What makes you stand out?

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Hey!

So I'm applying to nursing schools and have been talking to other students, and it just amazes me how we are all so different, and yet so much the same when it comes to this career choice and the reasoning we put behind it, from helping people, to an interest in the human body. And obviously, nurses come from all walks of life and all have individual stories about past experiences that brought them to nursing. So what's yours? And what quality do you bring to the table that helps you become a better nurse?

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Hmmm, this wuestions makes me feel as if I should put my response in essay format, lol.

I love helping people, that is what brought me to the conclusion I should be a nurse. I knew from an early age that my personality would be a great match for nursing. I have always exhibited the qualities people attribute to people in the medical field. I am kind, compassionate, endearing, thoughtful and I am empathetic. I want to know I sent my life making a difference, and nursing is what I feel will make me feel like I made an impact.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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I was brutally honest and talked about my three kids and how they've gotten me use to having all kinds of unpleasant bodily fluids on me, how they've taught me to think on my feet when blood was pumping out of a head injury or a gaping wound and how I needed to be calm and assure them that they were ok. Etc etc

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I truly feel as though I've been called to nursing. Not in a sense that I woke up from a dream and said, "I will be a nurse", but rather I a series of events that led me to consider parts of myself I'd otherwise wouldn't have known were there.

This is SO long and I'm sure edging on too much info,:confused: however; without each of these events happening in the order they happened I wouldn't have ever thought to become a nurse. I feel like I should give verbose appreciation to each.

I'm a non traditional student in every sense of the idea. I dropped out of high school to take a stake in my families company and ran it successfully until we closed in 2010. The experience of running a company was a catalyst for my little journey of self-realization. I knew I was great at working under pressure, making tough decisions and clear communication. I decided to enroll in a community college and test the waters to see what subjects peaked my interest (though I was considering a business degree). It was clear from my first biology class that I loved science. My advisor suggested considering a degree in biology as I kept choosing to make those my priority over my business core classes. So I was well on my way to getting all my credits together to transfer to a state college for Bio.

Shortly after beginning my college experience there was an onslaught of health problems that affected my close friends and family. My great grandfather came to live with me as his health was rapidly declining, my sister was enrolled in an NIH study because she would go into anaphylaxis shock without a known trigger, my grandmother was in an ongoing battle with lung cancer and my best friend was in a devastating car accident that shattered her legs. My life revolved around health concerns of others, I can't tell you how many nights I've slept in an uncomfortable hospital chair in support of one of my loved ones. Through these challenges another of my strengths began to emerge, putting others in front of myself and doing whatever was in my power to ease their troubles.

With all of these hospitalizations I was being pulled in so many different directions and spread so very thin. Yet, through every hospital experience my family had the good fortune of always being under the careful watch of some incredible nurses. I mean these were individuals that were so entirely committed to their patients. This sounds so corny, but it was like they were angels who showed me what being a good nurse was.

When my great grandfathers dementia had gotten to the point where it was becoming dangerous to leave him alone we had him go to an adult day care center especially for memory affected patients. There was a CNA there that every day would greet him at the door and invite him in for "a party". She literally made him feel like every single day was a party for him, and good lord was he excited every time we got there. It warmed my heart and made me so thankful that she was at that facility truly making it about my grandfather. Not to mention I didn't feel as badly leaving him there for the day.

My grandmother was a fighter but eventually was placed in hospice care when her chemo wasn't effective anymore. There was a nurse there the night she passed away, who herself had battled breast cancer. It was late at night and she came into the room. I was a mess. She sat with me as my grandmother passed, together she and I told my grandmother it was okay to go and even hugged me tightly as I sobbed. She told me not to focus on my loss but instead think about pain and struggle my grandmother had been released from. That has stuck with me to this day and I remember calling her when my great-grandfather passed away a few weeks later. She's now a close friend of mine and an inspiration for so many reasons.

The nurse who advocated for my friend after she was in a car accident was the one that showed me nurses need to be ruthless sometimes. My friend was in horrible pain after each surgery. The pain stayed pretty steadily between a 9-10 despite the amount of narcotics being pumped into her. One am it was so bad she woke up screaming, she wasn't a dramatic person and I knew it was bad. The nurse called the surgeon down and had him give her a check, he said it was just the healing process. I don't know the details of it but I remember a few hours later the nurse saying she thought a second opinion was necessary. From what I understand hell reigned down on her for this, but turns out the surgeon who'd done my friends surgery didn't take care of a nerve correctly and it was just firing pain signals. The next day she was in surgery.

