I look forward to decades to come giving my all to my hospital as a CRNA. My ideal location would be a small or medium-sized hospital in a primarily rural area, as I enjoy the ‘hometown’ feel of smaller hospitals, where one is very much made to feel like a community member. I hope to earn a doctoral degree in Nurse Anesthesia, the terminal degree in my chosen field, and my first choice for doing so is XXXX University. I especially have my heart set on XXXX because of the sheer excellence of your program, its stellar reputation, and its location. Earning my DNP Degree at an especially distinguished institution such as XXXX will help me realize my long-term goal of teaching Nurse Anesthesia, in Russian or Ukrainian. I am also fluent in Polish.
I remember getting up at 4 am each day with my mom before coming to America, and she often took me to her classes since she was a student in medical school. I did my homework during lectures. After I went to school, I would wander around the hospital where my mother was doing rotations, talking to patients on the floor. I remember days when my mom would cry because one of her patients had died. She would be happy if a patient did well and was discharged, despite the odds stacked against them. My mother will always be my most prominent role model, driving me forward to excellence as a CRNA. My mother made many sacrifices to always put her patients first at all costs, and I intend to do the same and honor my mother in this way. I left Ukraine and my family at 10, and several years later, we settled permanently in Chicago.
I hope to be selected for my appreciation of diversity and multilingualism and my passion for Nurse Anesthesia. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to spend significant amounts of time in several European countries - Poland, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, and France – and the Middle East, particularly Egypt, all before coming to America. I came to the United States just in time to start high school and started volunteering as soon as I arrived at one of Chicago’s west side hospitals, working in the shipping and receiving department. I had to swallow my disappointment that I could not serve in a clinical position due to my low level of ability in English at that time. I especially enjoyed the community fairs for low-income single mothers and their children. We educated them about nutrition and provided healthy treats and free routine tests, raising awareness about breast cancer. My English was much better when I finished high school, and I was accepted to a paramedic program serving a large trauma center in a poor area with high crime rates. I adored the constant challenge.
As a paramedic, I learned many valuable things that have served me well as a nurse. I will continue to empower myself to excellence as a CRNA, especially in the importance of teamwork and connecting with patients. This position also enhanced my leadership ability in various professional roles or functions in healthcare settings. I learned as a paramedic that nothing is as beautiful or rewarding as helping to save a life. I understand that the nature of the CRNA's role includes assisting families to deal with tragedy and loss. I seek to always serve my patients fully, always be compassionate and provide state-of-the-art care. I continued to work as a paramedic to put myself through nursing school, serving an inner-city hospital in Chicago, working alongside a variety of medical professionals and staff, tirelessly laboring to stabilize and care for patients who had experienced car accidents, stabbings, gunshots, and other forms of trauma, giving my all as a team member helping to ease suffering and advance the healing process. After gaining extensive experience in trauma, I accepted a position as a cardiovascular nurse in a catheterization lab. We were a small team performing as many procedures as a more significant trauma center in a one-room lab. I spent four years on call every night and weekend if my patients needed me.
I am aware of the need for qualified nurse anesthetists in medically underserved areas, and this is where I want to serve. I am concerned with how illnesses' financial, emotional, mental, and physical effects can have a devastating impact on families and, in turn, the larger society. The CRNA comes into the lives of the patient and their families at one of the most challenging moments when the stress level can be extremely high, calling for the utmost compassion and efficiency.
I want to do what I can to contribute to a reduction of health disparities, often resulting in lower levels of care for members of America’s lower-income individuals and groups. As my career progresses, I want to share in making health care available to those who would not otherwise have access. I am most inspired by Eleanor Roosevelt who declared: “When you cease to contribute, you begin to die.” I not only want to treat patients in the clinical setting for the rest of my hopefully long and highly fulfilling life, but I also want to give my all to researching diseases and their relationship to nursing care, especially as concerns the CRNA.
Thank you for considering my application to Nurse Anesthesia at XXXX University.
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