My ambition to become a nurse, and particularly a nurse for elderly patients, has developed out of my own work experience and a growing sense that my own personal fulfilment lies in serving those who are most vulnerable.  After leaving school I worked for some years in customer service roles, which enabled me to develop communication skills and the ability to relate to the demands of other people, but it was when I took on a job as a care assistant at a nursing home for the elderly in 2008 that I discovered how satisfying such work could be and how it gave purpose to my life, both personally and professionally.  I worked with patients suffering from Alzheimer’s and came to understand their frustration at being unable to communicate effectively, and I also tended to the needs of terminally ill patients, learning in this way the emotional demands of nursing but also gaining a deep sense of reward from feeling that I had contributed to their welfare during their final weeks and days. Adult nursing is attractive partly because of its variety and the range of options it opens, though I know both from my own experience and from talking to the professional staff I have worked with that the job is very demanding and calls for a greater level of personal commitment than many other occupations, but I believe that my experience has informed my decision and made it realistic and mature. I began an Access course in 2010 and have very much enjoyed the return to education, which has trained me in the essential academic skills such as essay writing and referencing.  At the same time I worked for an agency where I was given responsibility for the care of an adult with tetraplegia, who suffered from emotional and cognitive disabilities which sometimes manifested themselves in challenging behaviour.  I worked in his home and managed to build a mutually trusting relationship with him, helping him to manage a degree of independent life.  The whole experience was immensely rewarding despite the real difficulties it posed.  In 2011 I began work in an NHS trust as a health care assistant and as a bank staff member I gained experience of a wide variety of wards and types of illness.  I hade one-to-one sessions with Parkinson’s sufferers and with patients with Alzheimer’s, trying to bring relief to the frustrations they feel from their inability to communicate.  I have enjoyed working on the neurology ward and in medicine for the elderly, learning many nursing skills, such as taking blood pressure and noting symptoms, as well as the administrative processes of nursing, keeping accurate notes, relaying information and the like.

In all these experiences it is care of the elderly which most attracts me.  I feel strongly about the welfare of the elderly and find it difficult to comprehend the news stories which sometimes emerge of poor or abusive treatment of this very vulnerable group.  The whole ethos of nursing for me is that one’s sole aim is to strive to achieve the patient’s wellbeing, and that with the elderly one should above all show respect and maintain their human dignity, though MFE nurses I have talked to all complain of a lack of resources which hampers their work.

Outside my nursing interests I enjoy running, a pastime which grew out of my determination to complete the Great North Run this year to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.  I find that the sport has improved my own fitness and sense of wellbeing immeasurably. In 2010 I spent a month in India teaching English to young women, which was a great boost to my confidence and independence.

I am versatile and adaptable and enjoy being challenged, and I work hard and am very dependable.  I work well in a team but am equally confident acting on my own.  My greatest virtues are my patience and my genuine compassion for those in my care, no matter how testing the circumstances might be.  My commitment is total and I believe I have the qualities to become an excellent student.

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