I hope to be selected for your distinguished and competitive master's degree program in Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University in Oregon, based primarily on my experience as a professional and a volunteer. Your program in Oregon is my first choice. I will attend if selected due to the sheer excellence of your curriculum and my deep affection for Portland as one of the most livable and enriching cities on the planet.
I have spent almost three years with the US Air Force as a flight nurse doing aeromedical evacuations. I have also served as both a humanitarian volunteer and a professional team leader for the International Children’s Heart Foundation, traveling around the world to countries that include Libya, Russia, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, and Honduras on numerous mission trips, bringing specialized cardiac services to the operating room at local hospitals. Working in a multi-disciplinary team environment with volunteers worldwide has given me insight into various nursing techniques and strengthened my international and intercultural communication skills – continuous learning, adaptation, and teamwork building.
I now have ten years in the OR as a preop/period/Pacu and RNFA and five years as a medical missionary nurse. Many of my highest moments in life have served as a medical missionary. My frequent trip to Ethiopia with Mending Kids International in support of surgeons crosses my mind. My journeys to El Salvador with Austin Smiles in February 2009 and June 2011 also provide me with extraordinary memories on which to reflect and continue to learn. I run/walk marathons for worthy causes every year, help with food relief locally, serve as a guest speaker at career fairs, and do what I can to contribute to blood donations, cardiac screenings, and nature preservation.
I have worked hard for a long time to constantly improve my Spanish and have been quite successful at it so helpful to calm, educate, and care for large numbers of the underserved. In addition to patient care, I also use my Spanish for teaching and training nurses. I speak Spanish for purposes, and my vocabulary in nursing and related areas is constantly growing, which brings me great satisfaction. Having a Spanish-speaking patient in the ICU is always a special privilege, and it's nice not to call for a translator to care for them. I especially love to see the smile of pleasant surprise when Spanish comes out of my mouth as I begin to care for a patient.
After working as a circulator/scrub/ RNFA for approximately ten years, I finally decided to venture into the ICU. I have experience working in a level 1 trauma ICU at XXXX Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. I'm also continuing to further my ICU experiences at St Joseph Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Many of my closest friends and colleagues are CRNAs, and I have long taken an interest in the day-to-day events in their professional lives. Serving as a flight nurse has provided me with many opportunities to exercise my leadership skills, especially since I became a commissioned officer in the Air Force in 2014, actively engaged with my squadron, first at March AFB in California and now at McChord AFB.
In Ecuador, I cared for a 1-month-old cardiac patient, a baby that needed type O+ whole blood for his arterial switch procedure, and none was available. Since I am O+, I decided to donate. It was magical to see my blood pumped directly into his heart. I felt my hands on his heart and blood circulating through his veins. He made it off the operating room table and into the PICU. Without my blood, he wouldn't have been able to come off the pump successfully. For me, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Thank you for considering my application to Nurse Anesthesia at XXXU.
