Admission Essay Examples

For many years, mental health was looked upon as taboo even with all the research and education behind it; it continues to be a problem against who have mental illnesses. My first real exposure to mental illness was with my grandfather. He was a very loving, giving and caring man. However, we started noticing random outbursts from him, personality changes, mood swings and memory loss. I had never seen my grandfather angry until this one night he fought with my brother physically and verbally for a remote control. That is the day when my parents realized that he was ill. We took him to our family doctor who diagnosed him with dementia. My family and I had no understanding of what to do and how to help my grandfather since we never heard of “dementia” before. We tried our very best to care for him at home, but the reality was that the grandfather I once knew slowly faded away and eventually passed away as a whole different person. After that experience I knew that I wanted to pursue a career that would help me understand what happened to my grandfather and to help others who lack the understanding of what is happening to them or their loved ones.

I have always had a passion to obtain a degree in which can bring about a change or difference to the society; especially in regards to mental health. Wanting to pursue a career that would make a difference in someone’s life led to me the field of nursing. My first achievement was being accepted into nursing school. While attending nursing school, I worked a part time job as a Float Patient Care Access, (PCA). I was able to explore both sides of being a nursing student and as an employee. I was exposed to all sections of the hospital and acquainted to a diverse population of patients. I was given the opportunity to see many different situations that occur day in and day out at the hospital. The rotation and nursing floor that had the most profound impact on me was the Behavioral Unit/Psychosocial Clinical.

Prior to starting this clinical, I was extremely nervous; but once I was familiarized with the patients I did not feel scared or uneasy. Each week I had the opportunity to sit down with a patient and get to know them. What I realized was that some of the patients were aware of their psychiatric illness while others were not. Even though the patients looked completely fine and were able to do their daily activities they were truly sick. Unfortunately, these patients did not have control over their illnesses and needed assistance. I thought that the staff would be frustrated with the patients and their random outbursts but the staff was respectful and compassionate with each one of them.

My dedication to mental illness encompasses not only caring for those with mental illnesses but learning more about the underlying roots of the disease to possibly treat it as well. Being in this program will give me the chance to have hands on experience, skills, and knowledge to perform my duties as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.