essay for why i want to be a nurse

Essay Sample on Why I Want to Be A Nurse

Nursing is a rewarding and challenging career that has the power to make a real difference in people’s lives. Whether your motivation is to help others, attain financial freedom, or both, writing a “Why I Want To Be A Nurse” essay is an excellent opportunity to express your passion and commitment to the field.

In this article, we’ll explore the reasons why you might want to become a nurse and provide you with helpful tips and inspiration for writing a powerful and persuasive essay .

Why I Want to Be A Nurse (Free Essay Sample)

Nursing is a career that offers a unique combination of hands-on care and emotional support to those in need. There are many reasons why someone might choose to become a nurse, including:

The Empathy and Altruism of Nursing

I have a strong desire to help people and hope to become a nurse. I think nursing is the best way for me to make a difference in other people’s lives because it combines my natural empathy and desire to help people. Nursing gives me a chance to positively touch people’s lives, which has always attracted me to the thought of doing so.

I saw the beneficial effects that nurses may have on people’s life as a child. I have always been moved by the kindness and concern they have for their patients. The small gestures of kindness, like holding a patient’s hand or speaking encouraging words, have always touched me. I think nurses have a special power to change people’s lives and leave a lasting impression, and I want to contribute to that.

Additionally, I think that becoming a nurse is a great and selfless job. To provide for their patients and ensure they are secure and comfortable, nurses put their own needs on hold. I absolutely respect this kind of dedication to helping others, and I aim to exhibit it in my own nursing career.

The Economic Benefits of Nursing

The financial stability that comes with being a nurse is one of the reasons I wish to pursue this career. Nursing is a field that is in high demand, which translates to a wealth of job opportunities and competitive salaries.  This profession offers the chance for a stable income, which makes it a good choice for people who want to secure their financial future.

Nursing not only gives economic freedom but also a flexible work schedule that promotes a healthy work-life balance. Many nurses can choose to work part-time or in a variety of places, such as clinics, hospitals, and schools..

A Love for the Science and Art of Nursing

To succeed in the unique field of nursing, one must have both artistic talent and scientific knowledge. This mix is what initially drew me to the thought of becoming a nurse. The human body and its mechanisms have always captivated me, and I enjoy learning about the science that underpins healthcare. But nursing requires more than just a scientific knowledge of the body. It also requires an artistic understanding of the patient and their needs.. Nursing is a demanding and fulfilling job since it combines science and art, which is why I’m drawn to it.

I saw as a child the effect nurses had on patients and their families. Their compassion and understanding have motivated me to seek a profession in nursing because they frequently offer comfort and help in the hardest of situations. My enthusiasm for the science and art of nursing will undoubtedly help me to have a good influence on other people’s lives. I want to work as a nurse and improve the lives of the people I take care of, whether it be by giving medication, educating patients, or just being a reassuring presence.

Continuous Professional Development in Nursing

I think the nursing industry is dynamic and always changing, which gives people a lot of chances to learn and grow. I would have the chance to continuously advance my knowledge and abilities in this sector if I choose to become a nurse. In turn, this would enable me to better care for my patients and stay abreast of professional developments.

There are several different nursing specialties available as well. There are many options, including critical care, pediatrics, gerontology, and surgical nursing. Because of the variety of disciplines available, nurses have the chance to develop their interests and find their niche. 

I am certain that a career in nursing will provide me the chance to pursue my passion for healthcare while also allowing me to grow professionally.

Nursing is a fulfilling and noble career that offers a mix of hands-on care, emotional support, and professional growth. I am inspired by the positive impact nurses have on patients and their families and aim to offer my own empathy and compassion. The nursing industry is constantly changing, providing ample opportunities for growth and job prospects with financial stability. The ultimate reward in a nursing career is the satisfaction of making a difference in people’s lives.

Tips for Writing A Compelling Why I Want To Be A Nurse Essay

Now that you understand the reasons why someone might want to become a nurse, it’s time to learn how to write a compelling essay. Here are some tips and strategies to help you get started:

Create an Outline

Before you start writing, it’s important to identify the main points you’ll discuss in your essay. This will help you stay organized and make your essay easier to read.

Start with an Attention-grabbing Introduction

Your introduction is your chance to make a good first impression and engage the reader. Start with a hook that captures the reader’s attention, such as a surprising statistic or personal story .

Be Specific and Personal

Rather than making general statements about why you want to become a nurse, be specific and personal. Share your own experiences, motivations, and passions, and explain why nursing is the right career choice for you.

Highlight your Skills and Qualifications

Nursing is a demanding and complex profession that requires a wide range of skills and qualifications. Be sure to highlight your relevant skills, such as compassion, communication, and problem-solving, and explain how they make you a good fit for the nursing field.

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Why I Want To Be A Nurse Essay

Applying for nursing school is an exciting step towards a rewarding career helping others. The nursing school essay, also known as a personal statement, is a critical part of the application. This is your chance to showcase your passion for the nursing profession and explain why you want to become a nurse.

This guide will show you exactly what admission committees are looking for in a strong nursing school application essay. Let’s walk through how to plan, write, and polish your “why I want to be a nurse” personal statement so it stands out from the competition.

What To Include In Your Nursing Essay

Writing a compelling nursing school essay requires advanced planning and preparation. Follow these tips to create an effective personal statement:

Plan Your Nurse Essay

The first step is to carefully conceptualize your nursing school admissions essay. Jot down some notes answering these key questions:

• Why do you want to go into nursing?
• What personal experiences or traits draw you to the field of nursing?
• How have you demonstrated commitment to caring for others?
• What are your academic and professional qualifications for nursing?

From here, you can start mapping out a logical flow of key points to cover in your nursing school application essay.

Show an Emotional Connection to the Profession

Admission committees want to see that you have genuine passion and empathy for the nursing career choice. Dedicate part of your personal statement to describing your intrinsic motivations and positive impacts for desiring to become a nurse.

Avoid cliché reasons like “I want to help people.” Instead, get specific by sharing a personal anecdote that emotionally moved you towards nursing.

Here’s an example of how you could open your nursing school entrance essay by highlighting a meaningful patient-care interaction:

“Holding Mrs. Wilson’s trembling hand, I watched her fearful eyes relax as I reassured her that the medical team would take excellent care of her. At that moment, providing empathetic comfort to calm her nerves despite the clinical chaos around us, I knew deep down that nursing was my calling.”

This introduction immediately establishes an emotional pull towards the human side of healthcare. From here, explain how this or similar experiences instilled a drive in you to become a nurse.

Show That You Care

Much of nursing is providing compassionate, person-centered care. Therefore, your “why I want to be a nurse” essay should emphasize your ability to be caring, empathetic, patient, and comforting to others.

Share examples that showcase your natural inclination for caregiving:

“Volunteering at the Red Cross shelter after the wildfires by comforting displaced families demonstrated my patience and attentiveness to those suffering. Even as some evacuees grew frustrated by the chaos, I calmly reassured them that we would do everything possible to assist with their recoveries and ensure they felt cared for.”

This example highlights key soft skills needed in nursing as a career, like compassion, active listening, the desire to help, and providing a calming presence under pressure.

Share Your Aspirations

A strong application essay will also articulate your goals and vision for contributing to the nursing field. What are you hoping to achieve through a career in nursing?

Here is an example of discussing aspirations in a nursing school personal statement:

“My long-term aspiration is to become a nurse leader by earning an advanced degree and management experience. I aim to leverage my organizational, communication and critical thinking skills to mentor junior staff, improve operational workflows, and advocate for policies that enhance quality of care. In nursing, I’ve found my true calling – to provide critical care, and help others by being a source of compassion and driving excellence in healthcare delivery.”

This type of self-motivated, forward-looking vision demonstrates maturity, strong goals, and natural leadership qualities.

Describe Your Nursing Skills and Qualifications

Finally, your nursing school entrance essay should summarize the skills; profession offers, and experience that makes you an excellent candidate for the nursing program. Highlight relevant strengths like:

• Academic achievements (science/healthcare courses, GPA, etc.)
• Extracurricular activities (volunteering, internships, etc.)
• Relevant work experience (patient care roles like CNA, medical assistant, etc.)
• Other transferable skills (communication, leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, etc.)

For example:

“My passion for science, healthcare experience as a CNA, and volunteering at a community health fair have prepared me to thrive in the intellectually stimulating and collaborative nursing curriculum. I bring dedication, attention to detail, and a strong work ethic as demonstrated by my 3.8 GPA studying Biology at the University of Michigan.”

With application essays, it’s all about showcasing why you would make an outstanding addition to the nursing program, making a difference through your qualifications and intangible traits.

How Do You Write an Introduction to a Nurse Essay?

Now that you’ve brainstormed content ideas, it’s time to turn them into a polished personal statement. Here are some tips for crafting an attention-grabbing introduction to your nursing school essay:

Hook the Reader with a Personal Story

One of the most engaging ways to start writing your essay is by recounting a brief personal story that illuminates your drive to become a nurse. This can immediately immerse the reader in your intrinsic motivations.

For example , you could open with an anecdote describing a meaningful instance of care and comfort you provided to someone in need:

“Tears streamed down Mrs. Hernandez’s face as she told me about losing her husband to cancer last year. As a hospice volunteer, I held her hand, listening intently to her painful story of grief and loss…”

This type of vivid introduction pulls the reader into the narrative straight away. From here, you can continue sharing details about the scenario and its influence on your desire to pursue nursing.

Illustrate the Human Impact of Nursing

Another compelling way to begin your nursing personal statement is by painting a picture of nursing’s profound impact on patients and their families. This highlights your understanding of the profession’s vital role.

For instance:

“Looking a trembling new mother in the eyes as she first held her newborn, relieved knowing both were safe and healthy after a complicated delivery – that is the human difference nurses make each and every day.”

This type of introduction emphasizes nursing’s profound emotional impact on patients during vulnerable yet joyful moments. It activates the reader’s empathy by bringing them into the vivid scene while showing your own insight into the medical field.

Articulate Passion for Helping Others

Finally, you can start your nursing application essay by asserting your resounding passion for caring for others. This clear expression allows you to succinctly introduce central values like empathy and compassion.

“Ever since I was a young volunteer candy striper in my local hospital, I’ve held an unwavering passion for helping those suffering through the profound act of nursing. I was born to care for others.”

This authoritative opening clearly states your emotional connection to nursing in a compelling yet concise way. You can then build on this assertion of passion through personal examples and further explanation.

No matter how you start your nursing school essay, the introduction should vividly showcase your motivation and why you chose nursing. Set the tone early with your authorship and emotion.

Why I Want To Be A Nurse Essay Examples 

Now let’s analyze some complete sample nursing personal statements for inspiration on crafting your own:

Why I Want to Be a Nurse at a Hospital: Essay

Essay on why i want to be a nurse assistant, 1000-word essay on why i want to be a nurse, essay on why i want to be a nurse, why i want to be a nurse: argumentative essay, mental health nursing personal statement, why i want to be a pediatrics nurse, why i want to be a nurse practitioner essay, writing a why i want to become a nurse essay.

To craft a standout nursing school application essay, prospective students should engage the reader with an emotional opening that illuminates their calling to the profession, whether through a compelling personal anecdote or vivid imagery expressing the profound impact of nursing. 

The conclusion should be resolved by painting an inspiring vision of how the writer’s skills, values, and determination will be channeled into excellence as a nursing student and future registered nurse, making an empathetic difference in patients’ lives.

With focused, mature writing that radiates passion and preparedness, a “why I want to become a registered nurse” personal statement can stand out amidst the competition as a window into a promising applicant’s commitment to this vital healthcare profession.

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How To Answer “Why Do You Want To Be A Nurse?” (With Examples)

• Cover Letter
• Registered Nurse Interview Questions
• Registered Nurse Job Description
• Why Did You Choose Nursing?

When you’re in a nursing interview, you’ll hear the common question “Why do you want to be a nurse ?”, so it’s essential to know how to answer it. Your answer should reflect on what it was that drew you to nursing and tell a story about it, such as the moment it was clear that you wanted to be a nurse.

Whether you want to be a pediatric nurse , emergency department nurse, or travel nurse, we’ll go over how to answer “Why did you choose nursing as a career?”, why interviewers ask this question, as well as some common mistakes to avoid.

Key Takeaways:

Try to think of a story or a moment that made it clear that a nursing career was right for you.

Interviewers ask “Why do you want to become a nurse?” so you can highlight your passion for nursing and what got you interested in the field.

Avoid saying anything negative because it can often be a red flag for interviewers.

How to answer “Why do you want to be a nurse?”

Example answers to “why do you want to be a nurse”, why interviewers ask this interview question, common mistakes to avoid when answering, interview tips for answering this question, possible follow-up questions:, nurse career path faq, final thoughts.

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To answer “Why do you want to be a nurse?” you should first ask yourself questions as to why you want to be a nurse, start at the root, and tell your interviewer a story. Below is a more detailed list of how to answer this interview question .

As yourself questions. Before the interview, ask yourself, putting money and career goals aside, why do YOU want to be a nurse? Consider the following questions to better understand your reasoning:

Do you want to help people?

Does the medical field excite you?

Do you have certain skills, such as communication or concentration under duress, that naturally fit the position?

Do you thrive when you get to build relationships with people?

Do you love both science and working with people?

Focus on these aspects of yourself when you are asked why you are choosing nursing as a career.

Start at the root. If you’ve wanted to be a nurse since you were a kid, start there. If you got into medicine thanks to an impactful college professor , make that your starting point.

Tell a story. Most interviewers prefer narratives over bullet point facts — especially with a personal question like this. Don’t feel like you have to make up some great tale about how a nurse saved the day when you were a child, but bring in real moments when it became clear that nursing was the career for you.

Talk about people and experiences. Nursing is all about building relationships, so your answer should touch on your empathy and ability to form bonds with the people you work with and serve. In this way, your answer will show that you want to be a nurse because you truly enjoy the process of nursing.

Bring it to the future. Close your answer with a nod to the future and what you’d like to accomplish in your brilliant new nursing career. Bringing your answer from the past to the future shows that you’re forward-thinking and determined enough to make your dreams a reality.

Below are example answers to “Why do you want to be a nurse?” for different scenarios such as pediatric or emergency room nursing. Remember to tailor your answers to your specific needs when you answer in your interview.

