Personal Nursing Goals

I chose the profession of nursing as my career because I truly believe the desire to help people through nursing is a calling, and I feel as though this is what I was meant to do. During my high-school graduation year, my step-mother who I grew up with was given a diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer. Things progressed rapidly and my step-mother was put into palliative care, and I frequently visited her along with the rest of my family. During my visits, I witnessed the nurses care for my step-mother with such tender expertise and kindness. I was very thankful for them as I wanted her to have the best care and be as comfortable as possible. This is exactly how they cared for her, and it was these nurses who made me want to be able to do the

When I think of what I believe the core values of nursing to be, the first words that come to my mind are honesty, trust, knowledge, care, and teamwork. When I think of my own personal values and what’s important to me, I think of kindness, love, growth, honesty, determination, and hard work. These values influence my actions and decisions every day. I feel as though nursing is my calling because I can see a great parallel between my own values and the values of nursing. I believe that although every nurse comes to the profession with different values and beliefs, we are the same in that we must all have a desire to embody the values of nursing. We must all have a desire to trust, to be honest, to help and to care. If we didn’t, how did we all make it this far? One thing I must remember is that the qualities that make a good nurse are part of me as a person. To live my philosophies daily, I must remember that even though I will always try my best, I am human and I will make mistakes. When faced with challenges, I will reflect upon the situation and learn from it. I will continue my work with confidence that I am a better nurse than the day before, and I will be a better nurse tomorrow than I was