How to Write a Nursing Career Goals Essay in 6 Steps?

Table of Contents
Introduction

Every nurse should be able to set objectives as well as practice what she/he preaches. Nursing is closely related to hard work, pressure, and daily stress. So, you need to be aware of what you are getting into. And this is basically what the admissions committee wants you to demonstrate in your nursing career goals essay. Thus, it is essential to prove that you understand the specificity of this profession. On the other hand, you need to convey that you get explicit objectives and have an idea of the professional you want to become in the future.
Nursing is a fast-growing field suggesting a lot of ways of self-actualization and various career pathways. It comprises different specialties as well as academic degrees and training to educate the best professionals. And if you have started from a simple wish to become a nurse, it is time to define what kind of nurse you want to be. Thus, the essay on your career goals should reflect a category of nurse you associate yourself with, facilities where you want to work, and fields of specialization. You can even touch on the lifestyle you want to lead. For example, if you intend to travel, you can successfully combine work and hobby being a traveling nurse or a cruise ship nurse.
There are three main types of nurses such as direct patient registered nurses, indirect patient care registered nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses. Moreover, there are some fast-growing nursing specialties, for example, the cardiac nurse, certified registered nurse anesthetist, critical care nurse, etc. No matter what field you prioritize, the nursing career goals essay is always part of the admission. Herewith, the clearer goals you formulate, the better result you can expect.
Now let’s look into the stages of writing a brilliant essay on nursing career goals!
A Guide on How to Write an Essay on Career Goals