Pediatric nurse example answer

“I have wanted to get into nursing since I was very young. One of my earliest memories is of a nurse taking care of me when I had to go to the hospital for stitches. She was so kind and gentle with me that I didn’t even cry or panic. I remember leaving thinking that was the kind of person I wanted to be when I grew up. Ever since then, everything I have done has been working towards becoming a nurse.”

Emergency room nurse example answer

“When I was in college I took a course on basic first aid and found it super interesting. I started signing up for volunteer first aid positions and some of my fellow volunteers were nurses. I was curious about their job and the more I learned about what they did the more I found myself excited by the prospect of helping people in medical situations. I made friends with these nurses and they helped guide me through the application process.”

Travel nurse example answer

“Medicine is such an exciting field, and one of the biggest joys of nursing is that I’m always learning new things. I know people who dread getting their necessary CEUs every year, but for me, it’s a perk of the career. “For instance, just last year I completed my certification from the Wilderness Medical Society and can now serve as medical staff on the Appalachian Trail. But from Diabetes for APRNs to Nursing for Infertility courses, I’m always able to maintain my passion for nursing through continuous discovery and wonder at the medical field.”

Critical care nurse example answer

“I believe in helping people, especially in times of extreme need. When I worked as an EMT I was always the one asked to facilitate information between any involved party. I want to expand this skill and I think nursing is a good fit for me. My interests and experience with medical professionals are good for this job.”

Nurse midwife example answer

“I want to be a nurse because I am deeply committed to providing compassionate healthcare to women during one of the most significant and transformative moments of their life. Being a nurse midwife will allow me to empower women by advocating their choices and preferences during childbirth. “Being a nurse midwife will also allow me to make a positive impact on the lives of women and their families. I will be able to provide personalized care, emotional support , and educational resources to help ensure a smooth and empowering birthing experience for my patients.”

Oncology nurse example answer

“I want to be an oncology nurse because this field is driven by a profound desire to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those fighting cancer. I am committed to providing compassionate care to patients during their cancer journey. “Working as an oncology nurse also has the opportunities to be part of cutting-edge research and advancements in cancer treatments. I want to be at the forefront of innovation and help contribute to the improvement of cancer care outcomes.”

The interviewer will ask why you want to be a nurse to know how serious you are about the position. This isn’t a career to take lightly because there are many challenges.

Nursing is a profession with a prerequisite for assisting others in potentially high-stress environments. So by answering this question, you are given the opportunity to highlight not only your skills but more importantly, your passion for nursing and ability to keep cool under pressure.

Additionally, interviewers hope to learn why you got interested in the field in the first place. Telling a story about an impactful experience with a medical professional or about the sense of satisfaction you feel when helping a patient can help illustrate that you’re not only skillful but also have deep compassion for the people you’ll be working with.

You should avoid saying anything negative because it can be a red flag for the interviewer. Here are some other common mistakes you should avoid when answering:

Saying anything negative. A negative response will be a red flag for the interviewer. If you are one to complain or see the worse in a situation, this will make you a difficult coworker in an already difficult field.

Focusing on money or self-serving reasons. Even if the wages are an attractive feature of the profession, mentioning this as a reason will hurt you. The interviewer is looking for an answer that goes beyond your own needs.

Unrelated anecdotes. Don’t get caught up in telling stories about nursing that have nothing to do with you or the job. Remember to keep things relevant and concise.

Your answer should be positive and you should use a personal experience to help you answer and tell a story. Here are some more tips to keep in mind when answering this question:

Be positive. Nothing will concern an interviewer more if you are cynical and negative in an interview where the job requires a strong sense of empathy and selflessness. This does not mean you can’t, nor should, ignore the challenges of the profession. If you can reframe these difficulties with a positive mindset and a “can do” attitude, you will strengthen your impact in the interview.

Be concise. A long-winded, rambling answer may give the impression that you have not considered the question ahead of time. That said, if you rush through your words, you may concern the interviewer as well. So, don’t be afraid to take breaths or have moments of silence, but choose your words carefully and effectively. Concise communication is a huge part of the nursing profession so here is an opportunity to highlight that skill.

Use personal experience. When answering the question “Why did you choose nursing as a career?” it can really help to bring in a personal touch to the response. This creates a unique answer that can help you stand out among other candidates. The personal experience may also reveal a moment of inspiration pointing towards why you chose nursing as a career.

Remember the job description. Use the skills required in the job description and apply them to yourself as you explain your interest in the field. Integrate them with care, you are not trying to restate your resume . Instead, consider how your skills have developed over time and how that relates to your interest in nursing. Remember, skills are developed through some kind of interest too.

Research the organization/department. Wherever you are applying to is going to have unique characteristics. Perhaps the organization focuses on low-income individuals or the elderly or intensive care patients. You may be able to bring this into your answer. Even if you do not, it is still good to give you context. By understanding where you’re applying to, you strengthen the explanation of why you are applying.

Practice your answer. Before the interview, practice this answer, preferably with someone else who can give you feedback such as a friend or family member. However, if you do not have that opportunity, practice in front of a mirror or, better yet, record yourself on your phone and listen back to what you said. In the end, you want to “train” for this question by giving yourself the opportunity to run through it a couple of times with the chance to tweak your response.

After the question “Why did you choose a nursing career?” there will most likely be follow-up questions. Here are some examples of other common interview questions and some tips on how to answer them. This will help you prepare yourself for the direction the interview may take.

What do you think is most difficult about being a nurse? Why?

Be aware of certain challenges of nursing ahead of time. Do some research . The worst thing you can do for yourself is be caught off guard by this question.

How are you at handling stress?

Consider what techniques you use for reducing stress. It is going to be important to show your competency. Consider answering in a way that reveals you to be a team player and aware of the stresses of your coworkers as well.

What are your long-term career goals?

The interviewer is going to be gauging your seriousness in becoming a nurse. It is not a profession that you can just “try-out”, so give an answer that shows sincere consideration for a long-term medical profession. Note: This does not necessarily tie you strictly to nursing. Many managers and hospital administrators come from nursing backgrounds.

Why do you want to work here?

Many interviewers will want to hear about not only your passion for nursing as a career but also how your passions align with their organization.

Look up the mission and vision of the facility before your interview and talk about how that resonates with you, or give an example of how you’ve seen them in action and want to be a part of that.

What drove your interest in this specialty?

Not every nurse fits well in every nursing role, so your interviewers will likely ask you why you want this particular job.

Whether this is the specialty you’ve always worked in or you’re trying something new, structure your answer similarly to your answer to the “Why do you want to be a nurse?” question.

Why would one want to be a nurse?

Many people want to be a nurse because it gives them an opportunity to help people in a meaningful way. Nurses not only perform specialized tasks that are vital to a person’s well-being, but they also get to emotionally support people who are going through an incredibly difficult time.

This can be as simple as being a calm, friendly presence or advocating for them with the rest of the medical staff, but it makes a huge impact on people’s lives.

In addition to this, many people choose to become nurses over another occupation that helps people because they love science and medicine or love the fast-paced, challenging work environment.

What is a good weakness to say in a nursing interview?

A good weakness to say in a nursing interview is a weakness that you’re actively working on. Whether your greatest weakness is that you’re too detailed with your paperwork or say yes to too many people and requests, always follow it up by explaining the steps you’re taking to overcome that weakness.

Hiring managers don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be self-aware and take the initiative to minimize the impact of your weak spots.

What are the 6 C’s of nursing?

The 6 C’s of nursing are care, compassion, communication, courage, and commitment. These are principles taught to many nurses to help them learn how to give excellent care to patients.

They also help to set cultural expectations at medical facilities, since all of the nurses are upheld to this standard, no matter what their educational background or specialty.

What are some common nursing interview questions?

Some common nursing interview questions include:

What skills do you think are important for nurses to possess?

Describe your experience as a nurse and what you’ve learned from it.

How would you manage an uncooperative patient?

How well do you thrive in a fast-paced environment?

There are so many nursing jobs out there and nurses are in high demand. You will want to know what you’re getting yourself into before you are asked at the interview what brings you to the field.

Knowledge is power, so knowing your response to “Why did you choose a nursing career?” is crucial for success. This is your moment to shine and show why you are the best candidate for the job.

Those who are able to answer with sincerity and empathy are the types of nurses all organizations will want. So get yourself ready and figure out ahead of time why you want to be a nurse.

Nightingale College – How To Ace Your Nursing Job Interview: Questions, Answers & Tips

The College of St. Scholastica – Why do you want to be a nurse? Students share their sentiments

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Conor McMahon is a writer for Zippia, with previous experience in the nonprofit, customer service and technical support industries. He has a degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University and in his free time he plays guitar with his friends. Conor enjoys creative writing between his work doing professional content creation and technical documentation.

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• Why Do You Want To Be A Nurse

• December 27, 2022

How to Write: Why I Want to Be a Nurse Essay

The Why I Want to Be a Nurse essay is one of the most common components on nursing school applications. There are tons of reasons to become a nurse, but yours are unique – a good nursing essay will stand out and be remembered by those who read it. In addition to general admission, this could even be your ticket to some scholarships for nursing school!

Let’s dive into how to write your Why I Want to Be a Nurse essay and get you into nursing school!

Planning Your Nursing Essay

Before you get into writing anything, you should always complete your pre-writing phase of brainstorming and planning for what you want to write about. Only then can you start considering your structure and details that you want to include.

Step 1: Brainstorm an event or a list of moments that began your interest in nursing.

If this is a lifelong dream, then maybe you can’t remember when you first became interested in nursing. But what moments have helped you continue down this path?

Some people may not have a specific healthcare related experience that inspired them to take this path. That’s okay! You can think broadly and consider times you were satisfied by helping someone with a task or volunteered.

Haven’t taken a writing class in a hot minute? Here are some effective strategies for brainstorming your ideas.

Step 2: Consider what you did to learn more about nursing.

Think about when you began researching nursing as a viable career option. What made nursing more appealing than a different career?

Step 3: Write down what made you decide to choose nursing as a career path.

If you can boil your reasoning down to a sentence or two, then that will be the thesis for your Why I Chose Nursing essay.

What to Include: Why I Want to Be a Nurse Essay

Introduction: your hook and story.

Your test scores and transcripts tell the story of your technical aptitude. But your essay is an opportunity to give your application an emotional route. What experiences have made you passionate about nursing? Have you cared for sick loved ones before? Are there nurses in your family?

Your introduction is where you’ll explain the stake that you have in this. You want the admissions team to understand that you belong in the program. Not just that you have the academic qualifications, but that you’ll be an asset to the entire nursing profession.

In kindergarten, there was an accident while my family was camping. A pot of boiling water tipped over onto my leg. The burns were so bad that I had to be airlifted to a regional hospital. I don’t remember much of the incident itself today, but I remember the nurses who helped me recover. They turned a frightening experience into something much kinder. I want to be able to give that to a child by working as a pediatric nurse.

Paragraph 1: Detail the event or moment you became interested in nursing.

This is a paragraph where you really want to reel the reader in. You’ve hooked them with the broad overview of your story: what sets you apart, why you’re so interested in the nursing profession. Now you can detail a specific moment.

Pick one moment and capture it in as much detail as you can. For example, maybe you remember waiting in a hospital for news about a loved one. Perhaps it was the kindness of a nurse who treated you. Or, in contrast, it was a time that a nurse wasn’t kind, and it made you want to do better for a patient in need.

Despite spending several weeks in the hospital, I didn’t immediately develop a desire to become a nurse. Growing up, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Then in my sophomore year of high school, my neighbor’s son got sick. He was about the same age as I had been when I was in the hospital. When I babysat him, we would swap hospital stories — the good and the bad! And suddenly it dawned on me that if I was a nurse, I could help make those bad stories a little less painful.

Paragraph 2-3: Show how you have used that experience to build your foundation towards nursing school.

Here is where you’ll take your personal experiences into account. Nursing school requires more than just empathy. You will need to have core science credits and an ability to understand the human body. The best nurses are adaptable in the workplace and always willing to learn. You can browse a list of skills nurses need to thrive in the workplace.

I spent a lot of time researching my neighbor’s son’s condition. Though his illness wasn’t terminal, it was degenerative. He began to lose his hearing a few months after his diagnosis. I joined his father in learning sign language to communicate better. During that time period, I spent a lot of time thinking about how so many people have to struggle so hard to communicate.

I want to be a nurse who can give relief to the most vulnerable patients. Every person’s needs are different. A child’s needs are different from a developmentally disabled adult’s, which are different from the needs of someone hard of hearing, and so forth. I’ve seen firsthand the frustration that occurs when communication isn’t easy. So I’ve focused on learning adaptable communication methods and educating myself about the groups that are most overlooked in hospital settings.

Paragraphs 4-5: Detail how you will use your strengths and skills in your nursing career.

This is the point at which you can start to talk about your specific skills, similar to a job interview. You want to highlight any particularly unique aspects, then make sure to solidly establish your core competency. A dream of becoming a nurse can’t just be a dream; you need detail to back it up.

If you know where you want to place your specific focus as a nurse, mention it! Talk about your career goals and how you want to work with your patients and what you hope to learn in doing so.

I think it’s so important for patients to have a nurse that listens to them, and that goes doubly for patients with communication struggles. During my career, I want to continue practicing and using ASL with my patients. I want to improve the quality of care for chronically ill people, especially because so many report anxiety around healthcare settings.

It’s also important to me to keep learning and adapting constantly. I never want to stop learning new skills and refreshing my knowledge. Understanding a patient’s vital signs and demeanor could mean the difference between life and death. In the high-pressure environment of nursing, I strive to have the answers to the questions my patients have – I’ll never stop seeking knowledge.

Conclusion: Reiterate your skills and qualifications, saying why they’d make you a great fit for the program.

The conclusion is fairly straightforward. You’ve provided your thesis: why you want to be a nurse. You’ve explained when the desire started, what experiences support it, and what you plan for the future. Now you just need to tie those things together in a neat summary. Remind the admissions team of why you’re a unique candidate to fit this role.

A long stay in the hospital as a child doesn’t qualify me to be a nurse by itself. But that experience has laid the foundation for my desire to work in healthcare settings. There are a thousand careers that help people, but nursing is personal and dear to me. I want to make sure that any vulnerable patient has access to the care they need, and I can use my adaptability and communication skills to do that.

Related: Stay Organized for the School Year with These Nursing School Planners

Do’s and Don’t’s for Nursing School Essays

Do: Show that you care about people.

