CRNA School Personal Statement Native Spanish Speaker
- Mar 4
- 7 min read
It is a great honor that Dr. Joe Martin, the Director of the DNAP program at National University in Fresno has invited me to apply at this late date to the program, even though applications closed on July 31, 2023. A nurse in Modesto and an applicant to Nurse Anesthesia programs, I did not apply to National University prior to the closing date because my science classes were more than 10 years old. I am employed by Doctors Medical Center in Modesto where I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Martin when he began his practice at DMC. I saw Dr. Martin most recently at the Diversity CRNA Mentorship Program at Samuel Merritt University, where he suggested that I apply to his program at National University even though the official application period had already closed.
Born in Mexico, my mother died suddenly when I was four, the youngest of thirteen children in a working-class family. While my father was at work, I would spend most of my time in the streets with my friends. My dad decided the best thing for me would be to live with my older sister in California, who could provide an education and a better future than was possible in Mexico. My sister and her husband raised me in Modesto, California, adopting me as their own son and I became a US citizen. She was a teacher and my stepfather was a retired Lt Colonel serving 32 years in the U.S. Special Forces, Green Berets.
In the fall of 2007, I became the primary caretaker of my aging stepdad. He would call me during class often for help, and I remember once having to leave a chemistry exam to attend an emergency. My professor did not excuse this absence, and I had to take a W. My academic goal at that time was to be a biochemist, but this quickly changed as I began spending a lot of time that year at the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto and Livermore, and my stepdad’s health continued to deteriorate. He had a complicated health history, but that year he had a nephrectomy, began dialysis, and had several mental health breakdowns and trips to the emergency room. That following spring he fell and broke his ankle, which lead to gangrene, and eventually a below-the-knee amputation. This was when I began to pay priority attention to the role of the CRNA. I saw the science and art of nursing play out in real life as nurses cared for him physically and emotionally even on his stubborn and uncooperative days. My stepfather raised me and saw me as his own son. He urged me not to go into military service since he had served “long enough for me too”. Thus, I found myself naturally drawn to nursing as a career and as my way to serve.
After he passed in 2009, I became a certified nursing assistant and worked at a nursing home for about 5 years. I graduated nursing school and began working at DMC in 2014, two weeks after my daughter was born. I quickly rose to relief charge nurse. But with CRNA school in mind, I transferred to the Surgical and Cardiovascular ICU in 2017. I grew tremendously in these 2 specialties, proficiently caring for patients with post-cardiac surgery, traumas, sepsis and cardiogenic shock, and other complex health issues. In 2018, I began an online BSN which provided students with little support. in which I received little support from the program. Halfway through, the school changed the rules and I ended up receiving an F for one class and also found myself abruptly paying large sums of money in out-of-pocket expenses. Nevertheless, I finished and earned the degree.
In January 2020, DMC began its Extracorporeal Oxygenation Membrane (ECMO) program with its first patient coming from Hanford, CA. During the covid period, I sought after the highest acuity patients and was the first non-heart nurse to care for these covid ECMO patients. I learned that I thrive under pressure and my managers saw that as well. I was then trained as a heart nurse and began doing charge. I jumped at the chance to manage a 12-bed covid unit with 5 of those patients on ECMO therapies running at the same time. Some had concurrent therapies such as Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy, and others with Impella assist devices. With low staffing for various reasons, I took no breaks, ran code blues, and often attended to an ECMO patient myself despite being charge nurse. It was my responsibility as charge nurse to respond to rapid responses. I learned throughout those years that a calm demeanor, a team-oriented personality, and a lot of creativity were what was needed to efficiently care for such high acuity and complex patients, especially when resources were scarce. My managers and ICU director also took notice, and I was promoted to shift manager in August 2021.
Since that time, I have not lost my focus on becoming a CRNA. Professionally, being a shift manager has prepared me with the skills needed to manage critical, high-acuity patients, while also developing the emotional intelligence needed to manage nurses and others well. It is my responsibility to clinically train critical care nurses to recover fresh open hearts and to consistently operate at a high level of performance. I take part in the CV committee which has recently implemented the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) algorithm, and we are currently developing on a new process and standard of care in screening for strokes after CV surgery. I listen to several podcasts including Beyond the Mask, Core Anesthesia, and Anesthesia Guidebook. I have shadowed a cardiac anesthesiologist at DMC, who is not fond of CRNAs but still accepted my request, and have shadowed a CRNA at UCSF. I have attended the California Association of Nurse Anesthetists (CANA) Spring Virtual Meeting in 2023, Diversity CRNA, and have a membership with CRNA School Prep Academy. In order to continue and improve my knowledge base, I attained the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certification in 2021, and recently the Cardiac Surgery Certification (CSC).
As a Christian and native Spanish speaker, I have volunteered my time every week since 2019 in Christian ministry within our church. There, I co-lead a Spanish Ministry where I teach theology, make lesson plans, chose music, and lead weekly worship services in Spanish on Sundays. I also translate the main sermon live from the lead English-speaking pastor. Currently, I serve as the Registrations Director of a yearly men's conference hosted at our church for men throughout California. By the end of this year, I will finish a 3-year Church Leadership Institute training program, which focuses on the character, duties, and skills of a leader. All of my volunteer work has shaped and molded me to be a person of integrity and high moral character, which are the pillars of a CRNA.
Personally, I have prepared my wife and children to understand the rigors of school and my absence during the program. After a long talk, my wife has agreed to be fully committed to me and has endorsed my complete dedication to CRNA school, as have our children. Financially, I have paid off all my debts but our mortgage, and I only have a few payments left. I have consulted with Thrivent Financial which specializes in financial preparation for CRNA school.
In the Central Valley, many of the people we serve are Hispanic. Most are excited and grateful when they see the nurse in charge speaking Spanish as a native language, listening to their needs, and doing his best to meet them. This is especially true of the large numbers of individuals who speak little to no English. My nursing career has always been inseparable from my Spanish-speaking community, many of whom are agricultural workers who are in California temporarily, going back and forth to their homes south of the border, a life which is increasingly difficult, dangerous, and full of brutal challenges which all too often leads them to end up in the emergency rooms of California in sheer desperation, their lives or the lives of their children often in danger.
Seeing the disparity in this and other populations has encouraged me to continue and pursue a terminal degree in nurse anesthesia. I have been blessed with an opportunity to serve others in this career, and as a doctorally prepared nurse, my goal is to expand my reach by implementing the skills and knowledge gained in order to serve the underserved populations of California’s Central Valley. National University’s DNAP program aligns with my goal of practicing my full scope of practice as an independent CRNA. National University’s actions speak louder than words seen its recent clinical statistics, which greatly exceed the Council on Accreditation’s minimum standards for all cases. It is because of the vision of National University, its many CRNA-only clinical sites, and the support of Dr Martin that drive me to apply to your program.
I understand I am not a typical applicant. Looking through the stated requirements, I realized that my chemistry is an intro and not a general chemistry. As stated earlier, I received a W in General Chemistry. Also, although not stated as such, San Joaquin Delta College’s nursing program divided pharmacology into three classes: 3A, 3B, and 3C. Those are considered equivalent to pharmacology in other programs.
Frankly, I suspect that Dr. Joe Martin encouraged me to apply to National because he appreciates me as a role model for new generations of Spanish speakers growing up in California and for my years of experience as a leader, which will help me persevere through this rigorous program.
Being selected for the DNAP program at National would be a great triumph for myself and for my family, who sacrificed much for me to have this opportunity.
Thank you for considering my application.
CRNA School Personal Statement Native Spanish Speaker