During my undergraduate years in college I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to become when I “grew

The main reason why I knew Pediatric Registered Nursing was for me was through the many years of working with kids, as well as my personal interests and skills. Since I worked with kids, I gained a lot of patience and understanding, I always had a place in my heart for kids. I feel like every kid deserves a home and deserves to be treated the right way and I feel like I can make a difference to a kid’s life whether it’s through their health or just a relationship with them. I always been interest in the whole “working in a hospital environment” and since I was little I always been watching

When I first started nursing school, I always wanted to be a pediatric nurse because I grew up taking care of my little cousins when their parents needed a babysitter. When I entered my pediatric rotation, I didn't expect my clinical experience to be centered in psychosocial interventions. I was placed in Northridge Medical Center Peds floor and I dealt with parents more than the patients. It just so happens that 6 out of my 9 weeks in Peds, the parents were either divorced or separated and no established relationship. From then on, I realized that Peds was not for me based off that experience alone. When I entered OB rotation, I fell in love with it immediately. I was placed in White Memorial Hospital and all the neonatal nurses provided a great experience for my clinical group. I was able to help and witness live births, cesarean births, and post-baby care. I enjoyed helping the nurses with their nursing tasks and interventions and I was comfortable communicating with the parents throughout their stay. After 9 weeks of clinical, I wanted to learn more and doing this literature gave me a different, yet valuable perspective about neonatal

Joining sides with the nurse, my family drilled the idea of nursing into my brain. Nursing and forfeiting my plan seemed to become a necessity for a successful life. After hearing people tell me what I should do, I eventually started to agree with them. The actions of my family along with the way it affected me could compare to when someone tells a lie enough times, they'll believe it to be true. I never believed I wanted to be something more than I did at that

Since I have been a young girl, I have dreamed of dedicating my life to aid others in health and wellness. Nursing, however has not always been my leading career choice. Career options such as a pediatrician, oncologist, anesthesiologist, etc. have been considered in my pursuit of finding the proper career path, but through all the consideration I have never lost my true passion of helping others. Through careful examination of these various careers, I discovered that I wanted to pursue a career that was more personal and hands-on. I have chosen to pursue a career as a pediatric oncology nurse. Although this career with be both physically and emotionally demanding, I feel that I have made the best choice to become a nurse and devote my life in the pursuit of restoring health and wellness in children battling detrimental diseases.

Growing up, I always wanted to be a Registered Nurse but once I started to work in the healthcare field, I decided to change my path. Everyone that was close to me was trying to steer me away from pursuing my degree in healthcare administration. They knew that I always said that I wanted to be a Registered Nurse, but they did not know that is was my passion to be in the administration field.

As I begin my fifth year of working as a nurse practitioner in a leading children’s hospital, I am certain the pediatric acute care setting is where I will continue my career of service to children and their families. Although I hold a masters degree in nursing and have been a primary care certified pediatric nurse practitioner for many years, I wish to expand my knowledge of pediatric nursing to encompass the unique and challenging aspects of pediatric acute care.

Overall, my experience at Shriner’s Hospital for Children was a great opportunity and it has helped me understand other aspects of nursing care. This experience has given me the opportunity to see the individualized and customized care provided for each patient that could change a child’s life for the

Every shift, I am constantly learning more and more, finding a desire for more education to learn how to better care for my patients. I find myself consistently sitting with doctors and nurse practitioners to discuss their plan of care and differential diagnoses, striving to obtain more knowledge in my personal practice while practicing as a team, working together to provide the best care for every patient that walks in the door. Because of this, I began my journey as a Nurse Practitioner student at the Catholic University of America, enrolling in the dual Acute and Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Since the development of this role during the Vietnam war, now many nurses can increase their skills, experience, and education to become one of the most prominent careers any Registered Nurses can be. Therefore, today in the United States, many Nurse Practioners can study and focus on a certain specialty units in their career such as Pediatric Nurse Practioner who can provide care for babies, young children, and school aged children. With Nurse Practioners on the rise in the nursing field, many patients are receiving more satisfactory care from them because they are taking the time to accurately assess, diagnose, and treat their patients with the proper care possible. Without Nurse Practioners, we would not have had a detailed perspective on healthcare and the patient’s health in general. Therefore, Nurse Practioners set an example for every Registered Nurses since history that they have the possibility of advancing in their careers in the medical field by expanding their skills and clinical experiences; as a result, by doing so they can get a different perspective of healthcare that no one has yet to

I always knew I want to work with pediatric population. During my clinical rotations, I always requested to work with pediatric patients if available. Unfortunately, my nursing instructor who understood this passion and extracurricular activities passed away shortly before graduation. However, that adds to motivation to help continue to help children and their communities. In the first month of clinical rotation at Seattle Children’s, there was a patient’s family who was getting frustrated. After

Even though we struggle here and there, we never gave up in school. I had a really hard time figuring out what I wanted to do when I was attending University at Buffalo. I tried couple different programs and end up not finishing because I was not interested in them. By senior year in college, I start realizing how much time I was wasting switching from major to major, so I went and spoke with an advisor. I knew my grades were not in good standing, however, I told my advisor that I was willing to retake classes in order to get into nursing school even if it was to put me back a couple years. Instead of encouraging me, she advised me to not waste my time in the health field since my grades were not good and to switch to a different major. I was so discouraged by her comments, I felt loss and useless for quite a while. I stop going to school for about a year to figure out what I should do. After working at different nail salons, I realize that I really like to take care of people and I enjoy doing so even if it was hard work. I took care of many older ladies and gentlemen have disabilities and I was very happy to help them.

I am writing to express my sincere interest in applying for a Doctor of Nursing Practice at your university. My studies and career in the field of nursing involve learning and caring for the health and wellbeing of pediatric patients and their families. I‘ve been able to draw from a wealth of academic areas, including advance practice nursing, advance pharmacology, advance health assessment, critical care pediatric nursing, health management and health promotion. Among these areas of study, my interest in bedside nursing practice has attracted me into pursuing in the field of advance nursing practice. As I continue my nursing career, I came to a realization that in order to make changes in the

Currently 29% of the nursing work force in pediatrics has less than 2 years experience on the floor. A continued focus on ongoing education and competencies is an ongoing focus but a challenge with the limited financial resources. Offering this certification course and the contract from the nurse that they will sit for their certification in the allotted time frame is a way to go above and beyond the minimum and make sure even our novice staff meet the national pediatric nursing standard. This supports St. Luke’s goal of having % nurse certified workforce. It also prepares for facility accreditation and Magnet recertification. Currently Pediatrics has a 16% certification rate, 10 nurses with 44 nurses currently eligible to sit for the certification.

Although I have experience working with children in a health-related environment I am still relatively new to the role of a nurse and would require more practice and learning regarding paediatric nursing. I hope that the knowledge and skills that I have now, aid in my growth and development as I transfer them from other areas of my life into my work experiences.

Once I relocated to Cary, North Carolina I began working at UNC Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I pursued this unit in order to expand my experience so I could gain competency to care for the neonate through adolescent population in preparation to be a top candidate for this program. I have cared for pediatric traumas, transplant patients, congenital heart anomalies, acute and chronic respiratory failure, neurological cases requiring ICP management through insertion of bolts and external ventricular drains, end of life care, etc. I am still currently a part of the PICU team at UNC and an active member of their Nursing Process Improvement committee.