Illustrate that you want to help people and have compassion for their suffering. It helps to talk about specific people or groups of people that you care for.

Do: Explain the qualifications that will make you a good fit as a nurse.

Talk about your adaptability, your desire to learn, your interest in the healthcare field, your prior experience – anything that will serve you during your career.

Do: Tell admissions why you want to be a part of their program.

Find a unique aspect of the program to highlight, showing why you want to study there specifically. For example, maybe there’s a school that connects students to underserved rural areas and this is a mission that you are on board with. Spend some time researching the nursing program to be confident in what they offer.

Do: Ask someone to proofread.

You’ll miss typos in your work if you read it a thousand times, so ask for a fresh pair of eyes. It also helps to change the essay to a different font for editing. Here are some more tips to consider offering to your proofreader.

Don’t: Pay for a writing service.

Write your own paper. If you’re worried about your skills, have a peer take a look at your draft, rather than using someone else’s work.

Don’t: Make false claims.

Tell the truth about your motivations, goals, strengths, and driving factors. Don’t make up a backstory or pretend to have skills you don’t.

Don’t: Disregard instructions or criteria.

Pay careful attention to the essay prompt and the criteria. Sometimes you’re expected to answer in less than 300 words, or there are more specific prompts to follow.

Related: Can Nurses Have Tattoos?

Why I Want To Be a Nurse Essay – FAQ

What should i include in a short essay on why i want to be a nurse.

A short essay should still include the main points made here – a short story or introduction, why you became interested in nursing and how that experience has propelled you into nursing, and the skills and experience you will bring to the program.

Should I give more than one reason on why I want to be a nurse?

You should aim to stick with one or two main reasons why you chose nursing – too many reasons will lead to a less effective essay due to a difficulty in following along with your main points.

What do I do if I don’t have a personal story that inspired me to want to become a nurse?

Even if your inspiration is not specific to nursing, you should be ready to tie that into why it’s related to a nursing career. Focus on experiences that required interpersonal skills, great communication skills, or show care for others.

The Why I Want to Be a Nurse essay is your chance to stand out from the crowd. You can show your dedication, compassion, and willingness to learn all through being honest. Just make sure you have your essay proofread before you send it!

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Tips for Writing Your Nursing Program College Essays

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Giebien Na in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

The importance of your college essays, general advice for writing your nursing essays.

If you know you want to be a nurse, you probably have quite a few reasons for that. Instead of merely relying on your academic and test performances to tell your story, you get the opportunity in your essays to share exactly why you’re so passionate about nursing. Writing about this can be a clarifying and even exciting process. This article explains why college application essays matter and how you should write about why you want to become a nurse.

Grades and test scores matter when you’re applying to college, but your essays can help improve your chances of admission. They’re how you can express your experiences and make your desire to become a nurse clear and personal.

If your prospective school doesn’t have supplemental essays, it’s a good idea to include your interest in nursing in your Common App essay . This could mean that you end up with two different drafts of the essay: one for if there are supplemental essays where you can discuss your interests in nursing and one for if there are not. You’ll change them out depending on whether you also have to respond to specific prompts about why you want to pursue nursing. This may not sound like much fun, but it will help you be admitted to your school of choice.

It might seem exciting to apply to a place where you don’t have to write extra essays—it’s less work! If you don’t do that additional work, though, you’ll have fewer chances to explain yourself. You might not be able to share exactly why you think that you’re the right fit for a certain college or program. 

If you are writing supplemental essays for the colleges that you’re interested in, you can include more details about your passion for nursing. You’ll often be asked, “why this major?” or “why this school?” When you have those opportunities to share your specific reasons, you can let yourself get personal and go deep into your passion. Use that space to share important details about who you are.

Start Broad

When writing essays entirely about why you want to pursue nursing , try to start from a broad interest, then slowly work your way to telling specific personal stories and goals. 

When first thinking about your general interest in nursing, ask yourself what attracts you to the work of being a nurse. This can lead to powerful potential responses. Maybe you like taking care of people in the community. Perhaps you’ve always known that you wanted to make a difference in the healthcare profession, but you don’t want to be a doctor. You’d rather make patients’ healthcare experiences as comfortable and pleasant as possible. 

After you’ve described these broad, overarching motivations for wanting to go into nursing, consider any personal experiences that have made you want to be a nurse. Think about moments you’ve had during hospital visits or checkups or an anecdote from a time that you decided to volunteer in a healthcare role. Once you’ve written these stories, you can end the essay by discussing your planned major and career goals.

Discuss Your Future Goals

If you know what your end goal is, be sure to include it. You can write about becoming a registered nurse or maybe a nurse practitioner. It doesn’t have to be set in stone , but sharing a final ambition can help anchor your personal narrative. Writing about the future that you want can help the admissions officer reading your essay see how you view yourself. If they can do this, they’ll better understand your values and motivations and see you as a real candidate for their school. 

You don’t have to follow this pattern exactly. For example, it can be powerful to begin your essay in the middle of the action—you can dive right into an anecdote and get the reader interested in your story from the jump. 

While you should avoid dramatization, starting with a few clear, memorable scenes or a line or two of dialogue can make for an instantly interesting essay. All of this helps you show your passion, rather than simply explaining what intrigues you about a nursing career. 

Once you’ve led with your narrative, though, remember to ground it in clear reasons for your intended career and what you want your future to look like. A good essay will be balanced between the past, present, and future. It’s how a college will see who you are and everything that you have to offer.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Why Do You Want To Be a Nurse? 15 Reasons to Choose a Career in Nursing

If you’ve started submitting applications to nursing schools or told people that you want to be a nurse, you’re probably hearing the question, “Why do you want to be a nurse?” a lot.  

To be honest, it’s a fair question, and each person has their own reasons for wanting to become a nurse. If you’re reading this blog post and wondering if a nursing career is for you, here are the 15 top reasons to choose a career in nursing .

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Why Do You Want to Be a Nurse? 15 Reasons

Becoming a nurse is a great career choice with many advantages, including plenty of opportunities for growth and development. Here are the top 15 reasons why you should consider a career in nursing:

1. High Demand for Nurses

Nursing is an increasingly relevant and sought-after career path in today's world. With the aging population, there’s an increasing demand for nursing professionals due to the increased need for both medical and assisted living services. 

On top of this, a shortage of physicians has also increased the demand for primary care providers putting nurse practitioners in much higher demand as well.

2. Ability to Start Working Fast

Nursing is an amazing career choice for many reasons, one of them being that you don't necessarily need an extensive education in order to get started. 

Becoming a CNA or LPN only requires a 1-2 year associate degree and the starting pay is decent too. 

Even if your goal is to become an RN, there are now accelerated BSN programs available at most universities that offer nurses the opportunity to obtain their Bachelor of Science degree in nursing (BSN) quickly so they can begin their careers. 

And most of these programs can be completed online (except for some lab and/or clinical components).

3. Great Pay and Benefits

Another awesome advantage of being a nurse is that most nurses earn a really good salary and have excellent benefits. Although nursing salaries vary widely from state to state, the median annual registered nurse salary in 2022 was $81,220, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Licensed practical nurses earn an average salary of $94,538 a year in 2023 , according to Glassdoor.com.

Nurses also receive a number of benefits that can’t be found in other occupations, such as access to excellent health insurance options, retirement savings plans, flexible hours or shifts, paid vacation time, and even educational assistance programs that can help make continuing your education more affordable. 

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4. Incentives to Work in Many Different Areas

Besides a great salary and benefits, nurses are also offered special incentives such as higher pay, relocation assistance, hefty sign-on bonuses, and nursing tuition reimbursement to work in high-need areas. 

And there are many places offering these incentives for nurses, from busy urban medical centers to under-served rural and remote communities.

5. Job Security

When it comes to job security, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a job that is more secure and in higher demand. 

Currently, there is a nursing shortage , and this shortage is expected to increase over the next decade due to the aging population of Baby Boomers and a growing need for healthcare services related to chronic conditions like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

6. Professional Respect 

An important part of having a great career is knowing that you’re respected for your skills and the work you do. And when it comes to respect and trust, there is no one more trusted than nurses. 

For the last 20 years, Gallup has found that the public ranks nurses the highest in terms of their honesty and ethics of any occupation or profession, even higher than physicians. Nursing is an incredible career choice due to the tremendous respect you receive from patients, family, peers, and other medical professionals. 

7. Growing Opportunity for Flexible Scheduling

Another important factor when it comes to having a great job and career is a flexible schedule. In fact, a whopping 9 out of 10 employees surveyed said offering flexible scheduling is one of the most important things employers can do to retain employees. And 47.8% said a flexible schedule is even more important than salary.

With an ever-growing demand for healthcare professionals, employers are placing greater emphasis on accommodating remote workers or those who are interested in part-time work. 

In addition to regular hospital or clinic settings, nurses can now take advantage of more per-diem nursing opportunities that fit into their busy lives as well. 

This opens up the field to those who don’t have the necessary time to commit to a full-time nursing position while still allowing them to contribute meaningful work. 

8. Opportunity for Student Loan Forgiveness

Going to school costs a lot of money, even if you go the community college route. Tuition, books, transportation, nursing uniforms and equipment, accommodation, meals, healthcare expenses—the list goes on of the expenses a student has. However, the good news is, many nurses may be eligible for student loan forgiveness programs for nurses . 

9. Job Options Across Various Fields

Unlike many other professional fields, nursing offers a huge amount of variety in terms of the type of work you can do and the types of settings you can work in. 

If you’d like to work with kids, you can be a school nurse , a pediatric nurse , or work in a PICU with sick children. 

Prefer to work with people of all ages for even more variety? Then you can work in a community clinic, emergency department, or as a home care nurse .

And if you have the travel bug and want more adventure, you can be a travel nurse and work almost anywhere you can imagine from large cities to extremely remote locations once you gain some initial nursing experience.

10. Opportunities for Career Advancement

If you’re wondering about opportunities for career advancement, nursing is an excellent career choice for that as well. 

As a nurse, there are many ways to work your way up the career ladder through advanced education in Master’s in Nursing and DNP programs. 

These programs prepare you to specialize as a nurse—which means a nice boost in salary (usually into the 6-figure category)—and often more autonomy. 

And the good news is, there’s high demand for nurse practitioners in a number of different specialties. There are also career paths for nurses who want to pursue healthcare or nursing management, nursing informatics , research or teaching as well.

11. Ability to Make a Difference

If you want a career where you can help people and change their lives, nursing definitely fits the bill. In fact, nursing is an incredibly rewarding career choice because you have the privilege of supporting people when they need your help the most. 

As an example, a nurse may help bring a life into the world for new parents or assist someone in managing a chronic condition who would otherwise be lost without a nurse’s teaching and expertise. 

In the eyes of those they help, nurses truly are everyday heroes.

12. Transferable Skill Set 

The nursing profession is highly marketable and transferable. So those entering the field can expect their experience and training to be valuable from job to job. 

For example, the fundamental medical knowledge and expertise that goes hand-in-hand with being a nurse applies no matter where you go or work. 

Although certain local regulations, technology, and even cultural norms may have slight variations, having a background as a nurse will still apply no matter where you go.

13. Opportunity for Entrepreneurship

The dream of owning your own business is also a real possibility when you become a nurse. Whether it’s starting your own private practice as a nurse practitioner or consultant, publishing medical research, freelance writing, launching a medical-based app or blog, or developing a new medical product, nurses can capitalize on their expertise and hard work by starting their own company.

Ownership over your career and the ability to create lasting change makes nursing an extremely attractive option for those seeking more than a traditional employment position.

14. Opportunity for Autonomy and Independence

One of the best aspects of nursing as a career is that it encourages autonomy and independence, allowing you to make many decisions on your own. 

This is because nurses are given various levels of responsibility depending on their experience and skill level. As a result, this makes nursing an ideal job for those looking for autonomy and independence while still having access to support from their peers, supervisors, and managers. 

15. Highly Satisfying Career

Last but not least, nursing is an extremely satisfying career. Despite how difficult the recent pandemic was for nurses, a 2021 career satisfaction survey of 10,788 nurses (including LPNs, RNs, and NPs) found that more than 90% of the nurses surveyed said they were “glad they chose” to be a nurse.

As you can see, there are many great reasons to choose a career in nursing. So what are you waiting for? Jump online and start applying today!

Leona Werezak BSN, MN, RN is the Director of Business Development at NCLEX Education. She began her nursing career in a small rural hospital in northern Canada where she worked as a new staff nurse doing everything from helping deliver babies to medevacing critically ill patients. Learning much from her patients and colleagues at the bedside for 15 years, she also taught in baccalaureate nursing programs for almost 20 years as a nursing adjunct faculty member (yes! Some of those years she did both!). As a freelance writer online, she writes content for nursing schools and colleges, healthcare and medical businesses, as well as various nursing sites.

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Why I Want to Be a Nurse Essay

In a world where chaos and uncertainty often reign, there's a tribe of unsung heroes who wear their capes not around their necks but around their hearts: nurses. Why do I want to join this league of extraordinary caregivers?

Well, it's not just about fancy medical gear or a stable paycheck (though those are nice bonuses). No, for us, becoming a nurse is about being there for someone when they're at their lowest, about lending a hand and a listening ear when life throws its curveballs. It's about making a career of turning empathy into action and making a real, tangible impact on the world, one patient at a time.

So, grab your scrubs and stethoscopes, folks, because this is the story of why you’re itching to dive headfirst into the chaotic, beautiful nursing profession.

Essential Elements of a Nursing Essay

Follow these steps to produce a standout nursing essay that can bolster your chances of gaining admission to nursing school or securing your first career opportunity in the field:

Heartfelt Narratives

Heartfelt narratives are personal stories that provide insight into your journey, motivations, and nursing-related experiences.

These nursing essay narratives humanize your essay, allowing readers to connect with you emotionally. By sharing moments of triumph, challenges overcome, and meaningful interactions with patients, you demonstrate your passion for nursing and your capacity for empathy and understanding.

Heartfelt narratives also showcase your ability to critically reflect on your career experiences, which is essential for the nursing profession as it fosters self-awareness and continuous learning.

"In the dimly lit hospital room, amidst the steady hum of machinery, I met Maria – a frail yet resilient soul whose eyes sparkled with a mixture of pain and gratitude. As I held her hand and listened to her whispered fears, I realized that nursing was more than just a career – it was a calling to bear witness to the raw, unfiltered emotions that define our shared humanity."

