How to Write an Excellent NP School Personal Statement
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“Try not to rush this statement. We recommend taking some time to reflect on your nursing career accomplishments, as well as situations that perhaps were learning situations that did not end favorably. Use these to reflect on your motivation and priorities and how they apply to the topic that the school has provided.”
Dr. Doreen Rogers, DNS, RN, CCRN, CNE, Assistant Professor of Nursing & Graduate Nursing Program Director at Utica University
Anyone who’s ever applied to a nurse practitioner program knows two things: careers in nursing are in high demand and graduate school admissions are competitive. Nurse practitioner careers are one of the fastest-growing occupations in the United States; in fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS 2021) predicts that 121,400 new NP jobs will be added to the economy between 2020 and 2030—a 45 percent increase.
So why are nurse practitioner admissions so competitive? A shortage of qualified nursing teaching faculty and an increasing number of retiring nurses are some possible reasons, according to CNN .
Despite these admissions barriers, a nationwide shortage of doctors is poised to restrict patients’ access to care. To address this problem, states are beginning to expand the scope of practice laws for nurse practitioners. The U.S. News & World Report shows that 22 states, the District of Columbia, and the Veterans Health Administration removed practice authority limitations for NPs, which resulted in expanded healthcare and decreased costs.
One thing is sure: applicants for nursing practitioner programs must put together flawless applications to rank high with an admissions committee. In addition, an aspiring nurse practitioner who wants to stand out and make a solid first impression needs to write an excellent nurse practitioner (NP) school personal statement.
To help out hard-working nurses who spend more time seeing patients than practicing academic writing skills, here are some tips for writing an excellent nurse practitioner (NP) school personal statement.
Follow the Five-Paragraph Essay Format
Drexel University has a video featuring several tips for writing a personal essay for admissions committees. The video recommends applicants organize their statements in a five-paragraph essay format and write no more than 500 words.
- First paragraph: Make an immediate impact in your introduction
- Second paragraph: Explain what attracted you to the program and field
- Third paragraph: Compare your short- and long-term goals with the program goals
- Fourth paragraph: Share your skills, experiences, and characteristics
- Fifth paragraph: Conclude by summarizing your five-paragraph essay
Drexel University also offers a downloadable infographic to illustrate what admissions committees are looking for in an applicant’s essay.
Write an Impactful Introduction
Pretty Nurse Ashley , a registered nurse who documented her experience getting into Vanderbilt University’s top-ranked nurse practitioner program, emphasizes the importance of an impactful introduction in a personal statement in her YouTube video:
That first sentence needs to be something spectacular, something that’s going to pull them in, so it needs to be very creative and something that’s going to get their attention. With your personal statement, you want to stand out from the other applicants. You want to create a story, create a vivid picture of who you are.
At a time when nursing schools are sending thousands of rejection letters to qualified applicants, Pretty Nurse Ashley’s advice to make a strong introduction is solid advice to help an applicant open their statement with what makes them unique.
Do Your Homework: Advice From an NP Career Coach
Renee Dahring is a nurse practitioner career coach , past president of the Minnesota chapter of the APRN Coalition, and a nursing university instructor with extensive experience in recruitment and admissions for nurse practitioner programs. When applying to NP schools, Ms. Dahring recommends that nurse practitioner applicants do their homework in three areas.
Show Your Commitment to Finish
Dahring said, “Every university wants its students to finish, especially in a nurse practitioner program. If you drop out, your spot in the NP cohort is empty. Mostly we like to know: ‘Have people thought this decision through?’”
In other words, when an NP program admission committee decides to admit a student, they are investing in that person to finish the program. Therefore, if it seems like a risky investment, they will not want to admit that individual.
Connect Your Career Goals to the NP Program’s Mission
“Understand what the program’s goals and missions are and align your personal statement with them. . .Also, consider the mission of the educational institution; most have a dedication to the underserved, but that will vary from place to place,” Dahring advised.
Addressing a program’s or an institution’s mission statement directly in a personal essay can catch the attention of an admission committee. They want to ensure that a person is a strong fit for their specific program. It’s also a benefit for applicants to be familiar with a school’s objectives and guiding philosophy, as it can help ensure that a program is the right fit for them.
Demonstrate Your Understanding of NP Scope of Practice Laws
Dahring also stated, “The other important thing is to have a really good understanding of the NP Scope of Practice Laws. . .You should have a clear idea of what you are allowed and not allowed to do in the states where you apply for NP school and intend to work as a nurse practitioner.”
NPs can practice more independently in some states than others—and a solid understanding of these regional nuances can inform one’s essay.
Take Time to Communicate Clearly
Above all, take the time to write and edit well. Admissions committees read through hundreds of personal statements, so communicating concisely and clearly can increase an applicant’s chances of admission to an NP program.
Dr. Doreen Rogers is an assistant professor of nursing and the graduate nursing program director at Utica University in New York. She advises applicants to use their best writing skills:
Remember, your personal statement is an opportunity for you to convey what motivates you and discuss your priorities as a healthcare professional while extending them to your future career as a nurse practitioner. Some aspects that are exceptionally important are the use of appropriate grammar, spelling, word selection, and sentence structure (including an introductory paragraph, transition sentences in between paragraphs, and a conclusion that ties everything together).
Dr. Rogers also recommended taking the time to communicate clearly: “Try not to rush this statement. Instead, we recommend taking some time to reflect on your nursing career accomplishments, as well as situations that perhaps were learning situations that did not end favorably. Use these to reflect on your motivation and priorities and how they apply to the topic that the school has provided.”
Rachel Drummond
Rachel Drummond is a freelance writer, educator, and yogini from Oregon. She’s taught English to international university students in the United States and Japan for more than a decade and has a master’s degree in education from the University of Oregon. A dedicated Ashtanga yoga practitioner, Rachel is interested in exploring the nuanced philosophical aspects of contemplative physical practices and how they apply in daily life. She writes about this topic among others on her blog (Instagram: @racheldrummondyoga).
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How to Write the Perfect NP School Personal Statement
Apr 7, 2020 | Job Search Tips
Most nurse practitioner (NP) schools require their prospective students to compose a personal statement. Often, these elusive essays cause applicants to panic, but with just cause: personal statements are one of the most important components of NP school applications.
Having applied to a BSN, MSN, and DNP program in my past, I have written more personal statements than I can count. In this article, I offer general advice for preparing, writing, and editing your essay.
To help temper your anxiety, this post elaborates on the importance of:
- Following directions
- Being honest
- Writing passionately and professionally
- Making your case
- Starting with an outline
- Offering a story
- Speaking the nursing language
- Addressing your “red flags”
- Giving yourself plenty of time
- Using correct syntax and grammar
- Reading it out loud
Follow Directions
First and foremost, follow directions. Each school has different guidelines for their personal statements, and you do not want your application thrown out just because you fell under their required word count. Some schools provide explicit information on the length, format, and content of the personal statement while others leave the task more open-ended.
For example, Vanderbilt University provides an open-ended prompt for the admissions essay: “The Statement of Purpose should reflect your understanding of the role of the advanced practice nurse and your interest in either a particular patient population, in healthcare leadership or in nursing informatics. Before writing your statement of purpose, please carefully review information about the specialty on our website so that you clearly indicate to the faculty that your career goals are a fit with the specialty.”
