Autobiographical Essay Example

I was born in Florida and spent 12 years of my childhood in Haiti studying in one of the best schools. My childhood dreams revolved around being a pediatrician as I had developed a liking to children. However, due to the political issues in Haiti, my parents thought it would be safe to move from Haiti in 2002. It was an abrupt move and I had no chance to pick all the stuff that would remind me of my childhood. On arrival in Canada, my parents decided to enroll in schools. At the age of 45, my father enrolled in a nursing school but failed the licensing exams. My mother on the other hand, despite numerous tries, to apply to a nursing school in Ottawa never got any acceptance letter. My parents quest to go back to school inspired me to work had in school and hold on to my dreams of being a pediatrician. In Canada, I had to transfer from a French school to an English school so I could learn how to speak English.

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My mother thought I should go to that United States to continue with my studies since it was a place with many opportunities. At 16 with a near to perfect English, I moved to the states and lived with family members over there. The last year of high school I attended Martin Van Buren high school. After graduation, I got a job with a kids program coming from families with low incomes. I was all alone in the states and faced difficulties in trying to choose colleges and applying for scholarships. Becoming a pediatrician would take me eight years but my mom had advised on a shorter course that she would be able to support me. I settled for a physician assistant a four-year program that would still allow me to attend medical school. I chose and applied to attend City University of New York Manhattan, however, my application was denied. I was devastated as I thought they would consider me due to hard work even though my SAT score was not so good. Finally, I got accepted to a college that I least liked and I registered for my classes. Two years later I applied to Hofstra University with the aim of changing my college. The financial aid there was not enough for tuition and campus fee and my parents could not afford to cater for the fee. I went back to Canada and pursued a major in biology at Carleton University since there were no physician assistant programs in Canada. At the same time, I did a part-time job as a sales associate with winners.

I later got an acceptance to Ottawa University in the general science program. I had to get a second job as a customer representative at a printing shop. I scored low grades in school but decided to quit working for winners and retain the job with the print shop. This is because the print shop job worked with my school schedule. After several applications, I finally got accepted at Algonquin to study a practical nursing program. After my first year at the RPN program, I had a full-time job at a retirement home and worked as a personal support worker. I would do day and night shifts in the locked unit for dementia patients. During the night shift, I had to provide care to every patient on the locked unit and had help from another PSW from the 3rd floor only for the people that were 2 persons. I graduated from the practical nursing program in June 2015 and got my first job at a retirement home as an evening nurse. I started my current job which on February 2nd at the Royal Ottawa mental Health Centre working as a mental health nurse.

Career Goals

By June 2025, I will have a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DPN) degree

By June 2024, I will have a masters degree of Nurse Anesthesia practice (MSN)

By December 2023, I will have 2 years of experience in the Intensive care unit at the Ottawa Hospital

By December 2021, I will have a college graduate certificate in critical care nursing from Algonquin College.

By September 2020, I will be a licensed registered nurse working at the Ottawa Hospital.

By June 2020, I will have a bachelor degree in Nursing from the University of Ottawa.

Education Goals

By June 2020, I will be able to think critically and make decisions to meet the needs of my clients regardless of the complexity and the predictability of their conditions.

By June 2020, I will gain a greater depth of nursing skills that will increase my scope of practice as a nurse.

Personal Goals

Spiritual

I will grow my faith and journey with God by spending 10 minutes in prayer when waking up and sleeping each day.

Physical and Health

I will improve my health and increase my strength by exercising 3 times per week for 30min to 50 min.

I will eat healthier and spend less money on food by taking half an hour twice a week to plan healthy meals.

Pleasure

I will take care of myself by spending 3-4 hours once a week to do my hair.

Personal Values and beliefs

I understand faith to mean believing in yourself and God even when things are not going the way you expected them to. If I stop fighting for what I believe in, it means I have lost faith in myself and the good things that God has in store for me. Faith to me means to know that I will become an RN. Faith to me is to study hard for a class, even when I feel I cannot pass it. Faith is needed in order to accomplish my goals of becoming a registered nurse. I have faith in myself that June 2020, I will graduate with a bachelor of science in nursing at the University of Ottawa. Consistency means following the steps needed to achieve my goals. It means studying in advance for exams while also keep a regular habit of reading and doing homework. To be consistent I have to quit procrastination to accomplish my goals according to the set dates. Inconsistency will only put me behind as seen in my past experiences and will mean have to take long to achieve my goals. Consistency will require that I keep up to date with the training I need, to provide better care to my patients.

I define Growth to mean an increase in my knowledge and improve my goals through consistent reflection. Seeking and getting feedback from my manager on things that I need to improve to become better. To grow I will also need to pursue my nursing education further to achieve all my dreams. As part of growth, I will need to improve nursing skills that will improve and translate to a healthy therapeutic relationship with my patient. Graduate from being an RPN to an RN to show growth in my career. As part of growth, I have to learn new things about nursing Complete the quality assurance program and constantly evaluating my goals to make sure that I am on track.

Professional Values and Beliefs

I define human dignity as the ability to be empathetic and sensitive to someones experience even those that we cant understand. At the Royal Ottawa Mental health Centre. I work with people suffering from different mental health problems. Some hear voices that they try to block out through constant medications. Others are left to cope with it by listening to music while sleeping because the voices wont stop. As a person, I will never fully understand what it is they are going through but as a nurse, I can empathize with them. Provide them with the reassurance that they need. Teach ways that they cope with it and give them hope that they can live normal lives regardless of their illness.

Autonomy in decision making is respecting a clients decision even when it goes against your own values. As nurses, we have an obligation to advocate for the patient. As a mental health nurse, working the Royal Ottawa mental Health Centre recovery program, our goal is to provide clients with coping skills and help them reintegrate back into the community. It is our job to respect the clients wishes regarding the programs they want to attend, their choice in not taking medication for their illness or leaving the program. We are to inform and encourage them in making the decisions that are best for them.

Equality is providing the same quality of care to your patient regardless of their past history. Equality is important when working in the mental health institute, especially a mental health assessment. The Forensic department consists of patients who have committed crimes and are being assessed to determine if their actions were as a result of a mental illness. My values as a nurse will be challenged as I may feel that some patient doesn't deserve to be cared for. My nursing skills and values will make me find it necessary to treat everyone equally regardless of their past. My care should be free of discrimination. Every client deserves the same quality of care regardless of their social status, past history or race.