[Leila]

i am a senior in high school and i have to write a paper for a scholarship and the topic is to discuss the area of specialization in nursing that i want to go and why this discipline is important to me. I am not sure right now what type of nursing i will end up choosing but i would appreciate any advice from an actual nurse thanks

[mercynurse]

I'm certified in critical care..if that interests you, I'd be happy to help...not sure what it is you need though...let me know

Bonnie

[Leila]

thanks i want to be a pediatric nurse practitioner but i dont know how to incorporate my reasons into one paper my thoughts seem to be all over the place also have u heard of an organization called the national youth leadership forum

[bluesky]

Never heard of that organization. But for your paper, I woul dpoint out that nursing is a field you can go into and do so many things. I have been a nurse for 4 years and have tried a few things, and still want to try more areas. I still do not know what I will like best! Taht is the best part, you may go into nursing for one area, then turn out really liking another. There is bedside nursing (hospital, nursing home), psych nursing, mother/baby, peds, critical care, ER, OR, cath lab, occupational health, school nursing, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, nurse informatics, nursing professor, health promotion, clinical research, pharmaceutical research, sales, management, travel nursing, nurse legal consultant, coding, and more. The list could go on and on really. You can do so many things with a nursing degree. That would be my main topic as a high school student - the variety. Because if you don't like on area, you can switch. It never gets boring! Good luck.

[Leila]

thanks again

[Pat]

Hi Leila,

First let me say that choosing nursing as a career is in my humble opinion, a great idea. I have been nursing for more then 20 years (that's all I admit to) and I cannot imagine having done any thing different in my life.

Now I am not an expert on the subject of scholarships but it would be my guess that you don't want to talk about being a Pediatric Nurse Practioner in this paper. The funds are likely for undergraduate work and so you should focus on same. Nurse Practioners are graduate degreed nurses. So, I would focus on I want to be a pediatric nurse because...

Now a couple of things I think you should avoid in your paper:

Don't say, I want to be a nurse because there are a lot of job opportunities; or

I want to be a nurse because they make pretty good money.

Typically what they want to hear are things from the heart. Which means you need to do some soul searching...answer questions like:

Why do you want to be a nurse?

What makes you think you'll be good at nursing?

Why do you want to work with children?

What special gifts do you have...compassion, empathy, listening skills, a healing touch, etc.

Hope that helps a little, please feel free to ask more quesitons or ask for more details.

Best of luck, oh and by the way, you may want to check out Johnson & Johnson's website www.discovernursing.com. They have information on scholarships and much more about becoming a nursing. It's a great resource.

[medi]

Hi Leila,
Nursing is a great career to be in and Pediatric nurses are terrific people so I really hope you get the scholarship to pursue your dream! Here's some tips I think will help you on writing successful scholarship essays -
http://medi-smart.com/scholar1.htm
Best of wishes & do keep us posted on how things are going ok?

Sara