Drexel University also offers specific guidelines for their personal statement requirement: “Personal statement (under 1,000 words) that will give the admissions committee a better understanding of: (1) Why you are choosing this particular program of study; (2) Your plans upon completion of the graduate degree; and, (3) How your current work experience will enhance your experience in this MSN program.”
On the other hand, NP schools like Duke University and University of California San Francisco merely ask for a “personal statement” or “goal statement” with no further direction. Be aware that not every school calls your essay a personal statement. Allen College , for example, calls it a “biographical sketch,” and Johns Hopkins University calls it a “written expression of goals.”
Every application will be slightly different, so it is important to stay organized. Table 1 is an example of how I stayed organized during my NP school applications.
Make sure your answers line up with your resume or curriculum vitae. Do not exaggerate your skills or accomplishments. Instead, be proud of what you have achieved and speak enthusiastically about your desire to become an NP.
Never let someone else write your essay for you, and never plagiarize content from books, blogs, or journal articles. The admissions committee may scan your personal statement for plagiarism using an online program. Be sure to check your essay before you submit it using a website like PlagTracker , Turn It In , or Grammarly .
Write Passionately and Professionally
One of my favorite quotes is from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” If being an NP is your goal, pursue it with courage, determination, and passion. Become enthusiastic about all things nurse practitioning.
Writing professionally does not mean writing a bland, scientific paper. Be concise, be consistent, use clear examples, and make it sound like you. Make sure your personal statement succinctly and lucidly portrays your passion for becoming an NP. Do not use this essay as a means to criticize past professors or other NP programs.
Make Your Case
Think of your personal statement as your chance to convince the admissions committee to accept you. Why should they admit you? What makes you unique? Why will you succeed in graduate school? Why will you be an excellent nurse practitioner? Use your essay to make your case.
Make sure you tailor your answers to your chosen medical specialty. For example, if you are applying to become an emergency nurse practitioner, what characteristics do you have that will ensure your success? Are you quick on your feet, calm under pressure, and compassionate to all? Are you enthusiastic about this specialty? What have you done or what do you do that demonstrates your passion?
Start with an Outline
Sometimes the hardest part is figuring out where to begin. A mind map can help you start brainstorming. A mind map is a spidergram that offers a structured method for developing ideas.
When you are ready, use your mind map to create a topical outline. Typically, you will want to have an introduction and conclusion paragraph that sandwich a handful of body paragraphs. Your introduction and conclusion should include your thesis and summary of your subtopics. Each body paragraph should elaborate upon one subtopic. I use the following outline when beginning my articles.
Introduction Paragraph
- An attention-grabbing opening statement
- A thesis statement summarizing the theme and purpose of the paper
- Mention each subtopic covered in the body paragraphs
Body Paragraphs (one for each subtopic)
- Opening sentence that indicates subtopic to be discussed
- Multiple sentences that provide supporting details and examples
- A short explanation regarding how these details or examples relate to your thesis
Concluding Paragraph
- Begin with a restatement of your thesis
- Summarize your main topic and subtopics
- End with global statement
Offer a Story
You want the admissions team to remember you. You want to stand out. Try to incorporate a personal story that will make you memorable. The stories can usually be about anything you like: anything from a conversation with a mentor to a volunteer experience. Make the story interesting and use it to illustrate and emphasize your key points.
Choose a story that describes how you decided to become an NP or one that illustrates your personal values. You might also write about a particular challenge or experience that changed your perspective. Try to choose a story that gives the reader a clear impression of who you are and why you will be successful in NP school.
Consider beginning the story in your introduction, telling small pieces in each body paragraph, and ending the story in your conclusion paragraph. If you decide to tel a story in your personal statement, I suggest using the outline below.
- Open with a short vignette that introduces your story and the conflict or challenge
- With each new body paragraph, tell a little more of the story, relating each part of the anecdote to the subtopic
- Conclude the story with what you learned or by emphasizing the moral
- Restatement of your thesis and summarize your subtopics
Speak the Nursing Language
In your personal statement, speak the nursing language. This will give you credibility. For those new to the NP field, learn the language by reading as many books as you can. A good place to start is Stewart and DeNisco’s Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner . This text offers a broad overview of health policy, healthcare reform, mentoring, prescriptive authority, and the history of NPs. A newer book that I love is Carolyn Buppert’s Nurse Practitioner’s Business Practice and Legal Guide . This book will give you more detailed information about the scope of practice laws in each state.
It never hurts to touch on these seminal publications from the Institute of Medicine :
- The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health
- Assessing Progress on the IOM Report The Future of Nursing
- To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System
- Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century
- Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality
You might also consider citing these position papers published by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners :
- Quality of Nurse Practitioner Practice
- Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners
- Use of Terms Such as Mid-Level Provider and Physician Extender
- Clinical Outcomes: The Yardstick of Educational Effectiveness
- Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Discussion Paper
- Nurse Practitioner Curriculum
Address Your Red Flags
If you have a red flag in your application, explain it in your personal statement. Do you have a bad grade or low Graduate Record Exam score? Maybe you lack a full year of nursing experience. Rather than shying away from the topic, offer a clear, accurate explanation. Demonstrate humility, and write about how you have compensated for this mistake, challenge, setback, or flaw.
Give Yourself Plenty of Time
Do not procrastinate! Start your personal statement weeks in advance. Give yourself adequate time to brainstorm, write an outline, compose each paragraph, revise, and edit. A rushed essay might land your entire application in the rejected pile.
Use Correct Syntax and Grammar
Proofread, proofread, and proofread again! A clean, well-composed essay exemplifies your ability to succeed in a graduate program. My favorite website for checking grammar is Grammarly . They offer a free and premium service. They advertise that their software catches 250 errors that Microsoft Word does not detect. I also find their free Grammar Handbook helpful.
Throughout my DNP program, I started a list of general writing tips. Here are some of the most important:
- Use American Psychological Association (APA) formating
- Avoid generalities, cliches, and psychobabble
- Do not use the verb “to get”
- Do not use “very” as an intensifier
- Data is plural, so use a plural verb
- Use active voice whenever possible
- “Compare with” points out differences between two similar things
- Affect is a verb and effect is a noun
- Keep the subject and the verb close together
- Omit needless prepositions
- Use that if what you are saying cannot be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence
- Use which if you can delete the clause and the sentence will still have the same meaning
- Avoid using negative statements
- Write out numbers under 10 (e.g. three, seven, 10, 45)
- Be consistent with abbreviations and titles
- Avoid contractions
In general, avoid adverbs. Instead, use stronger verbs that imply the adverb. Here is a list of strong verbs to consider:
- Exemplifies
- Corroborates
- Approximates
There are a variety of websites that can help you with APA formatting, grammar, syntax, and checking for plagiarism. Some good resources include:
- http://www.apastyle.org/
- http://www.thesaurus.com/
- https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
- http://www.grammarbook.com/
- https://www.plagtracker.com
Read it Out Loud
After you have finished writing your essay, read it out loud. Most people have more experience listening and speaking than writing and editing. By reading your personal statement out loud, your brain will hear the information and new way and notice flaws you did not see before.
It helps to print a copy of your paper so that you can take notes as you read. Read at a slow to moderate pace. Try to be systematic about your reading: check for grammar the first time through, syntax the second time, and tone the third time.
As you listen to your paper, pay attention to the order of your ideas. Note any gaps in your explanations. Make sure you transition clearly from one main idea to the next. Do not be afraid to reorder sentences, paragraphs, or entire sections. Also, listen for grammatical and syntax errors. You will probably notice sentences that are awkward, too convoluted, and repetitive.