"From the bustling emergency department to the serene corridors of the hospice ward, each shift as a nursing student has been a tapestry woven with threads of courage, compassion, and camaraderie. One particular night stands out in my memory: a young boy, his face contorted in agony, clutching his mother's hand as she whispered words of comfort. In that moment, I understood that the essence of nursing lay not in the procedures we perform but in the connections we forge with those in need."

Visual Metaphors

Visual metaphors use imagery and symbolism to convey complex nursing-related ideas or emotions. They add depth and richness to your essay, engaging readers' senses and imagination.

Visual metaphors make your writing more vivid and memorable by comparing abstract concepts to concrete objects or career experiences. For example, likening the collaboration among a nurse practitioner and other medical specialists to a symphony orchestra highlights the importance of teamwork and coordination in nursing practice.

Visual metaphors appeal to intellect and emotions, making them a powerful tool for effectively communicating your message. Our experts who render the nursing essay writing service also use such an approach to fulfilling assignments, so you should do it, too.

"Like a lighthouse amidst a stormy sea, nurses stand as beacons of hope, guiding patients through the darkest nights of illness and uncertainty. With each gentle touch and reassuring smile, they illuminate the path to healing, their compassion casting ripples of warmth that transcend the cold confines of hospital walls."

"In the crucible of the ICU, where vitality hangs in delicate balance, nurses emerge as alchemists of the human spirit, blending empathy, expertise, and unwavering dedication into a potion of healing. Their hands become brushes, painting strokes of comfort on the canvas of suffering, their words like colors infusing hope into the bleakest moments."

Patient Perspectives

Patient perspectives provide firsthand accounts of the healthcare career from the viewpoint of those receiving care. Including patient perspectives in your essay demonstrates your ability to empathize with others and consider diverse perspectives.

It also highlights the human side of once you become a nurse, emphasizing the importance of patient-centered care and nurses' impact on individuals' lives.

By sharing stories of patients you've encountered or insights gained from clinical experiences, you show your commitment to understanding and addressing the needs of those you'll serve as a nurse.

"As I lay in the hospital bed, my body wracked with pain, it was the gentle touch of Nurse Sarah that brought solace amidst the chaos. In her eyes, I saw not just a caregiver, but a guardian angel, whose presence infused the sterile environment with warmth and compassion. Through her attentive listening and unwavering support, she transformed my hospital stay from a harrowing ordeal into a journey of healing and hope."

"From the pediatric ward to the oncology unit, I've had the privilege of bearing witness to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Each patient I've encountered has left an indelible mark on my heart – a testament to the transformative power of empathy and connection. Through their stories of courage and perseverance, I've come to understand that nursing isn't just about treating illnesses; it's about honoring the inherent dignity and worth of every individual who crosses our path."

Theatrical Monologues

Cast aside traditional essays' conventions and embrace theatrical storytelling's power. Here, the nursing career stage is set not in lecture halls but in the corridors of hospitals, where the drama of vivacity and death unfolds with each passing moment.

Theatrical monologues use dramatic storytelling techniques to convey the thoughts, emotions, and experiences of individuals involved in the nursing profession. They bring your essay to life, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the world of nursing and experience its challenges and rewards firsthand.

Through dialogue and character development, you can compellingly and engagingly explore complex ethical dilemmas, interpersonal dynamics, and the emotional toll of caregiving after you become a nurse.

"In the hushed confines of the operating room, I stand poised at the precipice of life and death, my hands trembling with anticipation and fear. As I gaze into my patient's eyes, I see not just a name on a chart but a story – a tapestry of dreams, fears, and unspoken desires. With each incision, I am acutely aware of the weight of responsibility that rests upon my shoulders, knowing that my actions have the power to alter the course of a life forever."

"In the neonatal intensive care unit, time seems to stand still as I cradle a tiny infant in my arms, his fragile body a testament to the fragility of life. With each breath he takes, I am reminded of the miraculous nature of my profession – the ability to nurture and protect the most vulnerable among us. As I whisper words of comfort into his ear, I am keenly aware of the profound privilege and responsibility of being a nurse entrusted with the care of precious lives."

Artistic Expression

Artistic expression encompasses a variety of creative mediums, such as poetry, artwork, or multimedia elements, that allow you to communicate your ideas and emotions in unique and innovative ways.

Incorporating artistic expression into an essay helps a nursing student add depth, richness, and originality to their writing, capturing readers' attention and sparking their imagination.

It invites readers to engage with your career deeper, encouraging them to see nursing as both a science and an art, a profession and a passion.

"In the canvas of life, nurses are the brushstrokes that infuse color into the mundane, transforming moments of pain into portraits of resilience and hope. Through the lens of poetry, let us explore the beauty and complexity of the nursing profession, where every stanza is a testament to the power of compassion and healing."

"Through the lens of a camera, the world of nursing unfolds in a kaleidoscope of emotions and experiences. From the tender moments of connection between caregiver and patient to the frenetic energy of the emergency room, each snapshot captures a fragment of the larger tapestry of nursing. Join us as we embark on a visual journey that transcends words, inviting you to see the world of healthcare through a new lens."

Frequently asked questions

• 16 Reasons To Choose A Career In Nursing | NurseJournal.org. (n.d.). https://nursejournal.org/articles/reasons-to-choose-a-career-in-nursing/
• Ctxadmin. (2024, May 9). 10 Reasons to Become a Nurse. Concordia Texas Accelerated Bachelor’s in Nursing. https://absn.concordia.edu/blog/reasons-to-become-a-nurse/

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Essay Samples on Why I Want To Be A Nurse

Nursing statement: why i want to be a nurse professional.

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My Desire About Why I Want to Be a Nurse Practitioner

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Nursing Portfolio: Reasons Why I Chose Nursing

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Why I Want to Be a Neonatal Nurse

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Becoming A Children’s Nurse – The Right Path For Me

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My Desire To Become A Healthcare Professional

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Why Are You Pursuing A Nursing Career

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Best topics on Why I Want To Be A Nurse

1. Nursing Statement: Why I Want to Be a Nurse Professional

2. My Desire About Why I Want to Be a Nurse Practitioner

3. Career Goals: Why I Want To Be A Pediatric Nurse

4. Why Choose Nursing As A Career

5. Why I Want To Be A Nurse And My Future Plans

6. Nursing Portfolio: Reasons Why I Chose Nursing

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14. Why Are You Pursuing A Nursing Career

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Essay on Why I want to be Nurse

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In a world where career choices are often influenced by trends and financial prospects, aspiring to be a nurse is a testament to one’s dedication to service, empathy, and the betterment of society. Nursing is not just a profession; it’s a vocation that demands a unique blend of science and compassion, of technical skill and emotional support. This essay delves into the multifaceted reasons behind my aspiration to join the noble ranks of nursing.

A Calling Driven by Compassion

My desire to become a nurse stems primarily from a deep-rooted sense of compassion and empathy. Nurses are often the primary caregivers for patients, providing not just medical care but also emotional support. The ability to ease someone’s pain, to bring comfort in times of distress, and to be a beacon of hope during their most vulnerable moments is both a powerful motivator and a profound responsibility that I am eager to embrace.

Inspired by Personal Experiences

Like many, my choice is significantly influenced by personal experiences. Witnessing a family member battle a chronic illness and observing the relentless, compassionate care provided by nurses was a turning point. It was then that I realized the impact of nursing on patient recovery and the unwavering support they provide not just to the patient but to the entire family.

The Science and Art of Nursing

Nursing perfectly amalgamates my love for science with the art of caring. It offers a unique opportunity to apply scientific knowledge to improve patient health directly. Nurses must understand complex medical conditions, administer treatments, and use technology – all while considering the holistic well-being of the patient. This blend of science and human touch is what makes nursing an intellectually and emotionally fulfilling career.

Lifelong Learning and Versatility

Nursing is a field of continuous learning. The rapid advancements in medical science demand that nurses constantly update their knowledge and skills. This prospect of lifelong learning is incredibly appealing to me. Additionally, nursing is a versatile profession, offering various specialties – from pediatric to geriatric care, public health to critical care. This diversity means a career full of opportunities to grow, learn, and explore different aspects of healthcare.

The Impact on Public Health

Nurses play a crucial role in public health. They are educators and advocates for healthy living and disease prevention. My aspiration to be a nurse includes a commitment to contribute to public health, to educate communities, and to be a part of larger health initiatives. This role of nurses in shaping healthier societies is both empowering and inspiring.

Emotional Resilience and Personal Growth

Nursing is not without its challenges. It requires emotional resilience to cope with human suffering, ethical dilemmas, and high-pressure situations. I am drawn to this challenge as it aligns with my personal goal of continual emotional and professional growth. Developing the ability to stay composed and effective in challenging situations is a skill that transcends professional boundaries, shaping one’s character and life approach.

Advocacy and Patient Empowerment

Nurses are patient advocates. They ensure that the patient’s voice is heard and their rights are respected. This aspect of nursing, where one stands to empower and advocate for others, is particularly appealing to me. It is about being part of a system that upholds dignity, respect, and empathy at its core.

The Human Connection

At the heart of nursing is the human connection. It is about building trust and relationships, often in a short period. The ability to connect, understand, and comfort individuals from diverse backgrounds is a unique aspect of nursing that draws me to the profession. It’s not just about treating a disease; it’s about treating a person.

Preparing for the Future

In preparing for a career in nursing, I am aware of the need for a strong foundation in both the theoretical and practical aspects of healthcare. Pursuing nursing education is just the beginning. It involves not only mastering medical procedures and protocols but also developing soft skills like communication, empathy, and teamwork.

In conclusion, To be a nurse is to embark on a journey of endless learning, challenges, and profound personal and professional fulfillment. It is a path that demands dedication, compassion, and resilience. My aspiration to become a nurse is fueled by a desire to make a tangible difference in people’s lives, to be part of a profession that is at the forefront of healthcare, and to embrace the immense personal growth that comes with it. In a world where care is as vital as cure, nursing stands as a beacon of hope and humanity, a field I am eagerly looking forward to contributing to.

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Why I Want to Be a Nurse Essay

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Reflecting on my educational experiences, I have Adult Nursing is what I want to do. My interest in Adult Nursing grew and was recognized when doing a work placement at an elderly nursing home named Charlton Park Care Home. I later got an offer to take on a paid part-time...

Reflecting on my educational experiences, I have Adult Nursing is what I want to do. My interest in Adult Nursing grew and was recognized when doing a work placement at an elderly nursing home named Charlton Park Care Home. I later got an offer to take on a paid part-time job as a health care assistant in the dementia unit. The reason why I am interested to study nursing at university is the idea of supporting and giving back to the community on a larger scale. I want to be able to support others who are in need and are incapable to aid for themselves, Adult Nursing is an altruistic profession that I want to be a part of. It also allows me to work in numerous places, therefore, it introduces different work scenarios to experience throughout this career, which is what I am up for.

Throughout my academic years in college, I have learned how vital person-centered care and the 6c’s are in the Adult Nursing field. A prime example of the 6c’s is communication. This enhances morality and values to support adult patients during their care and the aftermath, for instance checking up on patients and ensuring they are persistent with doctor’s instructions and comprehensive care is provided. As well as to add that I have gained more understanding of the NHS how it started, how it works, and why it was put in place. At university, I am looking forward to studying how the body works, in terms of what to do and how to treat it, and using the same equipment you will find in a healthcare setting.

Whilst at the nursing home during my work experience, I really enjoyed taking part in creating activities for the residents and their families, communicating and taking care of them, and reassuring them if they feel anxious. The service users had different needs and conditions, and I have gained an understanding of how to equalize and adjust their individual needs and meet them which exhibits my use of initiative. That alone attracts me, even more, to take on adult nursing. I have learned how to work well in teams with other professionals and has made me increase the value of how significant it is to obey instructions given by the senior staff. It helped me to realize how important it is to reassure the service users and that is a vital skill to have as a nurse. I also took away from the experience what it is like to work, working according to time, routines to be followed ensuring that everything is set in advance, this helped me in terms of being organized and how important it is to be. These skills will help me in university too in terms of being on time for lectures, preparing and planning ahead of time, and more.

As part of my course, it required another work placement where I chose a primary school and worked with receptionists aged 4-5 years old. Although they are early years, what I have grasped from this experience can be interpreted and put into practice when working with adults. Skills and attributes such as: communicating and listening, patience, staying calm in an emergency, and dealing with challenging behavior. The idea of working under pressure is satisfying as it causes the best possible job to be fulfilled, whether it is reassuring a stressed patient or treating serious conditions. Again this is another reason why I want to be a nurse.

By becoming a nurse I look forward to supporting the NHS. By attending conferences held by other nurses from many different wards, I would hope to learn and benefit from these meetings as they would have an effective input towards the changing quality of patient care. When I have time to spare, I like going to the gym as it allows me to think, reflect and keep fit. Besides this, I enjoy taking part in singing in a choir at church. Going into Adult Nursing I know how difficult it can be and I am willing to embrace the challenge. Nurses have the ability to make choices and decisions that consider diverse support which is considered to individual needs. Choosing this career will help fill my ambitions of supporting individuals, caring for individuals, and understanding what nursing is all about.

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Nursing Profession: Why to Become a Nurse? Essay

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Nursing is a profession that has several significant advantages that motivate people to pursue it. Primarily, it is a field of education that allows people to build successful careers and gain the knowledge and skills to help others. Nurses have an excellent opportunity to get a high-quality education and to work in a decent environment. Furthermore, being a nurse allows people to fulfil their desire to help others and be of service to society in general. Therefore, I want to become a nurse because this profession will enable me to acquire significant knowledge and skills and realize my desire to help others.

Obtaining quality knowledge is one of the main reasons why I want to become a nurse. In this regard, access to a significant amount of evidence-based information for nursing students is vital (Daly & Jackson, 2020). Access to educational information and practice opportunities allows nurses to develop lifelong professional skills, which is a distinct advantage. In addition, the nurse’s professional development combines with the opportunity to help people in difficult situations. It is also essential to understand that nursing work involves several difficulties, including complex learning and stressful working experiences. Nevertheless, I consider these challenges insignificant since the desire to develop and help people allows me to ignore them. Overall, the contributions to society and individuals’ lives provide additional motivation to gain theoretical and practical knowledge.