After being in the presence of all these incredible people, I began to think that I had what it took. I talked to my aunt who is a NICU nurse and got the opportunity to shadow a few nurses in various departments. Seeing from the perspective of nurse instead of patient what the job entailed sealed the deal for me. I saw that it was more than just the compassion I had witnessed that was necessary to be a nurse. Knowledge of sciences, the ability to advocate, working under pressure, the ability to deal with difficult/violent patients, mercy and altruism are what, in my head, a good nurse should have.

I want to improve quality of life. I want to be an advocate for the ill. I know it's not always picturesque. I know I will come home from school or work and ask what the hell have I gotten myself into. I'm sure there will be doubts and hardships but I can hope that they'll be balanced by the occasional triumph and break through. If I can make a grain of the impact that professional nurses have made on me, it will all be worth it.

Having actually typed that all out, I sure do wish my college essay could have been longer that 250 words!

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Haha, it doesn't have to be an essay format at all. I just am amazed how, with at least the different students ive met so far, interesting in nursing, they are just so so diverse, especially since i've moved from nj to pa, but they always have a unique story and at the end of the day, very similar reasonings, idk its interesting to me

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OMG, Chelsea, that is an incredible story. and I wish you the best of luck! With a little editing you almost have an admissions essay ;)

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OMG, Chelsea, that is an incredible story. and I wish you the best of luck! With a little editing you almost have an admissions essay ;)

Thanks, Zibi. It was a trying few years, but I have so much to be thankful for now.

The BSN program I just applied to really put the kibosh on long admissions essays. They limited us to a 250 word paragraph to answer the question, "What led you to nursing", it was tough to translate my journey into such a limited word count!

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I truly feel as though I've been called to nursing. Not in a sense that I woke up from a dream and said "I will be a nurse", but rather I a series of events that led me to consider parts of myself I'd otherwise wouldn't have known were there. This is SO long and I'm sure edging on too much info,:confused: however; without each of these events happening in the order they happened I wouldn't have ever thought to become a nurse. I feel like I should give verbose appreciation to each. I'm a non traditional student in every sense of the idea. I dropped out of high school to take a stake in my families company and ran it successfully until we closed in 2010. The experience of running a company was a catalyst for my little journey of self-realization. I knew I was great at working under pressure, making tough decisions and clear communication. I decided to enroll in a community college and test the waters to see what subjects peaked my interest (though I was considering a business degree). It was clear from my first biology class that I loved science. My advisor suggested considering a degree in biology as I kept choosing to make those my priority over my business core classes. So I was well on my way to getting all my credits together to transfer to a state college for Bio. Shortly after beginning my college experience there was an onslaught of health problems that affected my close friends and family. My great grandfather came to live with me as his health was rapidly declining, my sister was enrolled in an NIH study because she would go into anaphylaxis shock without a known trigger, my grandmother was in an ongoing battle with lung cancer and my best friend was in a devastating car accident that shattered her legs. My life revolved around health concerns of others, I can't tell you how many nights I've slept in an uncomfortable hospital chair in support of one of my loved ones. Through these challenges another of my strengths began to emerge, putting others in front of myself and doing whatever was in my power to ease their troubles. With all of these hospitalizations I was being pulled in so many different directions and spread so very thin. Yet, through every hospital experience my family had the good fortune of always being under the careful watch of some incredible nurses. I mean these were individuals that were so entirely committed to their patients. This sounds so corny, but it was like they were angels who showed me what being a good nurse was. When my great grandfathers dementia had gotten to the point where it was becoming dangerous to leave him alone we had him go to an adult day care center especially for memory affected patients. There was a CNA there that every day would greet him at the door and invite him in for "a party". She literally made him feel like every single day was a party for him, and good lord was he excited every time we got there. It warmed my heart and made me so thankful that she was at that facility truly making it about my grandfather. Not to mention I didn't feel as badly leaving him there for the day. My grandmother was a fighter but eventually was placed in hospice care when her chemo wasn't effective anymore. There was a nurse there the night she passed away, who herself had battled breast cancer. It was late at night and she came into the room. I was a mess. She sat with me as my grandmother passed, together she and I told my grandmother it was okay to go and even hugged me tightly as I sobbed. She told me not to focus on my loss but instead think about pain and struggle my grandmother had been released from. That has stuck with me to this day and I remember calling her when my great-grandfather passed away a few weeks later. She's now a close friend of mine and an inspiration for so many reasons. The nurse who advocated for my friend after she was in a car accident was the one that showed me nurses need to be ruthless sometimes. My friend was in horrible pain after each surgery. The pain stayed pretty steadily between a 9-10 despite the amount of narcotics being pumped into her. One am it was so bad she woke up screaming, she wasn't a dramatic person and I knew it was bad. The nurse called the surgeon down and had him give her a check, he said it was just the healing process. I don't know the details of it but I remember a few hours later the nurse saying she thought a second opinion was necessary. From what I understand hell reigned down on her for this, but turns out the surgeon who'd done my friends surgery didn't take care of a nerve correctly and it was just firing pain signals. The next day she was in surgery. After being in the presence of all these incredible people, I began to think that I had what it took. I talked to my aunt who is a NICU nurse and got the opportunity to shadow a few nurses in various departments. Seeing from the perspective of nurse instead of patient what the job entailed sealed the deal for me. I saw that it was more than just the compassion I had witnessed that was necessary to be a nurse. Knowledge of sciences, the ability to advocate, working under pressure, the ability to deal with difficult/violent patients, mercy and altruism are what, in my head, a good nurse should have. I want to improve quality of life. I want to be an advocate for the ill. I know it's not always picturesque. I know I will come home from school or work and ask what the hell have I gotten myself into. I'm sure there will be doubts and hardships but I can hope that they'll be balanced by the occasional triumph and break through. If I can make a grain of the impact that professional nurses have made on me, it will all be worth it. Having actually typed that all out, I sure do wish my college essay could have been longer that 250 words![/quote']

You're such an inspiration, Chelsea. You had mentioned that it sounded corny about the angels leading you to nursing...I have a similar experience with that as well when my mom was in hospice. She had breast cancer & after it spread to all her organs, she was given 3 months to live. Within this time frame I was still I'm between majors because my heart wasn't completely into a particular area. When my mom went to hospice, she had several nurses but one in particular stuck out to me. She went way above and beyond her duties as a nurse. Everything she said and did was wonderful. My son (7 months old at the time) and I would go visit her every single day until her last day with us and I felt content leaving my mom in the hands of that nurse. A few months later I kept thinking that I wanted to make patients and families feel the way that nurse made me feel. My parents were both in and out of hospitals...my dad passed away when I was 15, so I wasn't a huge fan of hospitals since a young age, however now I couldn't imagine working anywhere else or doing anything else. I think about it every day. I know you do too and I know you will make a great nurse!

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Mandy, isn't it amazing how a single person can really change your path. Your story is also an inspiration, and I am so glad I met you on here so we can go through this crazy trial together!

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Well what sets me aside from most prospective nursing students is that I am a music major, which isn't a common major to come from in the medical field. Being a musician definitely gives me a different discipline than most and I also have better communication skills from performing and working with other musicians.

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Mandy isn't it amazing how a single person can really change your path. Your story is also an inspiration, and I am so glad I met you on here so we can go through this crazy trial together![/quote']

Thank you & I cannot agree more! I hope one day we can be very inspirational to other random people which will lead them to this field as well. The world needs more amazing nurses! I'll be stalking your statuses about your nursing program!

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I realize that nursing is more than the compulsion to help, but -

I've noticed over the past few years that when someone is hurt or something is wrong, I don't run away...I run toward the event. I was on the bus, trying to get to my now fiancé, and there was a bus accident up ahead. The bus had run over a biker and the biker was sprawled out on the pavement. The bus I was on was at a standstill and I asked him to let me off. I RAN to the biker and made sure he was okay. I'm not a nurse, I don't have built-in nursing skills, but I wanted to make sure he didn't have any real damage on him. People were standing around him, but not trying to do much more of that. I waited with him, oriented him, spoke with him until an actual nurse came around. I remember his face to this day. I remember his name that he whispered and labored to tell me.

I had a client who has COPD. I was working Saturday, he was smoking outside. (We are not allowed to give medical advice since we're not medical staff- I've tried to speak with him about smoking...) I'm so glad I was coming outside right then to get the food order because he was then on his knees, gasping for breath. His breathing was shallow and quick. I ran inside and got someone to get an ambulance. They came quickly and took him away. I was later notified that he had pulmonary edema.

I've been told that I can be counted on in emergency situations. I'm glad to help. I like learning new skills. I'm tenacious. I care deeply about quality care now, and I will when I become a nurse. I work in a Psych setting and I think it gives me more communication skills to work with. I can de-escalate like a boss.

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