Becoming a Registered Nurse - Essay Example

Becoming a Registered Nurse I have always dreamt and strived to become a Registered Nurse. Ever since I was eighteen years old, I have always been involved in the healthcare field. Currently, at twenty-four years old, I am a volunteer at Kaiser Permanente, where I work as a Certified Medical Assistant. I love working in the medical field because it gives me the opportunity to practice my nursing skills, henceforth, giving back to the community. I am a compassionate individual and thoroughly enjoy providing aid to others. One of my goals is to further my education, in order to acquire a degree in Nursing. The degree could enable me to become a nurse practitioner and possibly have my own healthcare agency, in future, that provides the best healthcare to patients. In addition, I plan to use my education in nursing to impact the community. I was born in Houston, Texas and my parents were low-income earners with no health insurance. I was not born as a healthy child; I had a rear medical condition that required an expensive surgery. My parents could not afford the surgery and therefore sought the services of a trusted friend who was a retired physician and was willing to perform the surgery at his home. As it turned out, the outcome of the surgery was so severe that it caused infections to my digestive system, requiring further intensive surgery. We moved to San Francisco since UCSF was familiar with my birth medical defect. My earliest years in San Francisco were occupied with frequent visits to the hospital to have the doctor treat my poorly performed surgery. I have been through several surgeries and I had to relearn how to walk as I recovered from the surgeries up until I was five years old. It was during the hospital visits and recovery time that I got the opportunity to observe and interact with nurses; people I considered as my miracle workers. The nurses provided me a source of comfort right before each treatment and handled me with such motherly care. I admired their work and had often wished to be in their position; equipped with the knowledge and skills to handle patients as they recovered their health. Looking back, my childhood journey has presently made me a stronger and determined person. Furthermore, my childhood illness has exposed me to a meaningful and rewarding career in nursing. Through out my academic years, I have always wanted to become a nurse, but I had to juggle some financial and personal struggles throughout the years. I have come across many situations that have affected my academic life, whether health related or financial issues, having grown up in the low-income environment. My sisters and I have to work for more hours to help meet our family’s financial needs such as house rent and medical bills. Even though life has been rough on me, I have always stayed positive and used my past struggles in life as a valuable lesson, which motivates me to continue with my education. I stay positive in all situations and I know that as long as I strive, I can succeed in almost every goal I set. I feel a sense of happiness and accomplishment for every patient that I attend to at work in resolving their medical issues. I would love to experience the same feeling every day, while helping someone in need. Moreover, my summer 2011externship with low-income patients at the St. Francis was an important stepping-stone on my career path. This is because I got the chance to attend to the needs of individuals in their surgery process. My personal experience with birth medical problem has instilled in me great empathy for patients that have to undergo surgery when their condition is at a worse stage because they could not afford the surgery earlier. Furthermore, I fully embrace it a personal responsibility to alleviate their physical and emotional pain. I usually use support and comfort as my tools in handling their situation, given my limited professional training. My hands on interaction with patients at St. Francis Medical Center helped me to develop a deep admiration for the patients’ resiliency and courage. This subsequently cultivated in me the essential qualities of an aspiring nurse such as patience, interpersonal skills, and compassion. Through working with the nurses at Child Life, I came to appreciate the flexibility and time they have dedicated to their patients in order to build string relationships that are founded on empathy and trust. I also look forward with enthusiasm to take on such responsibility. The joy and the smile on the faces of the patients comforted me, in addition to making me want to do more than just being a medical assistant. This made me resolve to pursue a career in nursing. Presently, I yearn for the opportunity to receive my nursing education as the University of San Francisco and take a closer step to fulfilling my career. My professional goal is to become a registered nurse that provides holistic care to individuals from medically underserved populations. Since I grew up in a poor family, it will be truly rewarding if a gave back to the community and assist individuals from similar socioeconomic backgrounds in their healing process. I do not want anyone to go through what I went through as a newborn baby, due to financial constraints. My parent’s strength and attitude towards their daughter acts as my inspiration. Later on after achieving my goal of becoming a nurse, I would also like to become a leader. Through leadership, I will be able to better provide information to the community regarding disease prevention and treatment as well as lobby for the improvement of our healthcare system. Finally, being a nurse is a lifelong learning process, thus I will enjoy earning the education and sharing it with others in regards to the progress that our scientific and medical community perpetually makes. It is truly rewarding to know that I have chosen a career that will bring happiness and wellbeing to others and me. Lastly, I sincerely hope the University of San Francisco under the nursing faculty will give me a special consideration and great opportunity to transform my dream career of becoming a registered nurse into reality. Read More