People’s aspirations to become a nurse are based on the many benefits of this profession. Nursing is an appropriate choice for people who are eager to help others and ready to study and work hard for the greater well-being of society. The nursing profession also offers good educational and working conditions, which provides nurses with the opportunity for continuous professional development. Thus, the possibility of constant professional development and the potential to benefit society are the main reasons I want to become a nurse.

Daly, J., & Jackson, D. (2020). Contexts of Nursing : An introduction . Elsevier.

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• Nursing School

“Why Do You Want to Be a Nurse?” Nursing School Interview Question

Preparing your “Why do you want to be a nurse” answer for an interview is key. The question will always be asked in a nursing school interview, which is why you must strategically plan out your answer, and take some time to reflect on this difficult question.

Not everybody puts thought into the “why” behind this question. Some people seem to act entirely on instinct, but you can’t afford to do so with your career – your future. Not to mention the fact that you need to have a professional, snappy, and thoughtful response to any (and every) question brought forward in an admissions interview.

Some nursing school interview questions are a chore to get through, but with some careful consideration, the question of why will be so foundational that you’ll never regret having explored it. This isn’t just something you have to answer, this is a question you want – even need – to answer.

In this article, you will find different answer samples to the “Why do you want to be a nurse” question, how to find a personal answer unique to you, and how to structure your answer to create an amazing impression on the interview day. 

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Article Contents 10 min read

Why are you asked this question.

Having an answer to this question is more than important, it’s necessary. It’s necessary for your interview, but it’s also necessary for yourself.

Imagine being the interviewer for a moment and seeing a candidate who looks great on paper, with strong academic record, a great nursing school personal statement , good letters of reference, and a demonstrable track record of excellence all-around demonstrated in their nursing school application resume . But in the interview, that candidate responds with, “I don’t know,” to the question of why they are selecting the career that they are. The interviewer’s likeliest response? Complete dismissal. If this question isn’t answered properly, it will corrupt the entire interview, and possibly even destroy the application altogether.

That’s why they ask the question. Would you select a candidate who didn’t know why they were even applying to nursing?

Of course not. If you were generous, you’d take the candidate aside and advise them to take more time to think about their future.

Which presents another reason why you need to answer the question: you owe it to yourself. This is who you want to be, after all. Make sure you put some thought into it. What the interviewer is asking of you is to not just explain why you’re a good candidate, but why nursing is important to you. So the main thing is to put your connection to the profession on display.

This question really is for the admissions committee to understand whether you fit with this career path. Your “why” will demonstrate whether you will be a positive addition to this profession.

Before you start composing your answer to this question, it’s important to reflect on your own reasons for pursuing this career. There are thousands of potential reasons and each one is legitimate in its own way. We have compiled a list of suggestions that may help you pinpoint your own “why” behind your decision.

Patient Care

One of the most common reasons that nurses give for “why nursing?” is to care for patients. Nurses spend more time with patients than any other medical professionals . They spend close to twice as long with patients as personal visitors (more than friends and family) and almost three times as many minutes with patients as other medical staff (physicians, physician assistants, and medical students).

Directly caring for patients is the biggest part of nursing, and an excellent potential aspect of your answer to the question of “why” you want to be a nurse. If you love working with patients, it could be an ideal entry into your answer to this question.

\u201cHuman connection has always been important to me. Nursing is an opportunity for me to help people at their most vulnerable.\u201d  ","label":"Example statement","title":"Example statement"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

Heat of a Team

Nurses work together as a team to care for their patients. Although each nurse is assigned certain patients, they will help each other out. Being part of a team is exciting for a lot of people, and perhaps this is one aspect of the profession that excites you. Knowing that somebody has your back, and you have theirs, is a big plus in any career.

Not just part of a nursing team, healthcare requires many specialists across disciplines, and nurses are a part of that team.

\u201cI love working with other people and knowing that I\u2019m part of a work-family. Nurses come together to share their workload in a way that I find encouraging. I would love to be the kind of person who can be counted on by my colleagues, and who has a good support network as part of the job.\u201d ","label":"Example Statement","title":"Example Statement"}]" code="tab2" template="BlogArticle">

Physically, mentally, and emotionally, nursing is a challenge. The profession demands excellence and endurance from all aspects of life. Many people find challenges exciting and rewarding, and it might be beneficial to let an interviewer see that hardworking, never-back-down side to your character.

\u201cI am someone who rises to a challenge, who doesn\u2019t quit, and who won\u2019t back down from hardship. If I fail, I try again. I know that nursing is tough, but that toughness is something I admire in others and in the profession, and I think I would be ideally suited for a place where I can be challenged. ","label":"Example Statement","title":"Example Statement"}]" code="tab3" template="BlogArticle">

Constant Learning

You’re a curious mind who loves to experience new things? Nursing is perfect.

Nursing is a multi-facetted profession, and there is always more to learn and explore. Whether travel nursing, working with children, or with the elderly, you can find something (or everything) within the field.

One of the most interesting areas to learn is in pure medical knowledge. Nurses have to deal with many different areas of medical science, so the opportunities for educational growth are exponential.

Although less altruistic than some other answers, it can be beneficial to let an interviewer know that you will love a career in nursing for these rewarding aspects as well. 

\u201cLife is a journey, and an adventure, and nursing provides a place to be a kind of adventurer. There is so much this profession offers, so many different ways to learn and grow, and I look forward to a life of, not just helping people, but exploration.\u201d ","label":"Example Statement","title":"Example Statement"}]" code="tab4" template="BlogArticle">

Nursing exposes a person to a wide variety of medical experiences, and that can lead to excellent insights into the field at large and lead to other, perhaps unexpected, career paths.

There are a lot of growth opportunities within the nursing field. A nurse might strive to become a nurse practitioner – very similar to an R.N. or R.P.N., but with some powers granted and further responsibilities. They can diagnose illnesses, order tests, or give prescriptions, for example. It’s like a halfway point between nurse and doctor. If this is your ambition, do not hesitate to express that you want a career where you will be able to grow, learn, and advance as a professional!

Nurses may also explore other medical professions. While you may be hesitant to express your desire to go from nurse to doctor , you should know that these kinds of transitions are not rare. Nurses who transition to being physicians or other medical professional have a huge advantage in terms of experience and clinical knowledge! You should feel free to express your dedication and commitment to nursing, as well as your aspirations for other professional avenues. Whether you want to grow within nursing or beyond, admissions committees like applicants who show ambition.

\u201cI want to experience the medical field in its fullest, and I believe there is no better first step on that journey than nursing.\u201d ","label":"Example Statement","title":"Example Statement"}]" code="tab5" template="BlogArticle">

Want help preparing for your nursing school application and interview?

How to Plan Your Answer

All of the reasons we list above are good. But you need more than just a parroted reason. Reason without passion is just an excuse.

There is a deeper reason for entering this field. Use this question to display that depth and your passion for nursing.

The personal why is about how the profession connects with you. There was a point in your life when you knew you wanted this for yourself. Maybe a family member was a nurse? Maybe somebody you knew was hospitalized, but the nursing staff at their hospital made their recovery infinitely better. Maybe that person was you: sick or injured, your life and health, improved by the nurses who cared for you.

Start with a good, captivating opening statement. Make it short, to the point, and formulate it in such a way that you will set up the rest of your answer. A good attention-grabbing statement might be a cataclysmic life event, a profound quote, or a statement that generates intrigue. Think of the beginnings of your favorite books or films. They start with something that grabs attention (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” for instance). You want to ensnare an audience, not just say, “I always wanted to be a nurse.”

For example: “We were miles from help, cell phones dead or no bars, and blood was everywhere. I was holding onto my belt, pulling it tight enough to stop the flow, talking my friend back to a state of calmness, and hoping like heck that my lack of belt wouldn’t mean my pants would fall down imminently. I didn’t know it at the time, but being the calm one in a crisis, remembering my first aid knowledge, and making it through all that trauma was what would lead me to become a nurse.”

Keep to one or two main examples as to why you are pursuing nursing, show your connection to nursing beyond just, “it’s a job”, and throw in personal flair to accent your statement. Outlining one or two examples or reasons will allow you to include interesting details and expand on these reasons in more depth.

The personal connection is a good place to start. When did you realize you wanted to be a nurse? Why do you love it? Those catalyst points in your life that made you choose nursing are a great start.

A concluding statement – as short and punchy as your opening line – is the best way to wrap things up. You might let the interviewer know your career goals and how their program will help you get to where you want to go.

Make sure to keep your answer to 1 or 2 minutes long. You do not want to ramble on and on, thus losing the attention of your interviewers.

How to Practice Your “Why Do You Want to Be a Nurse?” Answer

Once you have an experience or two to focus on, spend some time thinking about how you want to present these talking points. Once you have an idea, start practicing. Remember, you do not want to memorize your answer, but you also want to have a clearly laid out format for your response. One of the worst things you can do is come to the interview unprepared, saying something like this, for example:

“I like helping people. I was once hurt and the nurses at the hospital helped me.”

That’s no good. Put effort, details, stories, and energy into the answer. This is the reason why you’re entering your next stage of life, so allow your excitement to shine through. Make a mini-story out of it.

It will help you a lot to practice your answer in mock interviews, making sure that your answer sounds natural, thorough, and professional.

“Why Do You Wat to Be a Nurse?” Sample Answer #1

“I have always needed to help people. As a kid, if my younger siblings got a scrape on the knee, I was right there with my mom, helping to bandage them up. I think I was just mostly in the way.

But that need to care and heal never went away. When I was older, I took first-aid classes and loved it. I loved learning how to help, knowing that if there was a problem I could be right there making things better.

The day that I knew specifically I wanted to be a nurse was after applying my first-aid knowledge directly. A friend of mine got hurt at school, slipped and had a bad fall down some stairs. I used my first-aid to keep them calm and check for any breaks or other issues before helping get them to the school nurse. While I was in the nurse's office, I felt like I was part of something already. Later, I spoke with the school nurse about my career path, and she was helpful, thoughtful, and encouraging.

Nursing is perfect for me. More than any other profession, nursing will give me an opportunity to care for people. It lets me do more than just give medicine, it connects me to people, and make a real difference in their lives.

That human element, making small differences day-to-day, and really helping people – all of that is deeply connected to who I am, who I want to be, and to nursing. Nursing and me are a perfect fit.”

“Nursing is a one-hundred percent career, and I am a one-hundred percent person.

Challenge is exciting to me. Rock climbing is a hobby of mine, and I love it because it’s active and requires commitment. I’ve always been passionate like that.

Another thing I’m deeply passionate about is going where I’m needed. I remember my aunt talking one time about being a nurse, and about the struggles that she and the other nurses went through. I remember her being really upset about it, but I also remember thinking, ‘Oh, they need people.’ And, as I said, I go where I’m needed.

From there I started learning as much as I could about nursing, taking elective classes in school, reading about the profession, and talking to my aunt about the job. The more I learned, the more I knew this was my path.

Nursing is a place where I can make a difference, be needed, and be challenged, and I am looking forward to all of that – one-hundred percent.”

The answer to this question is as personal as it is imperative. Really think about why you want to be a nurse above all else, and you’ll have your answer. Once you know the “why”, you might get thrashed a lot on your journey, but you will always have sight of your destination.

You also have the perfect answer for your interview. But with all that incredible insight into your life and who you want to be, that’s almost a by-product, isn’t it?

An in-depth answer, one that properly communicates your connection to nursing, is going to take up more than a couple sentences. Keep your answer to 1 or 2 minutes long.

No, and in fact, we strongly discourage memorization. Memorizing your answer comes off as disingenuous. Additionally, you run the risk of messing up your script and freezing in the middle of your answer. Instead, just focus on remembering your talking points.

Do plan out your answer carefully before your interview, practice it, but from that point on, just worry about holding the main points in your head. You don’t need to memorize the whole thing.

Everybody has a different approach to their writing processes, but one fast, fairly simple way to deal with writer’s block is to give yourself permission to take five minutes and free associate. You could use pen and paper, word processors, or record yourself talking aloud, but through whichever method you choose, just start getting out ideas about nursing and why you’re interested in it.

Another approach would be to think about the first time you considered nursing as a career and why. Those memories will give you excellent insight and a good starting place to plan your answer.

We recommend sticking to one or two events or reasons that led to your decision.

Since you don’t have time to get into every facet of every aspect of why you want to be a nurse, you’re going to want to stick to one or two primary reasons. You will weaken your statement if you have too many points.

To have a strong answer, you need to incorporate personal or professional events or experiences that led you to pursue nursing. Why did you decide to pursue this career? What interests you about it? What events took place to lead you to apply to nursing school? These events do not necessarily need to be related to nursing directly, but you can connect them to nursing. For example, maybe your volunteer or work experiences demonstrate exceptional communication and interpersonal skills? Whatever it is, make sure you can connect your passion for nursing, and your experiences in your answer.

Chronologically is probably clearest. It will let you, and the interviewer, track the story better.

Keep in mind classical story structure, with a beginning, middle, and end, and use that as a rough guide.

Just pause, take a breath, and remember the first thing your wanted to say. Since you’ll have practiced beforehand, the rest will come back to you. Since you’ve arranged your answer as a small story, the structure helps with remembering as well, and because you haven’t scripted anything, it doesn’t need to be exactly as you’ve rehearsed it.

You need to go back to your story and really look at it with a critical eye. Ask yourself if there are any details you’re including that aren’t really necessary. Try to weed it out.

What is extraneous to your story will pop out if you reconsider that story structure of beginning-middle-end. If you’ve started talking about a certain event in childhood that led to another event that led to your deciding to be a nurse, are you taking any digressions along the way? Including any anecdotes that, while nice, don’t support your main story?

If you’re having trouble sticking to two minutes, be ruthless in your editing.

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Why I deserve a nursing scholarship essay Example | Outline

Bob cardens.

• August 24, 2022

What You'll Learn

Why I deserve a nursing scholarship essay Example | Outline

Outline of the nursing scholarship essay, introduction, my background and why i am a good candidate for a nursing scholarship, why i want to be a nurse and how it would benefit my patients, my goals for becoming a nurse and how the nursing profession can help me meet them, how the nursing profession can help me develop as an individual and meet my future goals, why i deserve a nursing scholarship essay example.

