Grandmother Were Alive Today She

¶ … grandmother were alive today she would remind me that the world can be divided into two types of people: those who give enthusiastically and those who receive freely. Being of the former variety is what I believe to be the most compelling proof that I will make a wonderful health care worker. In fact, I have had the opportunity to care for others my entire life and want more than anything to expand my skills and abilities to give enthusiastically the gift of healing.

A second reason why I feel I am well-suited to the nursing profession is my adaptability and flexibility. After moving to the United States with my husband two years ago, I realized how difficult the immigration experience can be. We moved here for a number of different reasons including the opportunities for higher education and gainful employment that are far harder to come by in our native Ukraine. While it would seem to be a seamless transition, it was not. We arrived with no friends or family members to greet us and no definite plan of where we would go or what we would do. We also had very little money. The raw encounter with newness and the sudden fresh start forced us both to face our fears. Being an immigrant also encouraged me to do some serious thinking about my purpose on earth and what service I could be to humanity. Soul searching led me to a decision I feel must have been inevitable: that I would become a successful nurse.

At college in the Ukraine, I studied English and literature, earned my degree, and began a teaching career. Only one year after graduating my husband and I moved to the United States. While I could have pursued a teaching career in America, I chose to become a nurse instead. The transition is not a radical one. Both teaching and nursing are service professions which allow me the opportunity to share my gifts, to give enthusiastically to others. In fact, my philosophy of nursing is a lot like my philosophy of teaching. I believe that people respond best when they are offered the tools to help themselves. For example, students need to learn how to think critically and not necessarily to memorize a list of facts. Patients often need to learn about their bodies and how to change lifestyle habits or adapt to certain conditions rather than simply to take pills. As a nurse I intend to help people help themselves, by teaching the patients in my care about their bodies and how they can improve their sense of well-being.

While I do not yet know what areas of nursing I hope to specialize in, I am aware of my special gifts with working with children. This is another reason why my background as a teacher will make me a better nurse. Children would offer an ideal counterpart to my tendency to give enthusiastically because I know how freely and joyfully children can receive the help they need. However, I know that all the patients I work with will receive the best care and attention possible.