NURSING CAREER
GOALS
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION ESSAY
DEGREE: B.S. IN NURSING (BSN)
SPECIALTY: MATERNAL/OBSTETRIC
CARE
THE MOST SOBERING SOUND
in a rural critical access hospital is the rhythmic
thrum of the med-flight helicopter landing on the roof. As a Certified Nursing Assistant
(CNA) working the night shift in a twenty-bed county hospital, I learned quickly that the
helicopter meant we had encountered a medical crisis our facility simply was not
equipped to handle. Most often, those flights were reserved for obstetric emergencies.
Because our county is classified as a "maternity desert"—a rural area with no hospital
offering obstetric care and no practicing OB-GYNs—expectant mothers in our community
were routinely forced into terrifying, high-stakes medical transfers during their most
vulnerable moments.
Holding the hands of frightened patients while we waited for the flight crew to
arrive fundamentally altered my perspective on healthcare. I realized that the American
medical system has profound geographic blind spots, and that a zip code can dictate
maternal and neonatal survival rates. I did not want to just assist in transferring these
patients away; I wanted to possess the clinical licensure required to treat them, advocate
for them, and safely deliver their children locally. That realization became the definitive
catalyst for my nursing career.
I am currently a junior in a rigorous Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.
My immediate professional goal is to pass the NCLEX-RN and secure a position as a Labor
and Delivery nurse in a high-acuity urban teaching hospital to build a solid foundation in
complex obstetric triage and neonatal resuscitation. However, my ultimate career
objective is to return to a rural healthcare setting. After gaining critical bedside
experience, I plan to pursue a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) to become a Certified
