Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, Admission Essay Example

Nurses need to be able to put others before themselves, be caring, and lifetime students always striving to improve.  A quote that comes to mind says, “Nurses dispense comfort, compassion, and caring without a prescription”.  I feel I have these qualities and they have drawn me toward nursing since my undergraduate internship at Baptist Medical Center-San Antonio.  I currently have a BS degree in Kinesiology, and at the present moment I am taking the Medical and Health-related course in the Austin Community College, Austin, TX.

My first work experience was gained in 1996 in the Care Group o\in Texas where I oversaw training and development of skilled nursing team in Orthopedic equipment operations and applications. After spending time with the Care Group of Texas, and two years in another sales position, I moved to Midland, Texas.  While in Midland, I worked at Paradigm Physical Therapy as Director of Sport Sciences.  In this position, I developed and marketed a wellness program to include all local businesses.  While not working on this program, I did strength and conditioning training for a professional hockey team and assisted the clinic’s physical therapists and technicians with patient care.

My most recent work experience has been as a sales representative in the fitness industry.  In this position, I have served both the general community, as well as a commercial environment.  While selling fitness equipment commercially, I helped develop facilities for schools, businesses, clinics, and hospitals.  Although this provided no direct patient care experience, I have benefited, not only from developing important presentation skills, but also by learning to be a determined and hard worker.  While dedicating a lot of time to whatever position I have held, I have always found time to do volunteer work for those in need.  These volunteer activities involved feeding the homeless, and delivering Christmas gifts to indigent families.

The experience I gained from numerous volunteering activities and internship programs gave me an incentive to move towards nursing in my professional career. For this reason I have now applied to obtain an MSN because it may be both educationally advantageous, and would give me a more in-depth background for working in the cardiology field as opposed to pursuing a BSN degree. I want to specialize in preventative cardiology because I think my prior experience and area of interest in the continuous education provide me with a sound background for pursuing the MSN in this area. During one summer of my undergraduate studies, I volunteered at Kingwood Medical Center assisting physical and occupational therapists in patient care, gaining further insight into the clinical operation of a physical medicine department.  Prior to graduating, I set up a 640 hr. internship at Baptist Medical Center-San Antonio in Non-Invasive Cardiology.

Taking this experience into consideration, I feel ready to admit that I have necessary qualities and knowledge to pursue studies for becoming an Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist. The MSN degree would allow me to affect the way cardiac rehabilitation procedures are used, and to improve other methods of patient care through education and research.  My primary goal is using all of my prior education and experiences in combination with the University of Texas training to become a professional.  I am aware of the fact that a healthcare specialist can become a CNS only under the condition of having a Master’s Degree, so I consider the present MSN as a step towards my goal. Due to my medical and work experience I am sure that I will be able to meet the main criteria a CNS has: I can provide expert coaching, I am capable of efficient team-building and consultation, I have practical experience in ethical decision-making in nursing, and I am surely planning to gain direct clinical practice and conduct research in the most topical areas of nursing theory.

In case I obtain the MSN and become a CNS, I plan to use my graduate experience to specialize in cardiology. By bringing together my undergraduate studies, RN training, and graduate studies, I feel I will be able to bring a fresh perspective to treating cardiac patients, involving both exercise and nutrition, as well as teaching nurses and healthcare professionals the benefits thereof.  I do feel that the University of Texas nursing department can combine my prior experiences with the most current training to help me achieve my goals of becoming a CNS nurse.