanted to be a part of that. when i started working in icu, there was only one secretary, she worked days. the job was growing, so they added a night shift. there were three nurses who took me under their wing. they were wonderful and always took the time to answer my constant questions and explained the answers. i found everything to be fascinating and i wanted to learn more. i pursue information sources to look up any medication, lab test, terms, or any procedure with which i am not familiar. there was a delay in my formal telemetry training and i sought after ways to learn. so i bought ekg's made easy, and with the help of the nurses, i started to learn on my own. when the class became available i was already familiar with the material. it has been over six years now, and i feel comfortable in my analysis of telemetry rhythms and my colleagues consider me one the top telemetry technicians in the hospital. i have accomplished many things that i am proud of since i started working in icu. i have built the night secretary/telemetry technician job from a basic frame into the generally smooth running shift it is today. i seek out more efficient ways to complete tasks. i have reformatted the cardiac catherization/pci post recovery frequent vital signs flow sheet. i spent a great many hours reformatting and typing icu's policies and procedures into the computer so that they all would be available on-line. i worked with dr. eyler, an endocrinologist, to reformat her insulin drip protocol. after extensive research with the help of the icu educator, i wrote a new job description for the secretary and telemetry technician position that is now hospital policy. until i began school last january, i also served on icu's self-governance committee. after much consideration and research, i am determined to continue my education in the field of nursing. now that my children are older, i feel it is time to fulfill my dream. i attend school full-time, and work full-time in the icu. i love my job, the people i work with, and the patients we care for. i consider my time in icu as training for my ultimate goal as a nurse. i have seen the joys of nursing and also the heartbreak. i have an accurate idea of what nursing involves and i know that i can become an excellent nurse. i have learned to put my emotions aside during tense situations and to be there for the patient and their families and i have learned what empathy really means. i have a unique perspective on terminal patients through my experiences with my mother. she has end-stage copd and is hospitalized often; sometimes on a ventilator. i know what it is like to by the bedside as a worried family member.. as her daughter, i want everything to be done for her. however, it is not about me; it is about her wishes and needs. i have learned what it is to be a complete patient advocate. nursing is about patient care and needs, the quality of life, not the quantity. nursing is a caring profession that provides a service offered to others through the establishment of relationships focused toward health. this is characterized by trust, meaningful communications, and an attitude of caring and respect. i believe that to be a good, well-rounded nurse requires intellectual capacity, and also a heart for the job. it takes compassion and understanding for the patient and the willingness to strive to get the best healthcare possible for them. my job in icu has provided me with extensive experience, knowledge and skills necessary in order for me to continue my nursing education. i love what i do and the feeling of content when i know that i have made a positive difference in someone's life. i consider the three nurses who took me under their wing to be my mentors as well as my inspiration to be the kind of nurse i know i can be. i believe my experience and unique perspective, proven performance in the medical field, and record of academic achievements will help me be an excellent candidate for the nursing program. any input you have would be wonderful. thanks for your help.:balloons: