The Need for Health Care Professionals in Nursing - Essay Example

? Goal ment Nursing Goal ment Nursing As far back as I can remember, I have always set my sights on doing something useful for my fellow Ugandans. I grew up in a small community in Uganda where my grandfather was one of the few doctors in the area. As a child, I was witness to the kindness and compassion with which he worked among the poor. Unfortunately, there were many times when he was unable to hide his frustration at seeing the misery of our people who suffered because of inadequate medical care; or his helplessness in the face of inadequate trained personnel to help him in his work. In a country where there is just one doctor for every 10,000 people, there is an urgent need for trained professionals to help not only those who are sick, but also to advise and counsel the people on preventive measures to remain healthy. Uganda’s government today is facing the problems of giving adequate healthcare to a population whose growth is exploding. The need for health care professionals therefore is urgent. Having grown up in surroundings such as these, and watching members of my family, most of whom are in the medical field, give their best to the health problems of the community; the medical field was what I always thought of as my ultimate goal in life. A good nurse brings to his/her work the important qualities of kindness, compassion, patience and above all diligence and dedication. These are qualities that I have grown up with and fortunately imbibed to a great extent. Nursing professionals at every level are a boon to society. Patients come to the healer in a state of acute mental and physical distress. A sympathetic ear and kind reassurance helps allay fears and generate confidence in the patient. Effective communication is the key to helping patients help themselves. Nowhere is this more evident than in communities that are poor and illiterate. The essence of the nursing profession lies in these qualities that are ingrained into a nurse during education at every level. Besides delivering good and cost effective health care, the nursing professional must also be capable of focusing on prevention rather than on cure. Understanding advances in technology and using this knowledge to educate communities on ways to lead healthier lives is an important aspect of the entire nursing profession. I hope to learn and practice all of this while I graduate in nursing. My goal in seeking to graduate in this profession is to be able to deliver not just healing but also preventive care that is the essence of a good medical practitioner. I hope to learn highly sophisticated communication and observational skills, to succeed in interviewing the patient to assess his/her previous health history, risk factors and identify symptoms of disease that even the patient may not be unaware of, before it gets out of hand. While I graduate, I would be gaining new knowledge through research which is something I could not hope to have easy access to in my own country. I am certain that all this will help me in my goal of relieving the sufferings of my fellow countrymen. Since my childhood, I have been motivated to do something for my fellow Ugandans. While I was growing up, there was a great deal of urbanization going on in Uganda. This spurt of growth in urban areas swayed me from my original goal and motivated me to choose to be an engineer in the urban planning department. In Uganda opportunities for learning are not easy to come by, and I worked hard at my studies in order to be able to qualify for admission to Makerere University in Uganda as a student of Urban Planning. At the time, I saw the problem of an exploding population as one that could be solved by planned townships where people could live decently, and could get work so as to earn a decent living. After graduating I worked for a number of years as an urban planning engineer. At first, I was very happy as I saw myself as the architect of new projects, better roads and modern townships with all the amenities that were available in developed countries. I thought I was helping to put my country on the world map in terms of the improved amenities and opportunities that such development would bring to the people of Uganda. I believed that improving the lives of the poor and needy, creating jobs that would rid them of their poverty was the way forward. I was wrong. Urbanization only led to great numbers of people from rural areas migrating to the cities in search of jobs, resulting in a great many slum areas where they lived in abject poverty and conditions that led to health hazards. As this realization hit me, I began to wonder if I had chosen correctly. Was this what I really wanted to do? I thought of my grandfather, as he treated the poor with his meager supply of drugs, and the satisfaction he got when a patient recovered from an illness thought to be untreatable by the locals. As I saw the slum dwellers in the newly built townships suffer from diseases as a result of deprivation and unhygienic living conditions; I decided that professional nursing was the need of the hour. I could do far more good if I could heal the sick, as well as take measures among communities to prevent disease through the implementation of hygienic practices. This is the reason for my application to your university for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. I hope to gain through this program, an in depth knowledge of providing quality care to those who are in dire need of such services. I know that even in the US with its large communities of foreign nationals, there are people who do not avail of medical facilities until it is unavoidable. These are the kinds of people that I would like to work with, as training for my future in my own country. Today the conditions in Uganda are challenging, and I would like to take the knowledge that I shall gain in the US to make a difference to the lives of those who are in the greatest need of it. I aim to give not just medical care, but also education on hygienic practices and prevention of disease, as also to train others to identify symptoms and take adequate measures to nip problems in the bud. Health has always been considered man’s greatest wealth. I think good health is the key to a door that opens innumerable opportunities to the peoples of the world. A healthy person has the physical and mental ability to reach out to grab opportunities that come his way. If I can in some measure, give my people a chance to explore the opportunities that they can avail of, by first giving them the mantra to good health, I would consider my life well lived. The satisfaction of working towards giving my people world class health care is what I aim for, and during the next few years, I hope to achieve this goal after getting a degree from your esteemed institution. I sincerely hope that you will give me the opportunity to succeed in what I have set out to achieve. Read More