I am writing this essay in order to prove that I deserve a nursing scholarship . Nursing has always been my passion, and I have dedicated my entire life to becoming a nurse . I believe that I have what it takes to be a great nurse and contribute to society in a positive way .

I have worked extremely hard to achieve the successes that I have, and I am confident that I can continue to do so as a nurse . My achievements include receiving scholarships for academic excellence and community service, being named a “rising star” by my hospital, and being part of the National Honor Society.

Nursing is an extremely challenging field , but I am determined to become the best nurse possible. My ultimate goal is to provide quality care for my patients and make a positive impact on their lives.

As you continue,  thestudycorp.com  has the top and most qualified writers to help write your nursing scholarship essay. All you need to do is place an order with us.

Not a nursing student here’s How To Write An Appealing Scholarship Essay [+ Examples & Outline]

Scholarship Essay Writing Services

My name is ____________ and I am a senior at ___________. I have been involved in extracurricular activities such as nursing and volunteering my time to different organizations since I was a child. My involvement in these activities has shaped me into the person I am today, and I believe that my skills and experiences make me the perfect candidate for a nursing scholarship .

First and foremost, I am a dedicated nurse. Throughout my years of involvement in this field, I have developed an innate understanding of how important it is to provide quality care to my patients . My experience has also taught me how to be organized and how to work efficiently under pressure. These skills are essential for a nurse , as they constantly face deadlines and stressful situations.

In addition to my dedication to the nursing field, I also possess strong leadership skills . Throughout my years of volunteering and working within various organizations, I have been responsible for directing others on multiple occasions. My ability to lead teams successfully is something that will be invaluable when working in a clinical setting as a nurse. Finally, I am deeply passionate about helping others and feel that nursing is the perfect profession for me to dedicate my career to. All of these qualities make me the perfect candidate for a nursing scholarship. I believe that my skills and experiences will be a valuable addition to any hospital or clinic , and I am eager to begin my career in this field.

I am a hard-working and motivated student who has always strived to accomplish the best I can. I have excelled in all areas of my academic career, including during my nursing studies . I have completed many challenging courses and have obtained numerous awards, scholarships, and accolades throughout my schooling. In addition to this, I have also contributed volunteer time and services to various organizations and communities . My goal has always been to make a positive impact on the people around me, and I believe that being a nurse is the perfect way to do that.

I am confident that with hard work and dedication, I can become a successful nurse and contribute greatly to the health of those in need . I believe that the Nursing Scholarship offered by my chosen nursing school is an excellent investment – one that will pay off both financially and emotionally for years to come.

As you continue,  thestudycorp.com  has the top and most qualified writers to help write your nursing scholarship essay. All you need to do is place an order with us. The above Why I deserve a nursing scholarship essay Example provides guidance on how to write a nursing scholarship essay.

I want to be a nurse because it would benefit my patients immensely. I have always been drawn to helping others, and being a nurse would allow me to do just that on a daily basis. Nurses are some of the most important people in the healthcare system , because they are responsible for keeping patients safe and healthy. They provide relief and comfort to those who are facing difficult times, and their work has a huge impact on the quality of life of those who rely on them. I know firsthand how important nurses are, and I am committed to giving the best care possible to my patients .

As a student, I know that I want to pursue a career in nursing. I have come to understand that the nursing profession can help me meet my goals and achieve success . Nursing offers a wide range of opportunities for growth and advancement, as well as an array of benefits that are important to me.

Nursing allows me to work with people who are in need and provide them with care and support. In addition, the nursing profession provides stability and security, which are important factors in my life. The environment at a nursing home or hospital is challenging, but I am confident that I can meet the challenges posed by this profession.

The nursing profession is growing rapidly and there are numerous opportunities available for those who are willing to pursue them. The field of nursing is changing rapidly, so today’s nurse has the opportunity to create her own path and be her own boss. I am excited about the prospects that the nursing profession offers me and I believe that it can help me achieve my goals.

Nursing is a profession that can help me develop as an individual and meet my future goals . It provides me with the opportunity to work with people, learn new things, and help others. It is also a fast-paced field that offers variety and challenges. I believe that nursing can help me grow as a person and make a positive impact in the world.

Nursing is an incredibly demanding and challenging profession, which is why so many students want to pursue a career in nursing . In order to be successful in this field, you need to demonstrate that you have the qualities that make a good nurse . One of the most important qualities is empathy — being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their situation. This essay was designed to show how well I meet the requirements for a nursing scholarship , and I hope that it has convinced you that I am deserving of this opportunity.

The above Why I deserve a nursing scholarship essay Example provides guidance on how to write a nursing scholarship essay.

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The Nursing Blog

Why i want to be a nurse: my personal journey and motivation.

Why do I want to be a nurse? This question has been at the forefront of my mind for as long as I can remember. The desire to pursue a career in nursing has been deeply ingrained in me, stemming from a combination of personal experiences and a genuine passion for helping others.

Throughout my life, I have been inspired by the incredible work of nurses who have cared for me and my loved ones during times of illness and vulnerability. Their compassion, dedication, and ability to make a difference in the lives of others have left a lasting impression on me. I want to be a part of that impact, to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when they need it the most.

Moreover, my own journey of personal growth and development has further solidified my decision to become a nurse. I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of healthcare professionals who not only treat physical ailments but also address the emotional and psychological needs of patients. This holistic approach to care resonates with me deeply, and I am motivated to contribute to the well-being of individuals in a comprehensive and meaningful way.

Early Inspirations

Early on in my life, I was fortunate enough to witness the incredible impact that nurses had on the lives of those around me. It was through these experiences that my interest in nursing was sparked and my passion for helping others was ignited.

One of my earliest inspirations came from my grandmother who was a nurse. I remember listening to her stories about the lives she touched and the difference she made in the lives of her patients. Her dedication and compassion left a lasting impression on me, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to follow in her footsteps.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a local hospital during my high school years. This experience allowed me to witness firsthand the incredible strength and resilience of patients, as well as the compassion and skill of the nurses who cared for them. Seeing the impact that nurses had on the lives of these individuals further solidified my desire to pursue a career in nursing.

Overcoming Challenges

On the journey to becoming a nurse, I have encountered numerous challenges that have tested my determination and resilience. From the demanding coursework to the emotional toll of working with patients in difficult situations, each obstacle has presented an opportunity for growth and learning.

One of the major challenges I faced was balancing my academic pursuits with my personal responsibilities. As a full-time student, I had to juggle coursework, clinical rotations, and part-time work to support myself financially. It required careful time management and sacrifice, but I remained committed to my goal of becoming a nurse.

Additionally, the emotional challenges of working with patients in distressing situations can be overwhelming. Witnessing the pain and suffering of others can take a toll on one’s mental well-being. However, I have learned to cope with these challenges by seeking support from my colleagues, practicing self-care, and reminding myself of the positive impact I can make in the lives of patients.

Through perseverance and determination, I have overcome these challenges and emerged stronger and more resilient. Each obstacle has reinforced my passion for nursing and my commitment to providing compassionate care to those in need. I am confident that these experiences have prepared me to face any future challenges that may come my way as a nurse.

Academic Pursuits

When it comes to pursuing a career in nursing, education plays a crucial role in shaping one’s path. For me, the journey towards becoming a nurse has been filled with both challenges and rewards.

My academic pursuits began with enrolling in a reputable nursing program, where I gained a solid foundation of knowledge and skills. However, the road to success was not without its obstacles. The rigorous coursework and demanding clinical rotations tested my resilience and dedication. Yet, with each challenge I faced, I grew stronger and more determined to achieve my goals.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my academic journey has been the opportunity to learn from experienced nursing professionals. Through hands-on training and mentorship, I have gained invaluable insights into the complexities of patient care and the importance of compassionate communication.

In addition to classroom learning, I have also engaged in extracurricular activities and participated in research projects to expand my knowledge and contribute to the field of nursing. These experiences have not only enhanced my academic growth but also allowed me to explore different areas of healthcare and develop a well-rounded perspective.

In conclusion, my academic pursuits in nursing have been challenging yet immensely rewarding. The knowledge and skills I have gained, combined with my passion for patient care, have solidified my commitment to this noble profession. I am excited to continue my educational journey and contribute to the healthcare field in meaningful ways.

Personal Growth and Development

Personal growth and development have played a significant role in shaping my decision to become a nurse and have had a profound impact on my approach to patient care. Throughout my life, I have encountered various experiences that have shaped my understanding of empathy, compassion, and the importance of providing holistic care to individuals in need.

One of the key personal experiences that influenced my decision to pursue a career in nursing was witnessing the care and support provided by nurses during a family member’s illness. Their dedication, kindness, and ability to make a difference in someone’s life left a lasting impression on me. It made me realize the immense impact that nurses have on patients and their families, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that impactful profession.

Furthermore, my personal growth journey has taught me the value of resilience, adaptability, and continuous learning. These qualities have not only helped me overcome personal challenges but have also prepared me to face the demands of the nursing profession. I believe that personal growth is an ongoing process, and as a nurse, I am committed to continually developing my skills, knowledge, and understanding of patient care to provide the best possible outcomes for those under my care.

Financial Considerations

When considering a career in nursing, it is important to address the financial considerations that come along with pursuing this profession. While the rewards of being a nurse are immeasurable, it is essential to understand the potential costs and sacrifices involved.

One of the main financial considerations is the cost of education. Nursing programs can be expensive, requiring tuition fees, textbooks, and other educational materials. Additionally, students may need to invest in uniforms, clinical equipment, and licensing exams. It is important to carefully plan and budget for these expenses to ensure a smooth educational journey.

Furthermore, pursuing a nursing career often requires sacrifices in terms of time and income. Nursing programs can be rigorous and demanding, requiring students to dedicate a significant amount of time to their studies and clinical rotations. This may result in reduced work hours or even the need to quit a job temporarily, impacting one’s income.

Despite these financial considerations, many individuals find that the personal and professional rewards of a nursing career far outweigh the costs. The opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families, the potential for career growth and advancement, and the job security that comes with being a nurse are all factors that make the financial sacrifices worthwhile.

Passion for Patient Care

As an aspiring nurse, my deep-seated passion lies in providing compassionate and quality care to patients. I believe that every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, especially during their most vulnerable moments. The impact I hope to make in my nursing career is to be a source of comfort and support for patients and their families.

I firmly believe that patient care goes beyond just administering medications or performing medical procedures. It is about building meaningful connections with patients, listening to their concerns, and understanding their unique needs. By taking the time to truly connect with patients on a personal level, I aim to create a safe and trusting environment where they feel valued and cared for.

To ensure that I am able to provide the highest level of care, I am committed to continuously improving my knowledge and skills. I plan to stay updated with the latest advancements in healthcare and participate in professional development opportunities. By staying informed and continuously learning, I can adapt to the ever-changing healthcare landscape and provide the best possible care to my patients.

Future Goals

As a passionate and driven individual, my aspirations and long-term goals as a nurse extend far beyond the boundaries of the present. I envision myself not only providing exceptional patient care but also specializing in a particular area of healthcare that aligns with my interests and expertise.

One of my primary goals is to become a specialist in pediatric nursing. I have always had a natural affinity for working with children, and I believe that by focusing on this specific area, I can make a significant impact on the lives of young patients and their families. The joy and satisfaction of helping children overcome health challenges and witnessing their resilience is immeasurable.

In addition to specializing in pediatric nursing, I am also passionate about contributing to healthcare policy and advocacy. I believe that by actively participating in shaping healthcare policies, I can advocate for improved patient outcomes and access to quality care for all individuals. Whether it’s through research, community engagement, or collaboration with policymakers, I am determined to make a difference on a broader scale.

Continued Learning and Growth

The author’s commitment to lifelong learning and professional development in the nursing field is unwavering. They understand the importance of staying updated with the latest advancements and best practices in healthcare. To achieve this, they have plans to pursue advanced certifications and degrees that will enhance their knowledge and skills.

One of the author’s goals is to specialize in a specific area of healthcare. They believe that by gaining expertise in a particular field, they can provide even better care to their patients. Whether it’s becoming a nurse practitioner, a nurse educator, or a nurse researcher, they are determined to expand their horizons and contribute to the advancement of nursing as a whole.

In addition to formal education, the author also recognizes the value of continuous learning through professional development programs, workshops, and conferences. They understand that staying engaged in the nursing community and networking with other professionals can provide valuable insights and opportunities for growth.

Ultimately, the author’s commitment to continued learning and growth is driven by their desire to provide the highest quality of care to their patients. They believe that by staying current and expanding their knowledge, they can make a significant impact on the lives of those they serve.

Making a Difference

Making a difference in the lives of patients and their families is at the core of my desire to become a nurse. I am driven by the opportunity to provide comfort and support during challenging times, and to make a meaningful impact on those who are in need of care.

As a nurse, I believe in the power of compassion and empathy. I understand that patients and their families are often facing difficult situations, whether it be a serious illness, a life-changing diagnosis, or a challenging recovery process. I want to be there for them, to offer a listening ear, a comforting touch, and a sense of reassurance that they are not alone.

Through my nursing career, I hope to bring a sense of calm and understanding to those I care for. I want to be a source of support, not only for the physical needs of patients, but also for their emotional and mental well-being. I aim to create a safe and nurturing environment where patients feel heard, valued, and respected.

By being able to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families, I believe that I can truly contribute to the healing process. It is a privilege to be able to provide comfort and support during challenging times, and I am committed to doing so with compassion, dedication, and a genuine desire to make a positive impact.

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Marlene J. Shockley

My name is Marlene J. Shockley, and I am a Registered Nurse (RN). I have always been interested in helping people and Nursing seemed like the perfect career for me. After completing my Nursing Degree, I worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, and home health care. I have also had the opportunity to work as a Travelling Nurse, which has allowed me to see different parts of the country and meet new people. No matter where I am working, I enjoy getting to know my patients and their families and helping them through whatever medical challenges they may be facing.

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Answering the What Questions to Get to Your Why

By: Melanie Perry, BSN, RN, CNOR, CSSM

Published: 8/6/2024

“Why?” This is an incredibly powerful question. It’s a question that causes us to think. It forces us to explore. And the answers we receive enable us to process the world around us. We ask the “why” questions in every facet of our lives, and if you’ve ever been around a small child, you know that they ask “why?” more often than we can really provide answers! 

But, Why? 

