Professional Portfolio Essay Samples

Career goals

Short term
Apply to the Texas children’s hospital Graduate Nurse Program by March 20, 2015
apply to the Memorial Hermann Hospital Graduate Nurse Program by March 20, 2015
sit for the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute Exam (HESI) and pass
sit for the National Council Licensure Examination by July 2015
get the required certifications such as PALS and CCRN by July 2015
start my professional nursing practice by August 2015
start making plans for the Nurse Practitioner program

Intermediate

Be established as a nurse pediatrician (August 2015)
Initiate classes for the GER (September 2015)
Start studies for the Nurse Practitioner program (August 2015)
Long term
Be fully established in my nursing practice and research (January 2016)
Start my Doctorate in nursing program(January 2017)
Get a home and start a family. (2018)

Personal Philosophy

Of all the career paths I would have chosen, nursing was the best fit for me. This is because my personal belief is that I can achieve satisfaction in life by managing to put a smile on the face of another person, a thing that nursing ensures on a daily basis. The nobility of nursing goes past the prestige and the money but the impact it has on individuals and the community at large. In practicing nursing, I intend to provide indiscriminately service to my patients irrespective of their gender race, religion and age.
        My philosophy in nursing is based on the responsibility that is placed on nurses by the society as a whole. The society expects nurses to provide medical care of the highest level tailored to meet their needs. I acknowledge the special nature of every patient I come across thus my belief that the nature of service given should be patient centered to meet individual needs. Nurses have the responsibility to apply their medical knowledge and provide the best possible service while at the same time being advocates for cooperation of the patients who should be viewed as partners in the process of care giving. Nurses should also be leading examples to healthy living a model that people can follow combining this with education of patients and their loved ones on aspects of health care likely to influence their health outcomes. (Kuo, 2012)
In nursing practice, I believe that all the nurses have the responsibility of acting professionally when providing care. A major facet in professional practice is maintaining the required level of confidentiality between the nurse and the patient which can only be breached by provisions in the law. Another aspect is the continuous nature of learning in the nursing practice that calls for nurses to pursue evidence based practice which is line in advancements in technology in the field. This kind of learning is not only in the classroom setting but also by consultation with other heath care givers to ensure that the knowledge I have as a nurse is continuously replenished and up to date. (Frisch, 2001)
Being ethical in my practice of nursing is another basis of my philosophy in nursing. This is because I believe that every action I indulge in should be for the good of the patient and acceptable in the code of ethics accepted by nurses universally. In cases where there will be a conflict of interest between me and patients, I seek to resolve the problem through the appropriate means. In my practice, I believe that I should be able to be accountable for any act I do or any utterance I make while also taking precaution to preserve the image of nursing through my behavior. (Frisch, 2001)
My personal values are also a building block that makes up my philosophy in nursing. These values that drive my personal life and everything I do include honesty, hard work, meeting goals and being open for suggestions. These values compliment my professional practice and make up the philosophy that guides my practice. In practicing nursing instances rise whereby mistakes are made and where a nurse needs to consult and even be corrected. In my practice, I will be open to learn from others while receiving correction from colleagues about my practice.
My nursing philosophy revolves around the desire that I have to work with children. I believe that my calling into this profession is to bring a smile to the faces of children who are sick. In pursuing nursing my end goal will be doing my best to serve as many children as possible since I believe that they have the right to have a good life. (Frush, 2003)

Cover letter

    
Church St. Apt. 5647

Houston,

Human Resources
Texas children’s hospital
Houston, TX
March 18, 2015
Dear Claire Evans,
I am a student at Prairie View A & M University College of Nursing (CON) pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. I am due to graduate on June 2015 and looking forward to start my nursing practice. I am writing in response to the Graduate Nurse position here at the

Texas children’s hospital.