Finally, hearing your paper out loud will give you a sense of its tone. Does your paper sound too casual, too chatty, or too formal? This essay is the admission committee’s first impress of you. Consider reading your paper to a friend and asking them what impression they obtain from your answers.
Dr. Melissa DeCapua, DNP, PMHNP-BC
AuthorMelissa DeCapua is a board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner who graduated from Vanderbilt University. She has a background in child and adolescent psychiatry as well as psychosomatic medicine. Uniquely, she also possesses a bachelor’s degree in studio arts, which she uses to enhance patient care, promote the nursing profession, and solve complex problems. Melissa currently works as the Healthcare Strategist at a Seattle-based health information technology company where she guides product development by combining her clinical background and creative thinking. She is a strong advocate for empowering nurses, and she fiercely believes that nurses should play a pivotal role in shaping modern health care. For more about Melissa, check out her blog www.melissadecapua.com and follow her on Twitter @melissadecapua .
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Writing a Personal Statement for NP School Applications
Written by Danielle LeVeck
Mar 25, 2021
Career Advice
Getting into a top Nurse Practitioner (NP) program can be extremely competitive, thus every aspect of an application should be superior. That means, even if the applicant has a high GPA, a decent GRE score, and stellar recommendations, the personal statement should not be forgotten. However, the personal statement portion of the application can terrorize even the best applicants. Here are the right steps to take when completing a strong personal statement, and mistakes to avoid.
What Should a Personal Statement Include?
Before you begin writing, you must understand what makes a personal statement excellent. Compelling personal statements are true to the writer. They can be about anything, but they must show personality. It is the application committee’s chance to learn who the applicant is. The committee will want to know the story of why and how the applicant has come to this point of applying to NP school.
A good personal statement will highlight the applicants dedication to nursing, and understanding of the nurse practitioner role. It should be creative, concise and organized. It should begin with an intriguing introduction, continue with reflections of life experiences and explain why NP school is the next step in the applicants life. Finally, it should end with a solid conclusion.
What is the Structure of a Personal Statement?
The basic structure of a personal statement is:
- Introduction (one paragraph)
- Body (three to four paragraphs)
- Conclusion (one paragraph)
It is the questions answered within those sections that are most important. Why do you want to be an NP? What type of NP do you want to be? What are you going to do specifically for your patients and for the profession of nursing?
How to Begin
Begin by brainstorming ideas. You’re going to need to tell a story through the personal statement. What story do you want to tell? Maybe you were raised by a nurse, and the path to an NP has always been in your blood. Maybe you experienced a hospitalization yourself or with a loved one and learned about the purpose of nursing. Maybe through volunteer experiences and mission trips you decided you wanted to help people in your career.
Next, consider your audience. You will be writing to a group of highly professional people who hold the key to your entrance to NP school. Keep your writing professional, yet creative.
Finally, finish your first draft and revise from there. Have people whom you trust read over the statement and help you revise it. This process can take some time so it’s imperative to start early.
Mistakes to Avoid
An unclear understanding of the np role .
The role of a nurse is confusing and the role of an NP is arguably even more confusing. Prior to writing your personal statement and applying, you should have a clear idea of what type of NP you want to be and what an NP does on a daily basis. You could definitely earn bonus points if you already know what area of practice you want to be in.
If you are unsure of the above answers, you might consider shadowing an NP and doing your research to learn about the different types of NPs and areas of practice.
An unclear understanding of a DNP
If you are earning your DNP, make sure you understand what it is, why you’re getting it, and what you plan to do with the degree when you finish. There is misinformation on the internet regarding the DNP, and if you are applying to a DNP program, you are likely to mention it in your personal statement.
Leaving out experience
You have likely worked really hard for your experience, so it’s important to mention your accomplishments in your personal statement. Perhaps you have been a bedside nurse for five years, but you should mention everything you’ve done as a bedside nurse also. For instance, it’s important to mention that as a bedside nurse in a busy med-surg unit, you were a charge nurse, regularly precepted new orients, and lead quality improvement projects on the unit. Additionally, you may have earned extended certifications in your specialty. At times it’s hard to pat yourself on the back, but a personal statement is not a time to leave out your accomplishments.
Having typos
Never underestimate the power of editing. Have two trusted people edit your personal statement before finalizing it. A typo or a sentence fragment can instantly take away from the credibility of a statement, so put in the time and effort for a solid edit. However, through the editing process, do not let others edit out your voice because that is the most important aspect of the statement.
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Tips for Writing a Great Nursing Personal Statement
When preparing to apply to a graduate nursing program, there are many requirements and submission guidelines to remember. The component that allows you to tell your unique story — your personal statement — is one of the most important.
Writing a compelling personal statement for an MSN program, like the [email protected] online Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs, takes time and can be challenging for some applicants. Just as a poorly written essay can hinder your chances of acceptance, a great one can set you apart from other applicants. Below are three steps to writing a personal statement that will make a positive impression on any admissions committee.
1. Plan Your Story
Very few people can sit down at a keyboard and craft the perfect personal statement without preparation. It may take several weeks of thinking about how to communicate your story, so give yourself plenty of time to plan, jot down thoughts, and make an outline as ideas come to you. Use the following tips to gather the information you’ll need to create an excellent statement.
- Consider how your work experience as a registered nurse (RN) has influenced you and shaped your goals for the future. How will an advanced education promote your professional growth and help you transition into the role of an FNP or PMHNP?
- Think beyond your resume. What traits, strengths, and accomplishments aren’t captured there? Consider your interests, including how they will contribute to your success in the program. Provide examples of nursing goals, leadership, mentorship, or growth you have accomplished or experienced. Write these down and keep them in mind as you begin your draft.
- Choose appropriate topics for your statement. Avoid soapbox issues, and don’t preach to your reader. This kind of statement can come across as condescending and obscure the point you’re trying to make.
- Research the program. Make sure you understand the school’s values and reputation. Do they align with yours? How so?
2. Create Your Draft
- When it is time to start putting your thoughts on paper, try to avoid overthinking your work. Strive for a natural voice. Pretend you are talking to a friend and write without fear — you can edit and polish your piece to perfection in the next stage.
- Avoid cliches and nursing generalities. Generic descriptors, such as “caring,” “compassionate,” “people person,” and “unique,” have been so often overused that they no longer carry much weight with an admissions committee. They also don’t address your personal experience in the nursing sphere. Try not to start your story with phrases like “for as long as I can remember” or your audience may stop reading.
- Show, don’t tell. Strong storytelling is grounded in personal details that illustrate who you are, both as a nurse and a person. Be specific by describing how many patients you managed, how you earned promotions, or a time when your supervisor praised your professionalism and clinical abilities. Here are examples that illustrate the difference between telling and showing:
“I perform well under pressure.”
“Although my patient arrived for a different ailment, I suspected that her symptoms were consistent with a serious infection. As a result, I was able to advocate for a care plan that prevented further damage.”
- Use specific examples when talking about your experience with direct patient care and evidence-based practice. Provide details about how your clinical experiences have demonstrated patient advocacy, leadership, communication, or confidence.
- Discuss how earning a Master of Science in Nursing aligns with your career plans and why you want to become a FNP or PMHNP . Explain that you understand the commitment required and that you have the skills and dedication to become an FNP or PMHNP. Be sure to let the admissions committee know why you are choosing their program and what makes their program stand apart from the rest. Reflect on the school and program research you did during your planning stage.