As a new OR nurse, I asked so many questions, and many of them started with, “But, why?” I needed to understand the why behind what we were doing so that I could better implement what we were doing. And I asked a lot of questions! 

In the beginning, I wasn’t really focused on anything other than getting through orientation; mastering the enormous amount of content that comes with being a perioperative nurse; and, honestly, just surviving each day (without embarrassing myself). There was so much to learn! 

But as time went by, and as my confidence and knowledge grew, I was able to focus more on the environment around me. I could take a step back and see perioperative nursing as something bigger than just a checklist of skills to be mastered.   

Eventually I could circulate or scrub a case on my own, and I found my voice to advocate for my patients. I finally understood the various surgical positions and why correct positioning mattered, and I could prep a surgical area without fear of making a mistake. I learned the charting system and understood the value of correct documentation. And I found that, even without thinking, I could calm an anxious patient and comfort a nervous parent. 

I realized that everything I did in the OR was contributing to the overall patient experience and to the high-quality, safe, and effective care that all of us hope to provide. The part I was playing was important and could positively affect the patient’s outcome. It was a recognition that it’s not just the operation itself that determines a positive outcome, but also the actions of each of us as the patient moves through the perioperative experience that contribute to those positive outcomes.  

An “Aha!” Moment 

This realization enabled me to answer the “why” question for myself. I was able to move past the checklists and the skills mastery and search for the real reasons that motivated me. First, I asked myself, “Why do I work in the OR?” But to answer that question, I also had to answer two additional questions: 

“What is my purpose in the OR?” 

“What is my motivation for working in the OR?” 

The answers to the what questions ultimately enabled me to answer the why question for myself.  

Two Whats and a Why 

To me, working in the OR is about more than just getting cases finished, stocking cabinets, clocking in and out, and drawing a paycheck. Of course, I enjoy a well-stocked room, cases that get finished on time, and my paycheck. But while I enjoy these things, they don’t feed my soul. They don’t speak to my purpose and motivation for working in the OR.  

Surgery is a vulnerable experience for every patient, and they depend on us to care for them, to advocate for them, to be their voice when they don’t have one, and to return them safely to their loved ones when their procedure is finished. This is a responsibility that I don’t take lightly, and it guides my practice in the operating room. My understanding and acceptance of this responsibility motivates me. 

I find my purpose in the knowledge that I am making a difference. I want every patient I interact with to have a positive experience, from the time I first meet them until the time that I hand off care to a nurse in the recovery room. I don’t ever want a patient to feel like they are alone, they’re not heard, or they aren’t safe.  

Knowing my purpose and my motivation enables me to answer the question: Why do I work in the OR? I work in the OR because the care that I provide makes a difference in the lives of my patients and in their surgical outcomes. I work in the OR because caring for surgical patients feeds my soul. I work in the OR because I find purpose, motivation, and value in being the patient’s advocate, in being their voice, and in being the voice of comfort when they’re anxious or afraid. This is why I work in the OR. This is my why.  

Finding Your Why 

As you’re adjusting to working in Perioperative Services and learning everything you can about perioperative care, you can get lost in the checklists, skills mastery, and the general overwhelm of the orientation process. But I would encourage you to take a step back, and ask yourself the same questions: 

Why do I want to work in the OR? 

What is my purpose? 

What is my motivation? 

Honestly, your answers might be different from mine, and that’s ok. Everyone has a different purpose and motivation. Your why will be unique to you. You might even find that your answers to these questions change over time. But at the end of the day, it’s your why that will see you through when the days are long and the cases are hard. Knowing your why will make the hard days bearable and the easy days enjoyable. 

So, take some time to reflect and discover what it is that motivates you. Dig deep and find your purpose. And answer this question for yourself, “Why do I work I the OR?” You’ll be surprised at how your perspective will change when you find your why. 

AORN Resources 

Open access:.

Finding My Calling: 32 Years of Passion and Purpose in the Operating Room

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What you should know about Gov. Tim Walz’s record in office, as he joins presidential ticket

Democratic presidential nominee kamala harris selected minnesota gov. tim walz to be her running mate on tuesday. here’s what you need to know about walz’s time in office..

By Ryan Faircloth & Briana Bierschbach

Star Tribune

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz could become the next vice president of the United States after Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picked him to be her running mate on Tuesday.

The DFL governor will join Harris on a battleground state tour this week. Walz had been an effective messenger for Democrats prior to being selected as Harris’ running mate, slamming Republicans such as former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance, as “weird people” and going viral in the process .

Walz’s journey to this moment has spanned decades. The 60-year-old was a soldier and public school teacher before being elected to Congress and later the governor’s office. His tenure as governor has had its highs and lows, from his criticized handling of the Minneapolis riots to a historically productive legislative session.

Here’s a look at his life and career:

From Nebraska to Mankato

Born in a small town in rural Nebraska, Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard when he was 17. He lost his father, a school administrator, to cancer two years later, a pivotal moment that saddled his mother with medical debt and fueled Walz’s views on health care access years later.

Walz graduated with a social science degree from Chadron State College in 1989 and spent a year teaching in China before returning full time to the Army. He was deployed overseas on active duty for months — although he never saw combat — and rose to the rank of command sergeant major before retiring from the military in 2005.

While teaching, Walz met his future wife, Gwen Whipple, a native Minnesotan. The two eventually moved to Mankato, where he taught and coached high school football and where they raised their two children, Hope and Gus.

In 2004, according to Walz, he and several of his students were blocked from entering a political rally for former President George W. Bush because a student was spotted with a John Kerry sticker. Despite having no political experience, a frustrated Walz signed up to help with Kerry’s campaign and decided to run for office.

Congressional career

First elected to Congress in 2006, Walz won re-election five times in southern Minnesota’s mostly rural, conservative First District.

He was the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to serve in the U.S. House and was named the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in 2017. In Washington, Walz focused on veterans’ issues such as mental health, suicide and pain management. He called for funding to research medical cannabis treatment for veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain.

The Democrat had a flair for bipartisanship in Congress: More than half of the bills he co-sponsored between 2015-2017 were introduced by non-Democrats. The legislative site GovTrack ranked Walz as the ninth most bipartisan congressmember in 2016.

Related Coverage

Walz once earned an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, even earning the group’s endorsement. He later denounced the NRA and supported gun-control measures, such as an assault weapons ban .

In a similar shift, Walz voted in Congress for tighter vetting of refugees but said during his run for governor that he regretted it.

Pandemic response

Walz had been in the governor’s office a little over a year when COVID-19 hit in 2020. He had some early successes, including negotiating a two-year budget deal with a divided Legislature, but there was no playbook on how to handle a global pandemic.

He took sweeping executive actions to slow the spread of the virus, issuing a stay-at-home order and mask mandates and shuttering businesses and schools. During a global testing shortage in 2020, Walz announced a “moon shot” proposal for 5,000 daily COVID-19 diagnostic tests in Minnesota, harnessing the testing capacity of the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic.

Republicans were critical of the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and said Walz harmed schools and businesses through his shutdown orders. They felt cut out of the response to the pandemic and tried several times to undo his executive powers. His administration was sued over some of his orders, though Walz prevailed in most of the legal challenges.

Minneapolis riots

After the police murder of George Floyd, Minneapolis was engulfed by widespread protests, looting, vandalism and arson.

Law enforcement defenses were overwhelmed by the sprawling chaos, prompting neighbors to guard their own streets. Minneapolis police evacuated their Third Precinct building and then it was set ablaze. The Minnesota National Guard was ready for deployment that morning, but soldiers wouldn’t arrive to the area of the precinct until hours after it had been torched.

A National Guard Bureau spokesman said Walz was in charge of the deployment timeline.

After the precinct burned, Walz blasted the city of Minneapolis’ riot response as an “abject failure.” A spokesman for Walz said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey didn’t provide adequate information to give the Guard a mission.

Months after the riots, Frey came out and said Walz didn’t take his requests for assistance seriously until it was too late. Frey said Walz hesitated to send in the Guard .

After-action assessments of the riot response found there was a breakdown in communication between government officials.

Historic 2023 session

Walz handily won re-election in 2022, despite intense criticism over his pandemic and riot response, and Democrats were propelled into narrow legislative majorities following the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Wielding their newfound power and a historic $17.5 billion budget surplus, the DFL trifecta passed billions of dollars in new funding for schools and infrastructure while checking off a long list of progressive priorities that had languished for decades.

The governor was front and center when he signed universal free school meals for students, a proposal adding abortion rights protections into law and restoring voting rights for the formerly incarcerated.

Democrats also set new climate goals, pushing Minnesota to have 100% clean electricity by 2040, while creating a statewide paid leave program, legalizing marijuana for adults, passing stricter gun laws, and giving unauthorized immigrants access to driver’s licenses .

Supporters likened the productive session to the Minnesota Miracle years of the early 1970s, when lawmakers overhauled the state government’s financing system to put more money into schools. Republicans criticized the session as highly partisan, lambasting Walz and Democrats for spending most of the surplus while raising some taxes.

Mistakes along the way

Walz and his administration have made a few high-profile missteps.

After Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana last year, Walz appointed a hemp shop owner to be the state’s top cannabis regulator. The next day, cannabis entrepreneur Erin DuPree stepped down from the role after the Star Tribune reported she had sold illegal products at her hemp shop and had federal tax liens and judgments against her.

Minnesota’s nonpartisan government watchdog the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) later found the governor’s office missed some standard background check steps before the appointment of DuPree.

There have been several critical audits of state agencies during Walz’s time in office, many of them involving cases of financial mismanagement. Republicans have accused Walz and his administration of not taking fraud and waste seriously enough. Walz has rejected such claims, and his office has noted the administration has made many changes to try to prevent fraud.

The most scathing report issued by the OLA was related to the state Department of Education’s oversight of the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, which is accused of orchestrating one of the nation’s largest pandemic frauds. Auditors found the Education Department “failed to act on warning signs,” and that the agency’s inadequate oversight of a federally funded meals program for children created opportunities for Feeding Our Future to steal $250 million.

Walz said the audit was a “fair critique” while defending state employees for their work during a crisis: “We can always do better. Again, context matters; it was a challenging time for everybody.”

Ryan Faircloth

Ryan Faircloth covers Minnesota politics and government for the Star Tribune.

Briana Bierschbach

Briana Bierschbach is a politics and government reporter for the Star Tribune.

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The Real Reason People Aren’t Having Kids

It’s a need that government subsidies and better family policy can’t necessarily address.

Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

The facts of the so-called fertility crisis are well publicized: Birth rates in the United States have been trending down for nearly two decades, and other wealthy countries are experiencing the same. Among those proposing solutions to reverse the trend, the conventional wisdom goes that if only the government were to offer more financial support to parents, birth rates would start ticking up again.

But what if that wisdom is wrong?

In 1960, American women had, on average, 3.6 children; in 2023, the total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman expects to have in her lifetime) was 1.62 , the lowest on record and well below the replacement rate of 2.1. Meanwhile, rates of childlessness are rising: In 2018, more than one in seven women aged 40 to 44 had no biological children, compared with one in 10 in 1976. And according to a new report from Pew Research Center , the share of American adults younger than 50 who say they are unlikely to ever have children rose 10 percentage points between 2018 and 2023, to 47 percent. In mainstream American discourse, explanations for these trends tend to focus on economic constraints: People are deciding not to have kids because of the high cost of child care, a lack of parental leave, and the wage penalty mothers face. Some policy makers (and concerned citizens) suggest that expensive government interventions could help change people’s minds.

But data from other parts of the world, including countries with generous family policies, suggest otherwise. Today, every OECD country except Israel has a below-replacement fertility rate, and the speed of the decline during the past decade has outpaced demographers’ expectations. In 2022, the average fertility rate of European Union countries was 1.46 ; in 2023, South Korea’s was 0.72 , the lowest in the world.

South Korea has spent more than $200 billion over the past 16 years on policies meant to boost fertility, including monthly stipends for parents, expanded parental leave, and subsidized prenatal care—yet its total fertility rate fell by 25 percent in that time. France spends a higher percentage of its GDP on family than any other OECD member country, but last year saw its lowest number of births since World War II . Even the Nordic countries , with their long-established welfare states, child-care guarantees, and policies of extended parental leave, are experiencing sharp fertility declines.

Policy shifts that make life easier and less expensive for parents are worthwhile in their own right. But so far, such improvements haven’t changed most countries’ low-fertility rates. This suggests the existence of another, under-discussed reason people aren’t having kids—one that, I have come to believe, has little to do with policy and everything to do with a deep but unquantifiable human need.

Read: To have or not have children

That need is for meaning . In trying to solve the fertility puzzle, thinkers have cited people’s concerns over finances, climate change, political instability, or even potential war. But in listening closely to people’s stories, I’ve detected a broader thread of uncertainty—about the value of life and a reason for being. Many in the current generation of young adults don’t seem totally convinced of their own purpose or the purpose of humanity at large, let alone that of a child. It may be that for many people, absent a clear sense of meaning, the perceived challenges of having children outweigh any subsidy the government might offer.

In his 1960s work on the economics of the family, the Nobel Prize–winning economist Gary Becker theorized that household decisions, including fertility choices, could be analyzed through an economic lens. More specifically, children could be analogized to goods, like a house or a car; the number that parents had was related to what they could afford in terms of time and money. By this logic, making the goods less expensive—expanding household budgets via subsidies, return-to-career guarantees, and other financial carrots—should be enough to push parents to have more kids.

Governments have generally hewed to this assumption when launching pronatal policies. But two new books exploring why people do or don’t have children—works that take wildly different approaches to the question—suggest that this method is flawed.

Read: Would you have a baby if you won the lottery?

In Hannah’s Children: The Women Quietly Defying the Birth Dearth , Catherine Ruth Pakaluk, an economist and a Catholic mother of eight, compiles interviews with 55 women from across the United States who have five or more children—hers is a qualitative study of Americans happily breaking from the low-birth-rate norm. Connecting the author and her unusual subjects (only about 5 percent of U.S. mothers have five or more kids) is a shared certainty that children are an unqualified good, and that raising them is an activity freighted with positive meaning.

