A sense of accomplishment, a sense of pride, and a sense of achievement.
I decided to continue my education after raising my four children, and against the odds of going through a divorce and having the responsibility to raise my last child on my own. I was faced with having to deal with the death of my mother throughout the process. But took everything one day at a time. As you can see it was worth it.
These are my feelings as I completed the New York City College of Technology ADN to BSN Program. Being a part of this program has been a wonderful experience for me. It is the beginning of a new future for me. Completing this phase of my educational career here at N.Y.C.C.T. Bachelors Program will not only help ensure financial security for myself and my family, but will help me move closer towards my dreams. I feel a sense of pride, relief, accomplishment, and achievement as I climb up the ladder of success.
Throughout my education, I have worked hard to further my knowledge and skills in the nursing field. I have consistently maintained a high GPA even while balancing work and my family. This program has helped me acquired even more knowledge, and has refined my skills as I work towards my Master’s Degree in Nursing Education. I ultimately hope to become a Nurse Educator and help others achieve their dream.
This program has also helped me demonstrate to my family that they too can strive to achieve their goals and dreams. I hope that as they have seen me experiencing obstacles along the way, and I was able to navigate my way through them. My hope is that this will encourage, inspire, and motivate them as they too look forward to pursuing their dreams.
As I complete this program I can now look back and see how much the Associates program differ in comparison to the Bachelor program. The bachelor program has developed me tremendously. I was able to gleam something from every course I completed. Physical assessment expanded my knowledge. I did physical examination before, but upon completing this course. I am able to perform better physical examinations on my job. My documentation also improved.
The leadership clinical exposed me to the managerial role. Sitting in on meetings with the Director of Nursing made me see that I would best perform in that role. The community clinical showed me where one of my strengths lie. This is in the teaching role. This was a wonderful experience because the residents there were always asking questions after the teaching. I really had to research my topic and gear myself to answer any question that might pop up. Being at Center for nursing rehabilitation was not just a breeze. When preparing the teaching plan I really had to focus. Those residents were very much alert and asked pertinent questions.
Research was a challenge for me. I found the concept difficult in the beginning. This was so abstract and my learning style did not match that of the professor. Luckily she did a survey among the class, this made things better and my interest grew. It was not until I prepared my third paper I really began to understand it. This became more interesting closer to the end of the semester. I was now able to put the pieces together with evidence based practice and nursing research. My horizon has broadened now to the importance of evidence based practice in nursing. This was taught very briefly in the associate program. Evidence based research makes an enormous difference in client care. Using evidence based practice really has a positive outcome on patient. I am now able to research topics and extract from the data the things which will give my patients a better outcome. As I provide care to my patients I am able to do so more confident.
At the end of the semester I was so confident I could breathe a sigh of relief. Yes. I have jumped over yet another hurdle. Yes! I can smile now. I am looking forward to beginning my Masters in Nursing in the near further.