3. Edit and Perfect
Even the best writers have to edit and polish their work. Reviewing and revising your personal statement ensures that the piece is clear, organized, and free of errors.
- Once you have written your first draft, take a break and distance yourself from your work. This will allow you to return to the draft with a clear head to review objectively and spot potential issues and errors.
- Read your statement aloud. Does it sound like you? Does it reflect your best qualities and the strengths you’ll bring to a nursing program?
- Always use spell check on your essay, but be careful as it won’t catch every spelling error.
- Use a grammar editing tool, such as Grammarly .
- Ask a friend, family member, or mentor to review your statement. This is a great way to catch errors or awkward phrasing that you may have missed.
Your nursing personal statement should be a window into your life. Use it to share specific experiences that have influenced your decision to advance your nursing education. Adhering to professional standards and presenting yourself in a positive, open, and honest way will help the admissions committee determine your fit and future in an FNP or PMHNP program.
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Personal Statement for FNP
Updated: Feb 3, 2020 Published Apr 9, 2014
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Hey guys, I'm attempting to get into FNP and need some serious criticizing of my essay. I've already been denied once, and am waiting for other schools, and right now I'm applying to another school much closer to my hometown. If you guys don't mind, read it over and give me any suggestions or comments. Or let me know if I should write a whole new essay. ? Thank you so much!!
My decision to become a nurse was not a lifelong dream from childhood, or following in the footsteps of a parent. In fact, my career choice was made while attending ____________. I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare because of the constant challenge for improvement and opportunity for innovation while helping the community. However, I had been straddling the curriculum of pre-medicine and nursing for a semester or so. It was during this time that my grandmother was hospitalized, originally for her uncontrolled diabetes. Within two days, she had developed a major clot that dislodged and caused a massive ischemic cerebrovascular accident, which rendered her in a comatose state.
Being a complete novice at the time I did not understand what the terminology meant, nor did my family. Whenever the physicians came in and spoke with us, they only spoke in medical terminology which left us afraid and uncertain of what to expect. However, the healthcare providers who supported us the most were our nurses. Not only did they provide outstanding care to my grandmother, they also explained everything to my family and I in terms we could understand. The nurses considered our personal needs, empathized with our situation and updated us daily with information. Most importantly, they treated my grandmother like a person, talking to her while providing care, maintaining her privacy, and even brushing her hair exactly the way she liked it. The differences between the two professions and how they interacted with my grandmother was enough to direct me into the profession of nursing.
Now that I have obtained a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, it is time to complete the next step of my career. I aspire to earn my Master of Science in Nursing, specializing in the role of family nurse practitioner. I enjoy my current role as a registered nurse, providing hands-on care and education to patients. However, my goal is to pursue further education and advance into a more diagnostic aspect of the profession. I feel that with my experience as a registered nurse, I can offer a more holistic and understanding perspective that is unique to nurse practitioners. After completing my education, I plan to become an active member of nurse practitioner associations as well as take part in primary care initiatives and clinics, particularly in rural farming communities such as my own. To attain these goals, I require a firm foundation of clinical knowledge and an opportunity to expand on my leadership experience.
In this regard and for the reasons stated above, I have chosen _________________ for my graduate education. The graduate program at the ____________ offers expert faculty, community outreach programs, research and networking opportunities unlike any other university. I also feel that I would be able to enhance my leadership experience with opportunities such a graduate assistantship, assisting faculty with research opportunities and developing my own confidence in becoming a practitioner. In my development, I would like to investigate patients who live in rural farming communities and how they manage their Type II diabetes. I feel that these individuals have limited resources and education, and I am very interested in finding how further education impacts their personal health decisions.
Whenever I reflect on the reasons why I want to become a nurse practitioner, I always revert back to my grandmother and the feelings I had while in the hospital. I remember the dedication and drive with the physicians, and the kindness and compassion given to my family by the nurses. I believe that the community deserves the best of both worlds, and I believe that I can be a provider with these qualities if given the opportunity.
This is awesome. Great comparison of doctors and nurses. We are truly more than nurses. We are teachers and so much more.
This is perfect. You covered every aspect. You spoke about what drove you into the field of nursing, your goals and your desire to improve the overall health of a population with knowledge and teaching. Powerful tools. Excellent paper.
Thank you! :)
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Family Nurse Practitioner Personal Statement Sample
1- be truthful, drexel university guidelines, vanderbilt university guidelines, 4- present your argument, 5- begin with a plan, 6- mind map.
- 7- Learn To Communicate In Nursing Terms
- Length Of Personal Statement For A Nurse Practitioner
Tips For Writing The Family Nurse Practitioner Residency Essay Include The Following:
- Sample #1 (Sample Personal Statement For DNP Program)
Why I Want To Be A Nurse Practitioner Essay? Nurse Practitioner Career Goals Essay Sample# 2
Nurse practitioner personal statement sample # 3.
- Final Thoughts: Perfect Personal Statement Nursing
References:
At the end of this article, nurse practitioner goal statement examples are given.
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A personal statement is required by most nurse practitioner (NP) schools for prospective students. Personal statements are among the most crucial components of NP school applications, and they cause applicants a lot of anxiety.
Never allow others to create your essay for you, and never use text from books, blogs, or journal papers as your own. An online program may be used by the admissions committee to check your statement for plagiarism. Use a service such as PlagTracker , or Grammarly to double-check your essay before submitting it.
It’s Good To Know: MBA Personal Statement Sample
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Each institution has its requirements for personal statements, and you don’t want your application to be rejected simply because you didn’t meet the word count. Some colleges specify the length, format, and substance of the personal statement, whereas others leave it up to the student.
- The personal statement should not exceed 1000 words.
- Submit your statement through an online application system.
- State the purpose of choosing a nurse practitioner program of study.
- State your goals after completing the degree
- How your previous knowledge will benefit you in this MSN degree.
- Length: (non-specified)
- Submit your statement in PDF form through an online application system.
- State your knowledge of the enhanced practices nurse’s function and your passion for one or more patient populations.
- Make it clear to the professors that your professional objectives are compatible with the specialization.
3-Write With Passion And Professionalism
Nothing great has ever been accomplished without zeal. If you want to be a nurse practitioner, go for it with courage, commitment, and passion. Become enthused about everything related to nursing practice.
Professional writing does not imply drafting a dry, scientific document. Make it sound like you by being precise, consistent, and using clear examples. Make sure your personal statement expresses your desire to become a nurse practitioner clearly and shortly. Please do not use this article to criticize previous lecturers or other NP programs.
Consider your personal statement an opportunity to persuade the admissions committee to admit you. What makes you think they’ll let you in? What distinguishes you from others? Why do you think you’ll be successful in graduate school? Why do you think you’ll be a great nurse practitioner? Make a strong case in your essay.
Make sure your responses are specific to the medical specialty you’ve chosen. What attributes do you have, for example, that will assure your success as an emergency nurse practitioner? Are you quick on your feet, calm under pressure, and kind to everyone? Do you have a passion for this field? What have you done, or what are you doing now to show your love?
When you’re ready, outline with your mind map. In most cases, an introduction and closing paragraph should be sandwiched between a few body paragraphs. Your thesis, as well as a summary of your subtopics, should be included in your introductory paragraph. Each body paragraph should focus on a different subtopic. When you start writing an article, follow the outline below.
Introduction: The first paragraph begins with an attention-getting sentence.