Then there are those who are much less sure. In What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice , Anastasia Berg, an academic and editor at The Point , and Rachel Wiseman, an editor at the same magazine, engage literature, philosophy, and anti-natalist texts to wrestle with whether children are worth having at all. The decision is described as “paralyzing” and “anxiety-provoking,” to be approached with trepidation (even though the authors find individual clarity by the end). But their book echoes Pakaluk’s in one striking respect: Both works share the view that current political strategies for encouraging people to have children are lacking a crucial element. “As attractive as economics may be as a solution to the riddle of the growing ambivalence about having children, it is partial at best,” Berg and Wiseman write. Pakaluk observes, “Cash incentives and tax relief won’t persuade people to give up their lives. People will do that for God, for their families, and for their future children.” In other words, no amount of money or social support will inspire people to have children—not unless there is some deeper certainty that doing so makes sense.

In many quarters, that sort of certainty has become elusive. Indeed, Berg and Wiseman dwell on its opposite: anxiety about whether having children is good or whether it’s an imposition, a decision that might deprive a person of individual fulfillment or even make the world worse in the long run—by, for instance, contributing to climate change, overpopulation, or the continuation of regressive gender norms. “Becoming a parent,” they write, “can seem less like a transition and more like throwing yourself off a cliff.”

The authors touch on the standard narratives of why young people are delaying or forgoing children—financial anxiety, difficulty finding a partner, worries that having kids will be incompatible with their career—but these they describe as “externals,” borrowing a term from the family therapist and author Ann Davidman, not the core concern. One of their interviewees notes that if money were no object, she would be “at least neutral” on the subject of having a child, which is still some distance from positive. Instead, more existential worries emerge, pointing to a loss of stabilizing self-confidence among recent generations, or to the lack of an overarching framework (religious or otherwise) that might help guide people toward a “good” life. “The old frameworks, whatever they were, no longer seem to apply,” Berg and Wiseman write. “And the new ones provide us with hardly any answers at all.”

Read: The two ways to raise a country’s birth rate

The mothers whom Pakaluk profiles approach childbearing with far less ambiguity. As one told her, “I just have to trust that there’s a purpose to all of it.” Her interviewees’ lives are scaffolded by a sincere belief in providence, in which their religious faith often plays a major role. These mothers have confidence that their children can thrive without the finest things in life, that family members can help sustain one another, and that financial and other strains can be trusted to work themselves out. And although the obvious concerns are present—women describe worries about preserving their physical health, professional standing, and identity—they aren’t determinative. Ann, a mother of six, tells Pakaluk that she doesn’t feel “obliged” to have a large family but that she sees “additional children as a greater blessing than travel, than career … I hope we still get to do some of those things, but I think this is more important. Or a greater good.”

It’s a deceptively simple claim—and reinforces the notion that if people are going to have children, they need more than a hunch that human life is valuable. “It is not just the possibility of goodness but its actuality that fuels our deepest longing to ensure a human future,” Berg and Wiseman propose. And yet, we live in a time when even those who are certain about having kids are sometimes treated with skepticism. To proclaim that parenthood could be a positive experience is, in some circles, slightly gauche . “To assert the goodness of one’s own life,” the authors write, “is to risk coming across as privileged, or just hopelessly naive.”

Contrast that with the attitude of Hannah, a mother of seven who tells Pakaluk that each new child “brings benefit to the family and to the world.” She and the other mothers exemplify what happens when meaning is deeply internalized: Many children tend to result—and, according to these women, bring joy with them.

Of course, joy is a hard thing for any policy to promise. Government agencies rely on stats—income, years, “productivity”—to make the case for interventions, and tend to overlook the unmeasurable. Intangible incentives such as purpose, belonging, and love don’t always seem rational. As Robert F. Kennedy put it in a 1968 speech at the University of Kansas, delivered less than three months before he was assassinated: “The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play … It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”

Kennedy was, essentially, urging Americans to pursue meaning, suggesting that only by doing so would they have the fortitude to fight despair. But “meaning” is not something governments can easily provide; it tends to stem from uniting in the face of undesirable crises (wars, pandemics) or from the sorts of broadly enforced norms (religious, cultural) that many no longer share. (This could be a clue as to why Israel has bucked the low-birth-rate trend: The religious edict to “be fruitful and multiply” is an accepted part of the national culture, and childbearing is viewed as a contribution to a collective goal.)

Politically, there’s very little upside—and often significant downside—in pointing to abstractions without easy solutions. If falling birth rates can be attributed to a loss of meaning, the question then becomes if there can be any government-based solution to fertility decline. People debating whether to have children seem to be seeking certainty that life is a good thing, that more life would thus be better, and that assistance, if needed, will arrive. Government policy can help with the last part. The first two assurances will most likely come only from another source.

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How to cite ChatGPT

Use discount code STYLEBLOG15 for 15% off APA Style print products with free shipping in the United States.

We, the APA Style team, are not robots. We can all pass a CAPTCHA test , and we know our roles in a Turing test . And, like so many nonrobot human beings this year, we’ve spent a fair amount of time reading, learning, and thinking about issues related to large language models, artificial intelligence (AI), AI-generated text, and specifically ChatGPT . We’ve also been gathering opinions and feedback about the use and citation of ChatGPT. Thank you to everyone who has contributed and shared ideas, opinions, research, and feedback.

In this post, I discuss situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript. We know instructors have differing opinions about how or even whether students should use ChatGPT, and we’ll be continuing to collect feedback about instructor and student questions. As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers. For more about guidelines and policies about student and author use of ChatGPT, see the last section of this post.

Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper

If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.

Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications , with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.

When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.

When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software

The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10). Although here we focus on ChatGPT, because these guidelines are based on the software template, they can be adapted to note the use of other large language models (e.g., Bard), algorithms, and similar software.

The reference and in-text citations for ChatGPT are formatted as follows:

• Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
• Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Let’s break that reference down and look at the four elements (author, date, title, and source):

Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.

Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.

Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.

The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.

Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.

Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).

Other questions about citing ChatGPT

You may have noticed the confidence with which ChatGPT described the ideas of brain lateralization and how the brain operates, without citing any sources. I asked for a list of sources to support those claims and ChatGPT provided five references—four of which I was able to find online. The fifth does not seem to be a real article; the digital object identifier given for that reference belongs to a different article, and I was not able to find any article with the authors, date, title, and source details that ChatGPT provided. Authors using ChatGPT or similar AI tools for research should consider making this scrutiny of the primary sources a standard process. If the sources are real, accurate, and relevant, it may be better to read those original sources to learn from that research and paraphrase or quote from those articles, as applicable, than to use the model’s interpretation of them.

We’ve also received a number of other questions about ChatGPT. Should students be allowed to use it? What guidelines should instructors create for students using AI? Does using AI-generated text constitute plagiarism? Should authors who use ChatGPT credit ChatGPT or OpenAI in their byline? What are the copyright implications ?

On these questions, researchers, editors, instructors, and others are actively debating and creating parameters and guidelines. Many of you have sent us feedback, and we encourage you to continue to do so in the comments below. We will also study the policies and procedures being established by instructors, publishers, and academic institutions, with a goal of creating guidelines that reflect the many real-world applications of AI-generated text.

For questions about manuscript byline credit, plagiarism, and related ChatGPT and AI topics, the APA Style team is seeking the recommendations of APA Journals editors. APA Style guidelines based on those recommendations will be posted on this blog and on the APA Style site later this year.

Update: APA Journals has published policies on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials .

We, the APA Style team humans, appreciate your patience as we navigate these unique challenges and new ways of thinking about how authors, researchers, and students learn, write, and work with new technologies.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

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Opinion David Wallace-Wells

Food as You Know It Is About to Change

Credit... Alma Haser

Supported by

By David Wallace-Wells

Opinion Writer

• July 28, 2024

This essay is part of What to Eat on a Burning Planet, a series exploring bold ideas to secure our food supply. Read more about this project in a note from Eliza Barclay, Opinion’s climate editor.

From the vantage of the American supermarket aisle, the modern food system looks like a kind of miracle. Everything has been carefully cultivated for taste and convenience — even those foods billed as organic or heirloom — and produce regarded as exotic luxuries just a few generations ago now seems more like staples, available on demand: avocados, mangoes, out-of-season blueberries imported from Uruguay.

But the supermarket is also increasingly a diorama of the fragility of a system — disrupted in recent years by the pandemic, conflict and, increasingly, climate change. What comes next? Almost certainly, more disruptions and more hazards, enough to remake the whole future of food.

The world as a whole is already facing what the Cornell agricultural economist Chris Barrett calls a “food polycrisis.” Over the past decade, he says, what had long been reliable global patterns of year-on-year improvements in hunger first stalled and then reversed. Rates of undernourishment have grown 21 percent since 2017. Agricultural yields are still growing, but not as quickly as they used to and not as quickly as demand is booming. Obesity has continued to rise, and the average micronutrient content of dozens of popular vegetables has continued to fall . The food system is contributing to the growing burden of diabetes and heart disease and to new spillovers of infectious diseases from animals to humans as well.

And then there are prices. Worldwide, wholesale food prices, adjusted for inflation, have grown about 50 percent since 1999, and those prices have also grown considerably more volatile, making not just markets but the whole agricultural Rube Goldberg network less reliable. Overall, American grocery prices have grown by almost 21 percen t since President Biden took office, a phenomenon central to the widespread perception that the cost of living has exploded on his watch. Between 2020 and 2023, the wholesale price of olive oil tripled ; the price of cocoa delivered to American ports jumped by even more in less than two years. The economist Isabella Weber has proposed maintaining the food equivalent of a strategic petroleum reserve, to buffer against shortages and ease inevitable bursts of market chaos.

Price spikes are like seismographs for the food system, registering much larger drama elsewhere — and sometimes suggesting more tectonic changes underway as well. More than three-quarters of the population of Africa, which has already surpassed one billion, cannot today afford a healthy diet; this is where most of our global population growth is expected to happen this century, and there has been little agricultural productivity growth there for 20 years. Over the same time period, there hasn’t been much growth in the United States either.

How climate change could transform yields of two major crops

Projected change in corn and wheat yields in 2050, based on an upper-middle scenario for global warming.

Change in crop yield in 2050

Corn production in 2050

Drought conditions have already led Mexico to import a record amount

of corn in recent years. Climate change could further decrease its yields.

China is the world’s second-largest

producer of corn, but yields are projected to decrease across most of the country.

Wheat production in 2050

Pakistan, where wheat accounts for nearly two-thirds

of all calories

consumed, could

see sharp declines.

The U.S., one of the largest exporters of wheat, could see increased yields, especially in more northern latitudes.

Drought conditions have already led Mexico to import a record amount of corn in recent years. Climate change could further decrease its yields.

Rising temperatures could make the highlands of Peru

a more productive area for corn.

Pakistan, where wheat accounts for nearly two-thirds of all calories consumed, could see sharp declines.

producer of corn,

but yields are

projected to decrease across most of the country.

consumed, could see sharp declines.

Sources: Jägermeyr et al. (2021) “ Climate Impacts on Global Agriculture Emerge Earlier in New Generation of Climate and Crop Models ,” Nature Food ; World Bank; U.S.D.A.

Note: Yields shown are for the SSP370 middle-upper warming scenario and are compared with a 1983-2013 baseline.

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My wife isn't 'just' a stepmom to my son. He sees her as his other mom.

• My wife has been in my son's life since he was 6 years old.
• She has taken on a parental role, stepping in whenever I need extra help.
• Even though she's his stepmom, my son considers her his other mom.

After Vice President Kamala Harris announced she was running for president, one criticism lobbed against her was that she is not a parent because she has never given birth to children. But she is the stepmother to her husband Doug Emhoff's two children.

Like Harris, my wife is a stepmother to my son.

I am no longer in a relationship with his father and have been in a new relationship for four years. My wife came into my son's life when he was 6 years old and quickly stepped into a parental role. It was a role she enthusiastically took on.

Although she didn't give birth to my son, my wife is absolutely his second mother.

My son and wife's relationship started friendly

My wife didn't immediately take an authoritative role or force him to treat her like a parent. At first, she was more like a grown-up friend — someone he knew he needed to respect, but someone who would take him on drives to get ice cream or let him pretend to drive her car while I was inside the grocery store.

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I was worried about parenting with another person all the time. As the primary parent, I wasn't used to dividing parenting duties . My wife was aware of that and always deferred to me as the primary parent.

But the bond between my son and my wife was instant. He had never met someone I was dating before, but he liked her immediately.

My wife has taken on more responsibility as a stepmom

Over the last four years, she's taken on more parental responsibility but never tried to act like she was more of a parent than myself or my son's father. She is a bonus mom, someone there to kiss him goodnight , help him with his homework, and love him unconditionally.

During the pandemic, my wife volunteered to take the lead in helping my son with virtual school so I could focus on work. She created a schedule for him, made him lunch, and ensured he kept up with assignments. When the playgrounds opened, she would take him to play, armed with a backpack full of whatever was needed.

I have gone on several overnight trips , leaving the two of them alone together. My son doesn't even call or text me when I'm gone because he's having so much fun hanging out with my wife. I never have to worry about him; I know my wife will make sure he takes a bath and goes to bed on time.

There are days when I will ask her to tag in and do the bedtime routine because I'm working or want a break, and she does it without question. My son knows that if he needs something, he doesn't have to come to me all the time.

Seeing my wife willingly step into a parental role with my son has strengthened our relationship. I knew I loved her almost immediately after we met, but seeing how my son responded to her made me more secure in my decision.

Sometimes, she still refers to him as mine, and I always remind her that she's his mom, too. We do everything as a team: school meetings, performances, birthday parties . Everyone knows us as his two moms, and there's no one else I could imagine doing this with.

My son now sees my wife as the missing piece to our family puzzle. He proudly claims her as his other mom.

"You're my mom too," my son will say when my wife calls herself his stepmom. He made that decision. My wife never wanted to force a close relationship on him, but he pushed for it.

Media has warped the perception of stepmoms

Popular media depictions of stepmoms are largely negative. The common trope is that they're evil.

For example, you have characters like Meredith Blake in the Lindsay Lohan version of "The Parent Trap," the Baroness von Schraeder in " The Sound of Music ," and, of course, the prototype: Cinderella's Evil Stepmother.

These women are always seen as temptresses who come in and seduce the father into marrying them before revealing they intend to get rid of his daughter so that she will be the only woman in his life.

Maybe there are stepmoms out there who fit this description, but by and large, stepmoms are there to be whoever their step kids want them to be.

I know that's exactly the role my wife plays, and my son and I are all the more lucky for it.

Watch: Why one mother fled Texas to keep her child safe

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