Child Nursing – The Most Desirable Career for Me

Child nursing is a career where the potential to be challenged and reach demands is essential; however, the outcome of being a nurse would be highly rewarding. I am ready to take the necessary steps of progressing into higher education and developing skills to pursue this profession. Being a nurse has always appealed to me. After receiving the best care from nurses myself as a younger teenager, I knew that I would like to work towards offering the same kind of compassionate care to children and their families; making them feel confident and secure as they go through an unfortunate and sensitive time in their lives. My personal experiences in life have encouraged me to follow through with my desires to help others who depend on nurses, to make a difference.

Studying an Access to Health Diploma has made me recognise that taking the steps to being a nurse, is to be ready for lifelong learning. I understand that working towards being a nurse and as a nurse, requires skills such as being instinctive, committed, comforting, and to demonstrate excellent communication. It is important to engage with a child in a positive and sensitive manner, whilst being composed, securing and informative when handling distressed family members. Furthermore, I understand that to work successfully as a nurse, it is essential to be trustworthy, dependable, build good rapports with patients and their families, empathetic, driven, hardworking and ambitious.

The Access to Health Diploma has allowed me to acquire interesting knowledge from each of the units we have studied. Studying Biology acts as a good foundation as I understand basic functions within the body such as cellular structures and their functions. I have always been interested in science and studying it in more depth, at a higher level, has made me interested in continuing to expand my knowledge whilst progressing into higher education. The combined units of this diploma have given me a range of knowledge that will be greatly beneficial for studying nursing. The Biological and Psychological units work hand in hand for working well as a nurse. The subject knowledge from these units give vital information for working well as a nurse, to have good understanding about biological functions as well as understanding behaviour to engage well with both the patients and their families.

My experiences of demonstrating effective communication with children and adults is very valuable as it is important to be able to communicate information to patients, their families and other health professionals. This is essential to provide the best care for the patient whilst working in a collaborative team. I am fully aware and understand that nursing will not be an easy job. It could seem difficult to work long hours, shift work and on public holidays; however, I view these aspects of the job as personal sacrifices that would demonstrate commitment and compassion. I would happily use the majority of my time to provide the best care for young children and their families.

I have enhanced skills such as communication, patience, goal orientated focus, time management, empathy, tenacity, attentiveness, responsibility and independence whilst volunteering at a primary school and working on a one to one basis with children aged 6-16 as a tutor. As a result of this, I achieved a level 3 AQA accreditation in ‘acting as a tutor befriender’. These skills have also been utilised in a 4 week programme that I took part in during 2017, where I had to utilise these skills to work in a team. Caring for my younger siblings with special needs has solidified my desire to be a nurse. Supporting them with their difficulties comes with a rewarding feeling that is of a greater amount than the challenges that come with caring for them.

I am a motivated student and I believe that, with these skills that I have developed, my admission onto a Child Nursing course will be the basis of a positive future as I progress to put my caring characteristics to good work. I look forward to the challenge of higher education as I know that the results will be forever rewarding and beneficial to others.