A thesis statement that summarises the paper’s concept and aim.
Body: The first sentence of the paragraph identifies the subtopic to be covered—multiple sentences with details and examples to support your claims.
Describe how these details or instances relate to your argument in a few sentences. Begin with a restatement of your point in the concluding paragraph.
Write a summary of your major topic and subtopics.
Finally, make a broad remark.
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Use the language of nursing in your personal statement. You will get credibility as a result of this. Speak about the importance of reading as many books as possible if you’re new to neuroscience. Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner, by Stewart and DeNisco, is a wonderful place to start. This book gives an overview of the healthcare system, healthcare reform, mentoring, prescribing authority, and the history of nurse practitioners.
Personal Statements for Nursing School: How Important Are They?
It is impossible to overstate the value of effective personal statements for nursing school and composing personal gastroenterology statements. As vital as your qualifications seem to be, the quality of your nurse practitioner’s personal statement writing. You must set aside what you understand about writing about histories while crafting a personal statement. Starting from the beginning and writing a one-of-a-kind personal statement is the key to success.
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You have 5,300 characters in which to write your application content.
Make the most of the space available to persuade and wow the admissions committee with your own personal tale. The 5,300 characters correspond to about 500 words. Whenever a word count or character limit is specified, you must write carefully and ensure every word counts. You should not include any facts or thoughts that aren’t pertinent to your topic. You can take ideas from our advanced nurse practitioner personal statement example.
Nurse practitioners have high wages compared to other professions. However, becoming a licensed nurse practitioner requires a lot of study and completion of a degree. To get approved, you must fulfill your selected degree’s enrollment procedure and submit all relevant documentation. Prepare yourself to meet all applicable standards, including drafting a strong personal statement.
- Respond to the questions that have been posed: There are queries that you should find in every application if you are trying to apply to different nursing associate residency schools.
- Don’t fall into the trap of using identical statements across your applications: You must respond to each question, keeping in mind that your responses must be tailored and unique to the questions. Stick to the subject and don’t go over the word count.
- Narrate your story: To have a successful profession, you must get valuable experience to perfect your talents and abilities. The good news is that by mentioning such incidents in the essay, you can utilize them to explain or show what you can do with the program. To avoid boring your readers, make sure your statements are alive, unique, and fresh. Make an effort to stand out from the crowd so that you will be remembered by the committee.
500-word personal statement examples
- Be specific: Choosing a professional path as a nurse practitioner is an excellent choice. See the nurse practitioner career goals essay sample below. You must pass the application process before you can begin working as a nurse. Remember that while applying for a residency program, you must provide a personal statement that is as detailed as possible. If you say you’ll be a great doctor, you can back it up with evidence or specific reasons. Your motivation for pursuing a career as a doctor should also be rational.
- Find an angle: If you’re like most individuals who don’t have a lot of drama in their lives, you’ll need to think of a strategy to make the essay intriguing. Yes, it is difficult, but you must do your hardest to discover the right hook or angle to pique your readers’ interest. You can join the nurse practitioner residency program for which you have applied if you do well.
- Concentrate on the first paragraph: Whether you’re writing an endocrinologist residencies personal statement, a registered nurse essay, or a gastroenterologist’s personal statement, the first paragraph, or the leading paragraph, is crucial. It’s the portion where you need to grab your readers’ attention. Please remember that your essay’s framework begins with the first paragraph.
- Tell us about what you know: You can write about your experiences and interests in the middle area of your critical care nurse practitioner fellowship essay. You might also write about your expertise in the topic. When registering, be explicit about just what you know about both the field and explain the information using professional language.
Refer to your studies or job experiences, chats, workshops, seminars, books, or indeed any specific details regarding the career you need and why you should be qualified for it. Since you will choose whether to put it in your essay, your decisions will have a big impact on whether or not you are accepted. Only include the information that is required for a mark.
- Subjects are not to be included:
In a personal statement, many things should be avoided—for example, mentions of achievements or experience.
Nurse Practitioner Personal Statement Examples: Nurse Practitioner Essay Examples
Sample #1 ( sample personal statement for dnp program ).
I’ve wanted to be a doctor since I was a child because of my hospital experience. My interest in medicine was piqued by various biology, chemistry, and physics classes in which I could observe theoretical principles put into practice in the clinic. All across my years as an authorized critical care nurse, I have also been grateful for the camaraderie demonstrated by my fellow nurses and medical providers throughout the hospital, and I understand that patient lives are dependent on the ability of all healthcare professionals to work together as a team to improve outcomes. As a result, I expect to contribute to the school to complete my Doctorate in Nursing Practice in the future so that I can improve hospital operations. I’ve seen both good and bad resource management and also how it affects patient outcomes, remembering working in various healthcare settings. The ability of personnel to handle situations is vital to the patient’s survival, especially if you work as a critical care nurse. Furthermore, I learned that getting to know the members of the league and the types of personalities that work well with each other is crucial since more time can be spent on clinical outcomes rather than addressing schedule problems. As a DNP, I aspire to improve hospital efficiency.
Based on my personal experiences, in an attempt to optimize everyone’s clinical expertise and parties involved, I want to return to school to get my DNP because I’ve observed a need for it.
Health-care workers having a master’s degree in the subject who are capable to I will be able to manage operations as a result of my integrated nursing and management training. To be able to analyze and assess hospital data more effectively to enhance working conditions circumstances and patient outcomes. This graduate DNP program will let me apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to real-world situations. Years of expertise to draw on to design successful tactics based on patient data that can be used at a wide range of hospitals around the world.
Dietetic internship personal statement examples
One of the best psychiatric nurse practitioner personal statement examples is below:
As an acute care nurse practitioner, it will be my mission to fight for patients who cannot be recognized or appreciated and to oversee their care with empathy, compassion, and a comprehensive approach. My strong career ambition is to deal with mentally ill people in underserved places, where financial constraints exacerbate the barriers to effective healthcare.
I provide a diverse range of job expertise that has fueled my desire to serve those in difficulty. I’ve experienced the negative effects of incorrect mental health stereotypes in my forensic psychiatric ward. When a stigmatized condition is diagnosed, it frequently leads to inadequate treatment. When a patient’s physical injuries and pain are improperly examined owing to their mental disorder condition, I’ve seen this unfairness at different levels of care. These events often upset me, but instead of getting disillusioned with the hospital system , they have fueled my commitment to finish my study and return to the sector to help change it.
How to write a personal statement for transfer students?
Among the finest nurse practitioner admission essay examples is:
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) collaborated on a paper titled “The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health,” which included four key guidelines. Nurses should be given the freedom to practice to the full extent of their education and training accomplishments, according to one of the suggestions. Second, nurses should pursue greater levels of education and training as part of an improved educational system that promotes academic advancement. The initiatives of the IOM aim to strengthen the nursing profession’s ability to respond to new difficulties and requirements in the U.s. health care sector.
High demand for primary healthcare services due to an aging population, the requirement to deliver high-quality treatment at a reasonable cost, and the implementation of evidence-based management are just a few of the issues the healthcare sector faces now and in the coming. The lack of healthcare personnel, particularly primary care clinicians and qualified nurses, exacerbates these issues. In light of the abovementioned changes in the U.s. healthcare sector and my goal to advance my career growth in nursing practice, I am applying for a position at the School of Nursing to pursue my graduate nursing studies. I want to enroll in an MSN program created exclusively for registered nurses who aspire to become family nurse practitioners. My graduate studies will provide me with increased knowledge and competencies, which will help me progress in my career as an emergency family nurse practitioner.
