School admission essay

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

i wonder can anyone look at my essay and give some good advice?

it's for a private school, bsn program - and must be not more than 450 words. also, my situation is a bit unusual. i'm actually an old foreign-trained m.d., immigrated several years ago and firmly decided to make nursing my second career.

thank you very much in advance!

the idea to become a nurse came to me after one memorable night spent in hospital. my knowledge of post-labor loss of speech's intricate pathophysiology didn't help when i, exhausted after difficult labor, tried desperately to find out what happened with my newborn daughter.

the person who saved my sanity that night was an l&d nurse who held my hand while repeating slowly: "your little girl is fine...". i remembered her calm, pacifying voice when, much later i asked myself: what kind of medical professional i want to be?

my past experience taught me that excellence in patient's care requires development of special type of communication and emotional bonds between patient and medical professionals. naturally, people can feel fear and confusion facing complexity of modern medicine, and this is where the words i use, my actions and my attitude can be as powerful as medicines - or even more. the member of care team whom the patient trusts, who truly cares about every little detail of his life and advocate for him can make immense difference in treatment' results and in one's life. during my practice i participated in rehabilitation program for children with complex endocrine disorders. it was one of greatest pleasures in my life to see how those children and their parents, once afraid and desperate, were learning how to be just kids and families once again, and enjoy life. discussing their problems openly, without fears or shame, reading a popular book i wrote for them, they made themselves more confident and hopeful with each passing day. surely, would like to repeat this wonderful experience in my future career, but it was a big discovery to realize that in american health care model the role of patient's educator and advocate often belongs to a nurse.

but that discovery was only a beginning. i found that a nurse can be much more than lowly "doctor's helper", that nursing is a separate specialty, dynamic and fascinating. it is as diverse as my new country, inviting people from all cultures and backgrounds. most important, it offers me the opportunity i've longed for all my professional life - to combine science of modern medicine with art of passionate care and emotional closeness with people in need for support and protection, being a true healer of human body and soul. and ever-changing character of modern nursing provides endless opportunities for learning and specialization, promoting nurses to become independent health care providers - but with some special features, for each nurse knows that "caring" truly means more than technical advances. to become an excellent nurse is a difficult but noble goal,and i feel the passion and determination to make nursing my new career choice.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Aerican nurses are problem solvers and leaders and not just compassionate care givers. We are expected to manage patient care at our jobs and that is what makes American RNs different from the RNs in other countries.

[MPKH, BSN, RN]

Please cut out the part about nurses being doctor's "lowly helpers", that is a total disgrace to the nursing profession as a whole. Nurses have been a separate entity from medicine for a long time. Being a ex-MD, you should know that by now. You focus on the emotional aspect of nursing, which is great, but what about the knowledge and skills of nursing?