Nursing Education by Heather

Nursing Education by Heather - December 2014 Scholarship Essay

Education can mean different things to different people. It has helped shape me into the nurse I am today. I love kids and I love taking care of people, so nursing has come very natural for me. Nursing school taught me the fundamentals of nursing, such as critical thinking and lab values. On-the-job education and training has taught me how to respond to each crisis individually and specific to a particular patient.

Nursing school was very difficult, as any nurse will attest to, but it needed to be tough in order to build a solid foundation for future nurses. Nursing education is rooted mostly in science and math and can be challenging. The nursing courses challenged my way of thinking and my learning was taken to another level. I had to give up or mold my old ways of studying and thinking to get into the nurse's perspective. That has carried over into my eleven years of being a charge nurse on a high-turnover pediatric unit. And for those who think that once you obtain a college degree that education ends, they are sorely mistaken. Health care, especially, is an ever-changing entity that demands ongoing education of healthcare and medical providers.

My continuing education of current nursing practices has shaped me into a strong nurse not only in clinical practice, but also with committees and councils within the hospital. Clinical Ladder, nursing leadership within our health system, requires continuing education of at least 15 hours per year. Nursing care has changed in the short time I have been a nurse and will continue to change in the years to come. To remain a competent and effective provider, one must continue to educate and adapt to the many changes. RSV and Cystic Fibrosis treatments, to name a couple, have greatly changed in just the past few years. By my attendance at educational conferences, I can remain a strong, well-educated nurse and help my patients heal faster.

I am choosing to further my education as a Nurse Practitioner which requires a great deal more education. I am up for the challenge and know that even though I have adapted my learning skills and style in the past, I must do so again. I am excited for this opportunity to be able to better serve my patients now and in the years to come.