Why I Want to Become a Family Nurse Practitioner

Going into the healthcare field was something I always knew would be in my future. My youngest brother suffers from epilepsy along with severe autism. He is unable to talk at age seventeen and requires full time care. When he began having seizures we often had to call for an ambulance and have him rushed to the emergency department. During one instance, he had become so weak from the massive toll that the seizures had taken on his body that he had to be manually resuscitated multiple times and placed on a ventilator in the pediatric intensive care unit. Witnessing the collaboration between the physicians and nurses during these times was enough to get me interested in the medical field.

While in the hospital, both my family and I quickly noticed that although the physicians made the orders and carried out the high-stakes procedures, it was the nurses that were communicating with us on a personal level and keeping us updated on my brother’s condition. They were the ones who got to know my brother’s specific needs; from understanding the best time to give his medications to something as simple as what type of jello he liked best. The close relationship the nurses formed with my brother solidified my decision to enroll in nursing school. 

During my time as a student I was able to witness not only the nurses’ role, but also developed my understanding of the responsibilities and priorities of physicians. The nurses take all factors of their patients’ lives – both mental and social contributors – into consideration when treating them. They also serve as educators to both the patient and their family; nurses explain the basis of their condition in a compassionate, unbiased, and informative manner. The physicians typically spend less time with the patients and take a more focused, disease-oriented approach. Physicians apply their developed understanding of the inner-workings of a patient’s condition to make safe orders and prescribe appropriate medications. I found myself interested in both strategies. 

I believe nurse practitioners bring both the holistic outlook of a nurse along with the developed pathophysiological understanding of a physician to their practice. These reasons seek to show why I have chosen to apply to the University of South Alabama BSN to DNP program. I am interested in working with patients from all walks of life, both young and old, so I have chosen the family nurse practitioner specialty. Should I be accepted into the program; I plan on working as an RN throughout my years as a student to gain experience and implement my online education into real-life practice. Once I become settled in my career as a nurse practitioner, I would love to take time to travel abroad and volunteer in less fortunate countries by providing medical treatment to those in need.

My brother has always been the foremost motivator in pursuing my career. The rapid diagnosis and decisions made by the physicians along with the attentiveness of the nurses ultimately saved his life. Nurse practitioners have both of these qualities. I believe I have both the compassionate traits of a nurse and the focused mentality of a physician to become an exceptional medical care provider given the chance.