While dealing with this type of essay, comprehensively developed goals are the key to success. The best thing you can do before starting to write your paper is to come up with the list of objectives you want to emphasize. However, the career goals essay does not come down to what you want to achieve in the future. You also have to consider the following things:
- Reasoning behind your intention to become a professional nurse;
- Where you would like to work (hospitals, clinics, physician offices, insurance companies, universities, etc.);
- Types of patients you would like to interact with (elderly, children, mentally ill, etc.);
- Which skills and qualifications you need to succeed in the preferred nursing field.
The career goals essay is concise but complex. So, you should know a better way to organize it. Let’s look into the writing process considering its different stages.
- Step 1: Plan your essay
Before writing an essay you have to gather sufficient information on what you expect from your career in general. We have already mentioned that nursing implies a variety of pathways you can follow. Your priorities can change over time. But when you write a career goals essay, it is essential to focus on what is in your mind at the moment. So, your objectives should reflect not only the kind of professional you are willing to become but also your lifestyle and things that inspire you.
The first thing you can do is to observe different career pathways and specialties that exist within nursing. There are some fields that young nurses consider to be attractive:
Certified Nursing Assistant;
Licensed Practical Nurse;
Registered Nurse;
Clinical Nurse Leader;
Certified Nurse Midwife;
Nurse Administrator;
Legal Nurse Consultant, etc.
And there are some other things you can do holding a nursing degree:
Being a Cruise Ship Nurse or a Traveling Nurse;
Becoming a Surgery Nurse;
Working as a Quality Assurance Nurse, etc.
When applying to the university you do not have to plan your entire career in advance. But you can do an overview of what you expect at the moment. In this regard, your career pathway could look like this:
Apart from that, before you start to write your essay, you need to do the following:
List the short-term and long-term goals;
Come up with an idea of where you want to work;
Think of your essay’s topic;
Make a draft. - Step 2: Elaborate on a topic
The nursing goals essay is more than just an application essay or a personal statement. It should be inspiring and introduce you as a promising and grounded future professional. Thus, the first step is to work out the topic of your paper. It should reflect your dedication and stand out. No one wants to look through identical titles, so attempt to make it sound original to be head and shoulders above your competitors. Thus, while developing a title, you can employ some figures of speech or refer to iconic works. Here is a good example, “The Importance of Being a Nurse”.
Nonetheless, elaborating on a topic does not come down to developing an attention-grabbing title. You should also pay attention to the thesis statement. It is usually presented in the first paragraph of your essay and reflects what you expect from this profession and what kind of nurse you want to become in general. - Step 3: Discuss what inspires you
At this stage, you should look into the origins of your desire to become a nurse. How and when did it occur to you to enter the profession? You need to address this question in brief providing valuable insights. You probably took care of a sick relative, worked as a volunteer, or inspired by a film, book, etc. Refer to your experience and give your readers a reason to believe in your good intentions. Mention who encouraged you to choose this profession. But do not speculate about it for too long as you have already addressed these issues in the previous letters to some extent. - Step 4: Identify your short-run objectives
This part should include these goals you want to achieve in the nearest future, i.e. during the next 5 years. This period comprises objectives you prioritize after the enrollment to the university. Thus, they may be less complex than the things you want to achieve in your career in general. However, these objectives should be as precise as possible. For example, you can emphasize the disciplines you want to succeed in most. Or you can discuss qualifications and skills you intend to develop during your study. It is also appreciated when students highlight where they plan to undertake an internship or which volunteer experience they would like to obtain.
- Present your long-run objectives
Your long-run objectives can change over time and it is totally normal. Nonetheless, in this part, you should provide any ideas you have about your future career. What do you want to do after graduation? Get back to the preliminary research you have done before writing your nursing career goals essay and discuss the specialties that attract you most. Long-term objectives are what you plan to do during the first 5-10 years after graduation. However, you can touch upon a more distant future.
First of all, you need to identify what type of nursing specialist you want to become (for example, a certified nurse-midwife). Secondly, you should discuss what you plan to do to achieve this goal. Thus, you can mention the qualifications you need to obtain. Then, it is necessary to underline the overall contribution you want to make as a nurse. - Step 6: Draw conclusions
This is the final stage of your essay where you should sum up everything you have mentioned in your paper. Plus, you can draw some meaningful conclusions and end your essay with a powerful thought. It would not hurt to summarize key ideas and express your intention to become a professional nurse one more time.
In Wrapping Up
Nursing opens up a variety of pathways for self-actualization. No one can know for sure where it will lead you as your ambitions can grow. You are not obliged to be a nurse for your entire life once you have entered the university. Thus, you can opt for being a nurse educator, administrator, or consultant. Anyway, your journey always starts with an essay on career goals. So, you should pull out all the stops to produce a winning paper. As long as you know the main steps on how to write this type of paper, there is no doubt you can succeed. Jumping the gun, when you enter the university, writing such papers and even more complex ones will become a daily routine. To prepare yourself for future accomplishments, you can check this article – How To Write The Top Nursing Research Paper
FAQ
You have to emphasize short-term and long-term goals. There are some examples of short-run objectives:
Undertaking an internship in a hospital/clinic/other facilities;
Obtaining new qualifications;
Gaining expertise in your profession;
Providing good academic performance in certain disciplines, etc.
Examples of long-run objectives:
Becoming a traveling nurse/quality assurance nurse/surgery nurse, etc.
Making a particular contribution to the nursing field;
Developing health care methods, etc.
The process of writing falls into several stages. Thus, you need to do preliminary research on a nursing field to identify your objectives and what type of nurse you want to become. Then, it is necessary to make a draft and come up with an attention-grabbing title. The next step is to discuss what inspires you to enter the profession. After that, you have to identify your short-term and long-term objectives. And the final stage implies drawing conclusions.
There are a lot of trustworthy medical and nursing resources you can use to find out more about your profession as well as to get some ideas on nursing specialties. There are some examples:
Nurse.org
NurseJournal.org
NursingTimes.net
Yes, you can turn to professional custom writing services that will write your paper for you. However, you have to pay close attention to the service’s reputation as well as the quality of papers it provides. In this regard, it is recommended to read reviews, ratings and look into the Terms and conditions to find out essential guarantees. You can also turn to GetNursingEssay.com as it provides papers you can’t beat.
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