That all important goal statement

Hi there, I'm a mere applicant so I can't tell you if my goal statement worked or not. However, I'll tell you that of all the statements I had to write that "tell me about yourself/your goals" made me nuts! I literally rewrote that paper dozens of times. I tried to get my best traits in there that seemed to match the mood of the school. My best advice is to have another NP/and(or) someone great at writing for editing purposes... (last thing you want is to be thrown to the side for a missed spell check). I applied to Frontier as well. I wish you the best of luck!

Thanks, getting your goal statement just right is as hard getting professional references.

When I wrote mine, the whole "tell about yourself" I took as if I was "interviewing" for a job...I told them what nursing skills i possess, what qualities as a nurse and a person I can bring to the school, and the how long, where I've worked, etc...I don't think they are asking "hey are you married and how many kids do you have or do you like to party on the weekends" info LOL =) I found it very difficult to write about myself and to toot my own horn so to speak! =)

I wrote mine to include my Name/Address at the top, much like writing a professional letter to someone....here is mine I used:

***ROUGH DRAFT, I couldn't find the one I actually submitted, but this should help give you an idea***

Name, address, phone

Date

The medical field has been a part of me as long as I can remember. As a child I was enthralled by medical shows on television of surgery, labor and delivery, and emergency medical staff. When I went to high school I enrolled into the vocational school for Allied Health Technologies in order to learn the differences in the health sciences. It was here that my true passion for nursing began.

My first job was as a Nursing Assistant in long term care. I remember peppering the practical nurses with questions about being a nurse. After several years as a Certified Nursing Assistant, I decided to go to Practical Nursing School. I worked as a Practical Nurse in home health, long term care, family and specialty clinics and sub-acute rehabilitative care. I was content in my role as a Practical Nurse until the day I got notification that my husband had been in an explosion in Iraq and was injured.

As my husbands' caregiver we struggled to navigate the healthcare system, the continuity of care was terrible, and we went from specialist to specialist. When my husband was finally assigned to a Family Nurse Practitioner, she took the time to listen to all the symptoms I listed for her, and she was the only one able to come to a diagnosis and treatment plan that made an amazing impact for my husband and our family.

The Nurse Practitioner that cared for my husband made me realize that the combination of nursing care and medicine is where I wanted to be. I enrolled into Excelsior college and obtained my Associate of Applied Science in Nursing, and immediately upon licensure as a registered nurse, I enrolled into their Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. I obtained a position as a Complex and Disease nurse case manager shortly after graduating and have been working in this role for over a year. I have become very comfortable with assessing and planning the care of the patients I manage. I enjoy interacting with them and celebrating their successes managing their health. When they falter I am there to help educate, support, and care for them. My integrity, resourcefulness, compassionate nature and deep intellectual interest in the health and wellness of all mankind are what make me an ideal candidate for Simmons College. I want to bring the same compassion and caring to my local naval base or Veterans Affairs upon graduation to make a change in their lives and their health. Continuity of care is taken for granted within the military, and I want to provide that stability for all families I care for. Simmons will give me that opportunity to become the competent provider needed for the military community.

Obtaining my Master's degree from Simmons College School of Nursing as a Family Nurse Practitioner will allow me to work in a family practice setting. I will gain the ability and expertise needed to become a provider of health promotion, disease prevention and maintenance to individuals across the life span. My ultimate goal would be to work within a military treatment facility or the Veterans' Affairs in order to provide quality and competent care to our nation's heroes and their families. These men and women and their families have given so much to our country that I believe they deserve to have the best in medical care returned to them for their service.

Attending Simmons will allow me to reach this goal by providing challenging course content that I can utilize in my everyday work setting. It will provide the flexibility and convenience of online education and preparation for me to take part in an advanced practice role. Simmons, has a proven reputation for providing strong education and training for advanced practice nurses who are competent, caring, and can meet the demands of healthcare. Graduate study should be challenging and relevant to my future role.

Having a strong academic background, Simmons, can prepare me to be a leader within my community. As a Nursing@Simmons student I will need to be self-sufficient, reliable, and dedicated to my studies and practice. My prior experience with distance learning during my AAS and BSN at Excelsior College will enable me to adapt well to the role of a distance learning graduate nursing student. Simmons College will assist me in cultivating the knowledge and skills needed in the advanced practice role by offering me the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.

I hope that you will consider me for acceptance into the Full-Time online Family Nurse Practitioner program at Simmons College of Nursing for the March 2014 cohort. As a child my enthusiasm and enthrallment with the nursing and medical field has grown over the years into a career. I want to continue that growth into the advanced practice nursing role as a Family Nurse Practitioner. I feel that I can provide quality continuity of care, lead change within the military treatment facilities and assist in advancing health for my patients upon graduation. Utilization of the knowledge and skills gained through an education at Simmons will assist me in fulfilling my ultimate goal of providing care to our nations' service men and women along with their families. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

T, BSN RN

Nice, very nice. One of the questions asked is one I forgot to answer in depth on my first draft. The thing is already 2 pages. I answered the question on "where are you going to be/work?" as generally in my area which is considered rural even though it's not as "country" as many places in my state. I totally forgot about the military base near me, they need NP's too. One place I'm applying too calls their FNP program Rural Health FNP and want you to focus on Rural Health in your goal statement.

I'm currently in the interview process. What I can tell you about my own personal statement was that I did not treat it like a letter and address it to anyone. Similar to an essay, I started it with an indent (no header, they know what they're reading IMO) and just began typing.

Take a look at the School's mission statement. How can your experiences relate to that? One of my schools is very involved with the surrounding community and contributes greatly to underserved populations. So I described some of the initiatives I've taken with this population as a registered nurse and the ways I look to contribute to that population as an FNP.

Another important thing is to make sure you are clear about the position you are applying for. I went to an Open House recently and the presenter had been recruiting NP students for 15+ years for several different schools, including a well known Ivy League program. She told the story of one applicant who wrote their essay as though they were applying for nursing school. So you have to think like an APN. How will you work once you are one?

Also important, why THAT school out of the many that exist (try not to say, "It's five minutes from my house!"). Do some research and find some qualities they have that stick out for you. Maybe you like what they stand for or there is a particular education program offered to NPs (ex: problem based learning), etc.

They should have a small paragraph on what they want to see and the word limit. Stick to those guidelines. It helps them see that you can follow instructions. Also, have as many people as possible proof-read it. I agree with the last post. Getting dinged would stink if you're an otherwise great applicant. Good luck :)

Each school I'm applying to has their pluses and minuses. Personally I think campus visits, at least the one prior to clinicals is a plus. Only one program I've researched actually has available to see the places they have clinical agreements for, and its one a lot of people have negative comments about

Your right though, definately need to gear each letter for each program. Some only one 150-200 words, others want 500 2-page double spaced typed.

One of the most challenging parts of the application process for me was taking the Statement of Purpose I worked very hard on for one school and then literally removing 2/3 of it to meet the requirements of another program (and still making sure it flowed).