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Discussion

The Professional Statement

Hey guys,

So I am writing my professional statement and need some advice as to how to list my goals in the short-term and long-term goals section.

It simply says to list "your short-term and long-term goals".

In what format should I do this, as this is an APA styled essay?

Should gaining entrance into the program be listed as one of my short term goals (because it is). Finally, about how many goals do any of you, with relevant experience, think is good to mention. How many goals will give the reviewers a good glimpse of my plans?

Thanks guys!

Sent from the iPhone of PatMac10, RN

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    Anyone?

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    I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here because for one, we don't know what the faculty doing the admissions screening is looking for. But the way I would look at this in terms of goals are: short term would be any goal you wish to achieve upon receiving certification as an APRN and long term would be any goal 5 or so years after becoming comfortable with your APRN role.

    For example, a good short term goal would be to secure a provider role in the primary care of underserved populations in a rural community with a focus on preventative health care by empowering those served to take charge of their own health and to assist those with chronic conditions in managing their disease (FNP) or join and academic practice in managing in-patients with diabetes (CNS). You must also back your goal up with a statement of why you would like to pursue that route based on an interest on a specific specialty or a passion to provide care to a certain population you have experience with.

    For me, long term goals would go along the lines of leadership, career advancement, and personal contribution to the profession especially if this is a DNP program. I would give examples of a desire to change practice to provide better care in a given demographic, improve delivery of healthcare to maximize access to the underserved, a desire to be involved in research, or a passion to become a mentor to future APRN's.

    These are just examples of how I would approach this, again, it has to personal and it can't be something you're writing about that is not true to what you really want for your career.

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    Thanks Juan. I completed that first section and pretty much did ended up doing what you've explained. Now I am tackling the portion that talks about "Clinical Interest". However, the wording under the details for this section, which must be 4 pages double-spaced, is extremely vague and confusing. We are told to identify a practice-related problem that we would like to evaluate during our DNP studies. I chose a clinical issue that I am particularly fond of, which is heart disease: Specifically post STEMI patients. I wanted to evalaute the issue that arise with readmission rates, espcially in rural areas, due to a patient being non-compliant with their post-stemi blood thinning agent and the factors that lead to non-compliance (costs, illiteracy, irrelevance etc...

    Yet, after examining the requirements of the second portion of the professional statement and re-reading the words "Practice-related". I am wondering if they mean for us to chose an issue in the actual practice of nursing (like limiting scopes of practice or something similar). I've emailed the school for clarification on what they want from this section, because the section is labeled clinical interests, but as for practice related problems. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I just want to be sure.

    Here are the requirements specifically:

    "PART 1: Professional Goals and Background (2 pages, double-spaced):

    • Explain why you have chosen the specific advanced practice area in the DNP program

    • Describe your short and long-term professional goals

    • Detail how obtaining the DNP degree from ******* degree will help you attain those goals

    • Discuss relevant areas of your background, such as prior coursework, earned degrees, continuing education,

    practice history, and professional activities, and how each has prepared you for doctoral study. It is

    important to include information on scholarship activities (publications, presentations and research

    experience), service activities (local community, global or professional), honors and awards, language

    fluency other than English, leadership activities and military service.

    • Describe how your practice background has prepared you for doctoral study.

    • Identify clinical and academic strengths and areas of improvement that may impact your doctoral studies.

    Address any aspect of the program’s admission criteria for which you do not meet minimum requirements

    and provide an explanation for your situation (e.g., an explanation is needed if GPA

    experience not current or

    PART 2: Clinical Interest (4 pages, double-spaced including references): (This is the Questionable Area)

    Identify an important practice-based problem that you would like to examine during your DNP studies.

    Provide a brief, referenced review of the literature about why this problem requires further exploration.

    Include details about prior work on the topic (if any), the importance of the problem in patient care

    delivery, and how you would go about studying this problem during the DNP program. You must provide a

    sufficient (a minimum of two) references to support your argument...."

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