When I was a child I remember being fascinated by the human body, how it worked and how it could heal itself. Like almost all children, I would frequently injure myself in small ways and would come home from school with bumps and cuts on different parts of my body. I’d ask my mother what was happening as scabs formed and, as far as she could, she would tell me and let me understand the ways in which my body was working to protect and to heal itself. I would also watch as my mother gave me all of the care that was possible, even with just small cuts and bruises. It was this that began to form my first image of what being a nurse meant. In short, it meant not only learning and studying the human body, but also employing one’s own emotional intelligence in order to aid the well-being of other people. Although my image of modern nursing is now somewhat more sophisticated, it nonetheless retains this basic dimension.
Once I broke my arm at the start of a long summer and I felt both pain and fascination as I felt body healing. At the same time, however, I was deeply aware of the fact that it was mother’s attention, her patience and her care that enabled me to overcome the challenges that being a young person with temporarily reduced mobility placed on me. At the same time, I found myself with an increasing interest in anatomy and biology. Science was always one of my favourite subjects at school, and I was fascinated by the ability to learn more and more about the human body. Alongside this, I began to see the ways in which advances in modern technology could be used in order to improve the lives of people all over the world. As such, when I began to consider my career choices, I started to realize that there was only really one that would enable me to combine scientific research and activity with actually being able to the results that this could have in a person’s life. Once I realized this, it was clear that my most important ambition in life was to become a fully qualified nurse.
I believe firmly that it is my experiences of childhood, together with my increasing interest in science that helped to convince me that becoming a nurse was the right career choice for me. For me, now, nursing is both a vocation and a science and it is a professional that is uniquely positioned to take advantage of developments in medical technology. As nurse, therefore, not only do I feel that I would have the opportunity to take advantage of advances in the most important developments in technology, but I would also be able to combine this knowledge and understanding with a the privilege of being able to see how such are used in the real world in order to make a real positive difference in the lives of other people.
Now more than ever, I feel that it is important for individuals to pursue their ambitions, and I also feel it is vital for these ambitions to, wherever possible, benefit both the individuals themselves and the rest of the society to which they belong. For me, my ambition and my dream has always been to be a nurse, and to take part in job where I am able to actively witness the ways in which my work benefits others. That I plan to do this while also working on the front line of medical and technological innovation is something that makes leaves me feeling both excited and humbled.