After finishing my graduate studies as a family nurse practitioner, I intend to serve the Us Armed Forces. Nova Southeastern University (NSU) awarded me a bachelor of science in nursing. I am a qualified paramedic specialist, nurse practitioner, and urgent care specialist. My career history as a licensed nurse includes over 5 years of experience working in an emergency department. Throughout that time, I served in urgent care in several roles, such as a binding and specialized surgical nurse at Coral Springs Animal Hospital and as a crucial nurse at Pet Express Vet Hospital. I also served as the emergency dept’s director. Currently, I’m an emergency nurse at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. My ambition to become a Family Nurse Practitioner stems from a great urge to further my studies and nursing profession. During my time as a registered nurse, I’ve learned more about the issues that the American healthcare system faces, as well as the new challenges that come with being a nurse practitioner.
The Us healthcare system is now suffering from a serious lack of primary care clinicians, which is anticipated to continue in the coming years. Second, the American healthcare system’s improvements place a greater focus on promoting health, preventing disease, and chronic condition treatment than in the past. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has boosted the desire for healthcare activities in the United States, resulting in greater possibilities for registered nurses. Furthermore, as envisioned in the Affordable Care Act, there is a requirement to deliver high-quality, patient-centered treatment at a reasonable cost to the entire country’s population. Compared to a qualified nurse with a BSN, nurse practitioners provide more sophisticated medical care.
Dialogue between two friends about holiday
Diagnosing and treating acute diseases, prescribing pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, and initiating and managing treatments are all part of the job description. Following suggestions to eliminate impediments that prevent NPs from performing to the full degree of their training and education, nurse practitioners are also growing to satisfy the tasks of primary healthcare doctors. Nurse practitioners have expanded their involvement in the healthcare system due to a shortage of primary care physicians and a rising desire for basic healthcare treatments. In my desire to become a nurse practitioner, studying at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing provides me with unique chances and benefits. First, relevant professional bodies have certified and authorized the school’s MSN program. This means that completing the program will provide you with the necessary skills and knowledge to work as a nurse practitioner in the United States.
Second, the school provides intensive practical training, preparing nurses for future careers as nurse practitioners in various clinical settings. Furthermore, the school of nursing allows students to complete the MSN program entirely electronically, which saves money and time, particularly for part-time students. Educating in the school’s diverse context would introduce me to various ethnicities in the workplace, enriching my educational experience and preparing me to work with different populations as a family nurse practitioner.
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This is how you will write a personal statement for a family nurse practitioner. You can also take ideas from acute care nurse practitioner personal statement examples that are mentioned above.
Take help from us. Our writers will write the finest nurse practitioner personal statement for you.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S8755722319301887
https://search.proquest.com/openview/91a560ab092d8612b296ecceed615aee/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1745-7599.2011.00633.x
Author & Editor Team: : Adila Zakir, Alexa Smith
Our review panel has been working in academic and non-academic writing for more than 1 decade.
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- Nursing School
Nursing School Personal Statement Examples: Best in
Read our top 3 sample statements.
Article Contents 23 min read
These outstanding nursing school personal statement examples have been approved by our admission experts who have helped countless students get into their top choice nursing programs.
Whether you are at the beginning stages of a nursing career looking to apply to nursing school or wanting to further your career by becoming a nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist, you will probably have to write a nursing school personal statement to gain admission to your program of choice. Although personal essays may or may not be required, and this will ultimately depend on the program, applying to nursing school is an important endeavor, and your personal statement deserves great attention.
In this blog, we are going to guide you in the process of crafting a strong personal statement that highlights your skills as well as the characteristics you possess that make you a good fit for the program.
Note : If you want us to help you with your applications, interviews and/or standardized tests, book a free strategy call . If you are a university, business, or student organization representative and want to partner with us, visit our partnerships page .
Nursing School Personal Statement Examples
I stood there not knowing what to do and being completely sure I had made the biggest mistake of my life. My decision to travel to a remote area of the Amazon jungle in Colombia to work as an elementary school tutor felt like the right one at first, but as soon as I got there, I regretted it. Being faced with the harsh reality of a struggling community made me feel completely out of place. It was heart breaking to witness such a palpable scarcity of resources and realize that there was not much that I could do. It took a lot of determination and adaptability to overcome the shock. Eventually, I learned to navigate this new world and embrace my role in the community. I planned lessons for the children and used all my free time to teach their parents to read and write. I developed teaching materials adapting them to my students’ context in order to make them meaningful. In the end, I realized I had become part of their lives, and I was humbled to have met such an amazing group of people. This experience taught me the true meaning of altruism and the value of hard work. This, alongside the cultural sensitivity that I developed, is what I am bringing with me to this new step in mi life.
Becoming a nurse has been my goal for a long time. As a child, due to an unfortunate kitchen accident, I burned my arms with hot water and had to stay in the hospital for serval days. I remember being very scared and in pain, but there was a lady in a white uniform who would come to visit me every afternoon. I always enjoyed seeing her because she spoke to me in a way that almost seemed like she was telling me a story, and that put me at ease. One day, I asked her why she always wore white, and she said she was a nurse. ‘A nurse’, I said to myself, thinking that was exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. She was kind and compassionate, and she knew how to explain things. Those traits that I learned from her are the same skills that I have been honing ever since, as I know they will be essential in my future profession.
I could see my breath crystalize in the air as I exhaled, dribbling and dodging the opposing players on my way to the goal. “I’m open,” shouted my teammate, poised right in front of the penalty box, waving his arms. Two more players stood between me and the goal. I hesitated, wondering if I should trust my teammate or try to score the winning point. Turning, I launched the ball into the air with a swift kick, and watched nervously as my teammate stopped it and sent it soaring above the goalie’s head. As the crowd erupted in celebratory cheers, the game time buzzer rang out across the field and I knew I had done the right thing. Every team victory that season was a personal victory, sparking a feeling of elation that I seek to replicate as a member of whichever health care team I have the privilege of joining.
My biggest soccer fan was always my grandmother, who even brought orange slices for the team to practices, claiming, “The little things are the most important!” Several winters ago, my grandmother unknowingly exposed me to nursing when was hospitalized with pneumonia so severe that we were unsure if she would survive. Though her whole care team was dedicated, her nurse Jackie always went above and beyond to make sure my grandmother was comfortable and happy. Every day, Jackie would pop her head into the room and say “How’s my girl today?” or stop what she was doing to run a cool cloth over my grandmother’s feverish forehead. Each time I had to leave the hospital was gut-wrenching, but I felt better knowing that nurse Jackie treated my grandmother with such empathy. I remember being in awe of her kindness when I found out she left my grandmother sticky notes filled with encouraging messages while she was sleeping. When my grandmother asked her why she spent so much time on such little things when she had so many patients to attend to, Jackie winked and whispered, “The little things are the most important!” While I did not know I wanted to be a nurse in that moment, observing the profound impact Jackie made on my grandmother sparked a strong desire to explore the medical field.