I have acquired much experience in clinical practice due to time spent in various hospitals over my period of study. I have developed a personal and nursing philosophy that aims at providing high quality healthcare for my patients. I also have great interest in working with children towards their recovery.
I have had experience in working is the pediatric setting during my clinical rotation at the Methodist general hospital. During this period I learned the basic skills required to effectively work with children and providing the best available care for them. I believe that your graduate nurse program set up is perfect for further improving my nursing practice.
If accorded the opportunity to work with Texas children’s hospital, I believe that I will be able to work within the expected values and standards of provision of care.
Sincerely,

Job Prospect Letter

Church St. Apt. 5647

Houston,

Human Resources
Texas children’s hospital
Houston, TX
Dear Claire Evans,
I am a student at Prairie View A & M University College of Nursing (CON) pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. I am due to graduate on June 2015 and looking forward to start my nursing practice. I am writing to enquire about the Graduate Nurse Internship program which I have a lot of interest in. I request for any additional information about this job position.
Kindly contact me through my phone number or my email. Your response on the matter will be highly appreciated.
Sincerely
The Texas Children's Hospital, located in Houston, Texas is one of the best children’s hospitals available in the country. The hospital has for years being ranked among the best due to its performance and service to the children. It is driven by a desire to provide a future that is healthy for the women and children in the society through a combination of exceptional patient care, education and research. Us news)
As a graduate nurse, Texas Children's Hospital will offer an unrivalled opportunity for development and honing of my skills in health care provision. This is because of the setup that the hospital has put in place to aid the development of graduate nurses. The hospitals nursing vision is based on providing exemplary pediatric care with focus being on constantly developing the nursing skills of all staff. The nursing philosophy that the hospital holds to matches to my personal philosophyphy in nursing showing that I can fit into the hospitals programs efficiently. Their philosophy is based on four major aspects that are excellence, family oriented practice, constant quality improvement and academic scholarship. This philosophy ensures that the nurses in the hospital are allowed to progress in their careers through a combination of an environment that supports learning and providing professional opportunities for growth. (Frisch, 2001)
The hospital will also offer a unique opportunity for professional development in the nursing practice. This is because of the training programs that target the nurses here resulting to improved patient care and constant innovation in practice. The hospital also offers opportunities through which collaborative training occurs with other pediatric nurses in the Huston area. The professionals are able to bring together their knowledge in designing new programs that meet a wide range of needs for children. The professional growth is also stimulated by the nursing research scholar program that entails teaching the nurses various research skills that are essential to the development of the nurses. The hospital also offers the opportunity for nurses to meet famous nursing scholars through a program called grand rounds. The scholars are allowed to come into the hospital and offer teaching on the field in collaboration with the hospitals nurses.
In terms of the services offered in the Texas Children’s Hospital, I will be able to learn the role and place of the nurse since the hospital’s focus is placed on ensuring that nurses play their important role towards contributing to the high quality care that the hospital is renowned for. As pointed out in the hospitals nursing philosophy, family centered care approach is adopted by the hospital. Here, the family of the patient is seen as a part of the team working towards the wellness of a patient. To this end, the hospital seeks to bring together the needs of the patients with the values of the family. (Kuo, 2012) The hospital ensures that information is shred with ways with the family allowed to make decisions on issues that touch on health care of the patients. The hospital has gone an extra step in the family centered care by the provision of the pavilion for women. This facility offers an opportunity through which new mothers and their babies can spend time together in rooms thus improving the bonding process.
I therefore believe that getting into the Graduate Nurse Internship program in Texas children’s hospital will be beneficial to my career. This is because of the opportunities for learning and development they offer. Their nature of practice also combines well with my preferences making Texas children’s hospital the best fit for my nursing practice.

References

Frisch, N. (2001). Standards for holistic nursing practice: A way to think about our care that includes complementary and alternative modalities. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 6(2), 4.
Kuo, D. Z., Houtrow, A. J., Arango, P., Kuhlthau, K. A., Simmons, J. M., & Neff, J. M. (2012). Family-centered care: current applications and future directions in pediatric health care. Maternal and child health journal, 16(2), 297-305.
Frush, D. P., Donnelly, L. F., & Rosen, N. S. (2003). Computed tomography and radiation risks: what pediatric health care providers should know. Pediatrics, 112(4), 951-957.