The saddest day of my life was on September 23, 2006, the day that I lost my dad, suddenly, the result of an accident. I trace my gut instinct and profound sense of vocation for nurse anesthesia to that tragic day that marked my life forever. Every day that I live I shall live it once again. My foremost hero that day was the CRNA. While it has now been more than a decade, I was fifteen, it seems like yesterday that I was in the ICU observing my father, hooked to various lines and drains with a tube in his mouth.
At the time, I did not understand the purpose of all those interventions, did not know why my father had to have a tube down his throat and absolutely did not comprehend why my father didn’t open his eyes despite having a heartbeat. I was told: “Your father is receiving continuous medication that makes him stay asleep and makes his pain go away. He is not suffering.” Though I was crippled with sadness, those words instilled a drop of comfort in my heart because I knew that as my father's heart gave its last beat, at least he was not in pain. As I matured and began to think seriously about a career path, that alleviation of my father’s pain became a central focus, setting before me an ideal towards which to aspire.
After being guided extensively by an exceedingly kind CRNA, I had a career plan drafted before I graduated from high school. But a Latina with a single-mother mom and little brothers and sisters to care for, financial realities simply precluded my excelling in school. I enrolled in community college full-time but as you can see in my transcript from 2009-2011 my grades were not spectacular. This is in no way a reflection of any lack of esteem for education. Due to our poor social economic status, I had a full-time job and helped my mother care for my siblings as needed when she worked - which meant that many times I had to miss class. I simply had no other choice. Nevertheless, I finally accomplished my goal of becoming a nurse in 2014.
I have now been employed for more than 2 years in a 35-bed MICU at the busiest Level 1 trauma hospital in Dallas. Even though my home unit is MICU, I frequently pick up extra shifts in other ICUs, including Neuro-ICU, SICU, and BICU. I have extensive experience with ventilators and drips including vasopressors, sedation, and paralytics. I have assisted in many intubations and other bedside procedures that require conscious sedation. I also frequently participate in the code blue team in my unit that is responsible for responding to hospital-wide code blue activations, so I am no stranger to high-stress situations and quick decision-making.
I have gained leadership skills by taking charge of a 16-bed CVICU unit with only 5 months of ICU experience at the time and precepting new graduate nurses coming into the ICU. During my 5 years of healthcare experience, I have been fortunate enough to serve people from all levels of society and I believe that my ICU experience and 36 hours of CRNA shadowing has prepared me to be a great CRNA student. I have the skills and understanding of what a CRNA entails and, therefore, have no doubt or questions regarding my decision to pursue this career. Standing next to the anesthesia machine feels like home. A frequent bedside witness to the sighs of relief and worried lines smoothing over a patient's face, admiring how effectively the CRNA calms the patient’s fears of the anesthesia itself as well as and pre- and post-operative pain, this has been my confirmation that I am on the right track.
As a CRNA, I intend to stay extremely active as a volunteer as well as a professional, progressively giving as much time as I can to helping the underserved in disadvantaged communities. I look forward to building a special focus on rural health and I spend a lot of time staying up on the literature about the opioid crisis that is hitting rural America especially hard, with much more deadly opioids filling a roll once played by moonshine. I daydream about becoming a distinguished member of the nurse anesthesia community and making my contribution to research studies, especially with respect to taking advantage of the privileges of service to the Spanish-speaking community since I am a native speaker. I hope to eventually become an educator and leader and train the next generation of CRNA students. Training new generations of young Latinos of humble origin like my own will always be a special privilege.
A long-time volunteer with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross, I also go to Zacatecas Mexico every summer to help at a health clinic, educating patients about a broad variety of health issues ranging from diabetes to HIV. I keenly look forward to continuing my efforts in missionary nursing as a CRNA.
XXU is my first choice for a variety of reasons. I appreciate the small class size of only twenty-four students, integrated lectures, and clinical emphasis, as well as your mission to improve the world by building individuals with great character, strength, and skill. I will gain the education and training I need to accomplish my goal of becoming a proficient anesthesia provider. I look forward to hearing from you and wholeheartedly hope I will be given the chance to interview for a position in the CRNA program at your especially competitive university. The nursing profession has brought me the greatest level of personal, spiritual, and professional satisfaction possible, and it would be a profound privilege to be able to continue my journey at XXU.
Thank you so much for taking the time to review my application.
There have been many applicants whose first experience with a CRNA was in the hospital with a sick relative, a grandparent, or a parent as in the case above. This applicant is allowed enough space by the program she is applying to that she has the liberty of explaining in detail the intensive and compassionate care that her loved one received from the CRNA. When someone does all they can to save the life of your beloved parent and make him as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, this makes an enormous, impression, which for many is the beginning of a career in Nurse Anesthesia.
CRNA Personal Purpose Statement Examples