Inspired by Jackie’s compassion for patients like my grandmother, I aimed to make the same difference when I signed up to volunteer at Riverview Hospital. With lofty goals of becoming a physician, I threw myself into my volunteering efforts, often coming in early or staying late to help stock supplies. Whenever I had a spare moment, I would chat with a patient, rearrange their pillows, or a myriad of other small things. One of the most striking aspects of my volunteering experience was how little time Riverview doctors were able to spend with their patients due to the sheer number of people to whom they had to attend. Nurses, on the other hand, had near constant interaction with longer-term patients: assisting them to the bathroom, administering medications, or changing IV fluid bags while chatting with them about how they were feeling. I was reminded of Jackie when I watched how tenderly one of the nurses changed their wincing patient’s bandages, all while trying to distract them with friendly conversation. Even aside from the comforting gestures I witnessed so frequently, it was the little things that made such a huge difference in patients’ wellbeing. Without nurses there to help execute the game play, the team would never score! Always a team-player, I knew I wanted to be a nurse.
Though my time spent on the soccer field is less and less these days, I am thrilled about the possibility of joining a new team and working hard to bring us to victory. My introduction to nursing through nurse Jackie could not have been better. Seeing the relief she brought to my grandmother in her most vulnerable state inspired me to do the same for others. Watching the nurses at Riverview Hospital expertly fulfill their duties while treating each patient as an individual cemented my desire to become a nurse who remembers that the little things are the most important. I want to be there with the assist right before the buzzer, helping my patients win, because every victory on a care team will be personal. (Word count: 719)
“Help!” my friend Jack screamed as his faced swelled up due to an extreme allergic reaction to a candy bar he had just eaten. At the time, I did not know what to do, except to call for an ambulance. As we arrived at the hospital, I stayed by my friend’s side to offer my support. I saw the physicians and nurses swarmed around him, ready to take action. After my friend’s condition had been stabilized, he was left with the fear of another anaphylactic episode. It was his nurse that was able to calm his fears as she educated him on anaphylaxis and how to make the appropriate dietary changes. While I did not know how to respond with medical attention when my friend needed me, I gained a new purpose. I was inspired to become a nurse and to guide patients in times of uncertainty through compassion and education.
The process of creating a strong personal statement starts even before you begin writing. There is a certain amount of preparation that should take place to identify the specific information you want to include in your essay. So, make sure you take all the necessary steps before you are faced with the daunting, but fun, task of writing your first draft. Remember to give yourself between 6 to 8 weeks to write your statement. Be prepared to write several drafts as you edit and change your essay!
The first step is what we call the brainstorming stage. You will need to do some soul searching and write many ideas as they come to you. Working on this step can take you anywhere between a couple of hours to a whole week. It really depends on you and how much you can actually remember from your personal history. There are two types of information that you will need to brainstorm at this stage:
- personal information
- information about the program
The first one is going to come from you, from your memories, and from your background, while the second one is going to come from the programs you are interested in. Here, we discuss each one in detail:
1. Personal information : The goal behind this step is to start gathering information about your personal story and about any experiences that you have had from which you learned something valuable. The idea is to consider all those events in your life that may have contributed to your decision to apply to nursing school. In order to do this, think about your life as a child, the characteristics of the place where you were born and raised, any meaningful experiences that may have sparked your interest in the nursing field, any contact that you had with the healthcare world, or any healthcare workers in your family that had some influence on you. Then consider your high school and teenage years and any events that may have increased your interest in becoming a nurse. How did you finalize your decision to apply to nursing school? Did you have an ‘a-ha’ moment, or was it a more gradual process? Whatever the answers to these questions may be, be sure to identify these key moments because they will be useful for addressing the thesis of your essay, which is why you decided to devote your life to a career in nursing.
Tip : Look at these examples of meaningful experiences that can potentially spark, or validate, an individual’s interest to become a nurse: being raised in a rural area with limited access to health care and wanting to do something about it in the future, growing up in an urban setting where great social disparity is evident and identifying opportunities to contribute to levelling up these differences, going through a personal injury or diagnosis that created opportunities to interact with nurses in a clinical setting, going through the illness of a loved one and seeing the impact that nurses have on a patient’s journey, volunteering at something related to the health sciences or an unrelated field with plenty of opportunities for helping others and interacting with them, conducting research in something related to the field, being involved in extracurricular activities that can lead to reaching a high level of compassion or maturity, and so on.
As previously mentioned, the main goal of the brainstorming stage is to identify your reason for wanting to become a nurse as well as the relevant personal experiences that you can reference to support this decision. We suggest you make a list of five to seven experiences that you could potentially include in your essay. This list is going to be significantly reduced later one, but it is good to have a good amount to start with. As soon as you identify these meaningful experiences, be sure to also identify what you learned from them; that is, the skills you developed, the characteristics you refined, or any learning that resulted from going through these events in your life. Think about this carefully and select those skills that align with the ones your program of choice values. The information collected here is going to be essential later on when you start writing your essay.
Tip : Look at these skills that are essential in the nursing field, and which you have probably developed throughout your life, and see which ones you can directly connect to your personal experiences🡪 Resilience, dedication, passion, emotional connection, motivation and drive, collaboration, teamwork, perseverance, sense of social responsibility, empathy, time management, organizational skills, value of emotional well-being, etc.
Like any other type of personal statement, your nursing school statement is an academic paper and, as such, it should follow the same guidelines as any academic essay. Here are some aspects to be considered:
1. Spelling and grammar : It might feel like we are stating the obvious, but your essay should be impeccably well-written. This does not mean using elaborate and sophisticated language but ensuring that there are no typos, grammatical errors, or spelling issues of any kind. These errors take away from the quality and professionalism that you want to convey, so be sure to pay attention to potential issues. In order to minimize them, you will need to read and proofread your essay several times. Of course, the more you read it the more sense it is going to make to you, but this does not necessarily mean that everything is in order. It just means that, after you have worked on it for several hours, you will have to let it rest for a couple of days before reading it again. Another good strategy is reading it out loud or reading it to someone else. This will help you identify errors, incoherencies, or elements that detract from your narrative.
2. Length : It is up to each program to determine the word limit they require from applicants. This information is available on the programs’ websites and will probably be given to you as part of your application package.
Tip : As each school’s requirements and application process varies, it is advisable to look for more information regarding the profession and latest topics and trends on the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, or The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (in the US).
In terms of length, it is very important that you stay within the limit because this shows, not only that you can be concise, but also that you can follow directions. If, after completing your first draft, you realize that you are over the limit, you will need to address this issue before moving on to drafting the second version. In order to do so, you can see what information is not serving a purpose and could be deleted without affecting the narrative that you have created. As writers, we tend to believe that everything on our essays is absolutely essential but, when faced with word limit issues, we soon discover that there is, in fact, some information that can be left out after all. That being said, it is important to be mindful of the limit since the moment you start writing. This is because you want to avoid having to reduce your essay excessively at later stages, as deleting too much information here and there will negatively impact the cohesiveness of your text.
3. Content : Besides all the information that you brainstormed from your own personal history and from the programs’ websites regarding the areas that interest you, there is something else that should be part of the content of your essay, and that is, the prompt. You need to be aware of the prompt of the essay provided to you by the program, and you always want to address it. Some programs will ask for a general essay describing your motivations to become a nurse, in which case the information you gathered during the brainstorming stage will suffice, while others will give you a specific question to answer, in which case one paragraph of your essay should be devoted to answering said question.
Tip : To get an idea of the kinds of questions programs may ask you to answer in your personal essay, check some examples of nursing school interview questions:
4. The structure : Like any other academic essay, your nursing school personal statement should follow an academic structure and be organized in three major sections: introduction, body, and conclusion. See below for information on what each of these sections should include:
a. Introduction: This is your opening paragraph and, as such, it is the first impression you are going to cause on your readers; that is, the members of the admission committee. Important to remember here is the fact that an introduction can make or break your essay, so you need to come up with a very good one. The purpose of an introduction is to act as a road map that allows the reader to understand where your story is going. That being said, the most important part of your introduction is the opening sentence. This is the one that will draw the reader in and make them want to keep reading. Your opening sentence can be a quote, an anecdote, an event, or any idea that is captivating and enticing. See these examples: ‘It was three in the morning, and I was sitting in an empty room trying to think how my life had come to this’ or ‘He did not need to say anything; I knew something was wrong just by looking at him’. Sentences such as these ones will leave the reader wanting to know more. There is a reason opening sentences are also called ‘hook’ sentences. Can you think of a good hook sentence to open your essay with?
b. Body: The body of your essay is where you elaborate on the introduction by providing personal examples. Remember all the brainstorming we asked you to do? This is where that information comes in handy. Your body paragraphs should include information about those meaningful experiences that you have gone through that have sparked and solidified you interest in pursuing a career in nursing. Depending on the word limit required by your program, you will decide how many of these experiences to include. We asked you to come up with five to seven during the brainstorming stage of the writing process. Now, since our recommendation is quality over quantity, you should plan to include maximum two or three experiences and present one experience in each paragraph. Of course, one experience per paragraph is not all it takes. Besides presenting the experience, you need to include what skills or characteristics you developed because of this event and how you will be able to apply these skills moving forward in your nursing profession. In case the program provided a specific question or prompt to be addressed, add a fourth paragraph where you answer this question. It is important to tell the program what they want to know, so do not forget to include this information as part of your body paragraphs.
Tip : Mention how your skills can be drawn upon in the future in order to give the admissions committee a glimpse of the type of nurse and professional you are going to be. Remember some of the essential skills in the nursing profession that we mentioned above and see how they connect to your past experiences.
c. Conclusion: The same way we place great importance on the introduction of a personal essay, we also want to emphasize the big role that your concluding paragraph has on your text as a whole. The most important thing we can tell you is that a conclusion should not be a summary. It should, instead, be a place to emphasize some of the major ideas you previously discussed and, when possible, it should circle back to the introduction. Conclusions have to be insightful and captivating. They should convey a sense of closure and an invitation to keep reflecting on the ideas that were presented in the essay. Think that this is the very last thing that the admissions committee will read from you. What is the last impression that you want to leave on these people? Be creative!
There is an unquestionable reality that we need to accept. No matter how much effort and time you put in writing your personal statement, there is a high probability that the committee members will not spend too much time reading it. Do not take this personally. They go through many application documents from many applicants like you and do not want to waste too much time reading one single essay, especially if it is not interesting enough. They want, instead, to be able to identify in a few minutes whether you are the person they are looking for. This, of course, creates the need for applicants to write essays that have great content, great structure, and that have that ‘it’ factor that will make them stand out from the crowd. Your essay should be easy to read and have a great narrative. It should not read like a CV or list every single experience you have had in chronological order. As we mentioned before, quality is better than quantity, and your nursing school personal essay should have precisely that: quality.
In terms of the order in which you should write your essay, we suggest you work on your body paragraphs first and then move on to working on the introduction and conclusion. As we mentioned above, your body paragraphs should include meaningful experiences from your life as well as any major takeaways from them and how you see yourself applying this learning in your future career as a nurse. Additionally, there should be a section of your essay where you answer any specific question provided by the program. In general, you want to make your body paragraphs memorable. Address one experience in each paragraph and be sure to create proper transitions in order to bring cohesion to your whole personal statement. If you do not know what transitions to use, you can always look for lists of connectors online to help you.
What experiences should end up in your body paragraphs? That is up to you. What we can suggest is that you diversify the content by highlighting experiences from different dimensions of your life. Having one of the paragraphs address a personal experience, the second address a research or academic experience, and the third address a volunteering or extracurricular activity is much better than including three experiences related to only research, for instance. Be strategic in how you showcase your skills!
Follow these steps to start drafting you essay:
- Remember all the information you brainstormed earlier? The first thing you need to do is identify the top three experiences from your life that you want to include.
- Once you have them, write them in bullet points. Create one bullet point for each that mentions what the experience is.
- Then, expand each bullet point into sentences and these sentences into paragraphs.
- As we mentioned above, each paragraph should have three essential elements: what the experience was (i.e., the meaningful experience), the main takeaways you got from it (i.e., skills you developed, characteristics you enhanced, etc.), and future applications (i.e., how you can apply this learning moving forward).
- Once you have your paragraphs ready to go, make sure you start each one of them with a good opening sentence. Each paragraph should follow the same structure of the general essay. This will create flow and cohesion between ideas.
- You can look at sample medical school personal statements and think how these medical school essays could be applied to the nursing field.
Ok, so you finished writing your first draft. Good job! However, this is only the beginning. Once you are happy with your first draft, you will need to receive expert feedback on it. Having a professional look at your essay and suggest changes to enhance what you have written is vital to create a strong product. You will see that, more often than not, these experts will be able to identify weak areas and ineffective ideas that you will not perceive. Once someone else looks at your essay, be sure to incorporate their suggestions, work on editing and polishing up your document, and do another revision. Crafting the perfect essay that will grant you admission to your dream program is a process that should be done carefully and conscientiously. That means multiple revisions and edits are essential. In general, writing a strong competitive essay does not happen overnight. The whole process can take several weeks. So, be prepared to put in the effort and remember to do some happy writing!
When applying to nursing school, sometimes you will need to write a personal essay. This academic essay should highlight some of your most meaningful personal experiences and the skills you gained through them. It should provide a good narrative that will help the admissions committee know more about you as a person and about your chance to be successful in their program. By showing that you possess certain skills that are important in the nursing profession, the committee members will see that you are a good fit. Writing your personal essay is not an easy task and should not be taken lightly, but when you finally finish writing and look at the amazing essay you have created, you will feel satisfied with the job you did and will be able to show your program of choice why they need to have you.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Essays may or may not be required, depending on the program. You can check this portal and this portal to learn more.
No. There are a few steps that you wan to follow before you actually start writing. One of those is the brainstorming stage, and it will help you come up with all the ideas and information that you will need to write a good essay.
Personal information and information about the program or the areas that interest you.
Personal experiences that have been meaningful enough and that have allowed you to develop different skills that are important in the nursing field.
You need to identify the two or three areas of the program that attract you the most and see how those relate to your own experiences.
To identify the reasons that have led you to pursue a career in nursing.
It should have an academic structure and include an introduction, three or four body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Yes, it is! You need to stay within the limit in order to show that you can be concise and also follow instructions.
Then you make sure you address it. Do not leave this information out, as it is essential to provide the program with the information they want to know.
Because it is the first impression that you are going to have on your readers.
It should begin with a captivating opening sentence in the introduction. A statement, quote, or anecdote that is creative and that sparks curiosity on the reader.
You want to describe one meaningful experience per paragraph (i.e., personal example), include the main takeaways from this experience, and how this learning can be applied in the future.
You need to have an expert give you feedback on it. You may think it is already perfect, but personal essays usually require lots of revisions before they can be at the competitive stage.
It depends on the writer, but it is usually something that does not happen overnight. It usually takes several weeks. It depends on how much access you have to professionals who can provide good feedback and how much time you devote to incorporating their suggestions.
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