Essay Sample on Creating an Effective Goal Statement for Graduate School Application

Introduction

According to Chuang (2013), a goal statement refers to a document that demonstrates people's writing abilities on a more personal level for their application into a specific graduate program. Developing a goal statement is a crucial step towards realizing individual success. The statement discusses an individual's personal, educational, and career goals or responds to different questions raised by the target graduate school's admission board (Peregrym & Wollf, 2013). Therefore, this paper details a personal goal statement highlighting different areas crucial to my nursing profession.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Current Career

I am a Nursing Certified Assistant (CNA) with a keen interest in pursuing more challenging things in the field of nursing. Currently, I have no leadership role in my profession. Transition to a career in nursing at this point of life comes with multiple reasons. First, the transitioning will be critical in helping me to increase my competence in the field of nursing (Lunenburg, 2011). Pursuing the nursing program will be crucial in enhancing my technical skills, professional knowledge, and work-based experience. This competence will be significant in providing high-quality nursing services to patients. Secondly, pursuing further studies in the field of nursing is a critical step towards becoming a highly-specialized health practitioner. This step will also be vital in helping me to serve in more specialized opportunities, including administrative positions. Thirdly, I intend to use the experience earned in this transitioning process to inspire the next generation of nurses to provide excellent care to patients. Nursing students should provide high-quality health care services to patients regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, occupation, color, and language. Lastly, the transitioning will be crucial in increasing my earning potential (Lunenburg, 2011). Studies indicate that nurses who either advance their studies or assume management roles tend to earn considerably higher salaries.

How to Handle the Return to School and Associated Demands

According to Hegarty (2015), there are multiple problems that one must address when considering to return to school after serving in different nursing positions. Therefore, aspiring nursing students should plan appropriately to handle such challenges and the demands related to full-time study in an accelerated program. The first challenge associated with the return is balancing school and life responsibilities. Attending a full-time study involves a huge time commitment. Students must prepare for class, attend it, and handle assignments. These responsibilities can culminate in stress and frustration, considering that such learners must also cater for their family needs. Therefore, I will develop a time management schedule to balance my school and life responsibilities effectively. Seeking help from educational specialists and senior students in my career will be vital in ensuring that I complete my assignments on time. Besides, effective time management will be critical in ensuring that I accomplish each task appropriately. Another challenge associated with returning to school is meeting the required costs (Peregrym & Wollf, 2013). Professional advancement comes with many expenses in terms of rent, paying school fees, and buying books. I will apply for a loan to cater for these costs. I will also fundraise from colleagues and well-wishers to ensure that I accomplish my studies.

Characteristics to Make Me a Good Nurse and a Student Leader

Chuang (2013) identifies different features that people should possess to become competent nurses and student leaders. I believe that I have all these attributes, and I will become a competent nurse and student leader in the long-run. First, I possess the values of resilience and endurance. These attributes will help me to go through all the challenges associated with studying nursing and, in turn, evolve into a good student leader. Secondly, I am an effective communicator. My verbal and written communication skills will help me in ensuring that I share information with my colleagues in an effective way. Effective communication is also crucial in gaining students to support me as their leader. Effective communicating will also be essential in making vital decisions while reducing any form of conflicts that come as a result of student disagreements. Thirdly, my creativity and innovative abilities will help in becoming a good nurse and student leader by speculating patients' and students' challenges and developing their counterstrategies. Lastly, my honest attribute will be critical in promoting the culture of telling the truth both in school and in the nursing profession (Lunenburg, 2011; Peregrym & Wollf, 2013). Being frank will be crucial in establishing the right level of commitment towards meeting the goals of the nursing profession.

An Example of an Instance in Which I Demonstrated My Leadership Qualities

According to Hegarty (2015), the success of leaders depends on their ability to demonstrate their leadership qualities. I expressed my leadership qualities when handling patients with malaria outbreak during my internship program with a typical community hospital. A total of 20 people presented at the hospital with peculiar signs and symptoms. Such attributes included profuse sweating, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, high fever, vomiting, headache, and shaking chills. However, my ability to communicate effectively allowed me to assemble a team of nurses at the facility to address the issue immediately. My creativity also played a crucial role in diagnosing patients with malaria. Nevertheless, honesty allowed me to reveal to the patients their diagnosis (Chuang, 2013; Hegarty, 2015). Consequently, I relied on the quality of innovativeness to come up with multiple strategies to not only treat but prevent the condition in the affected community.

Conclusion

Developing a personal goal statement is essential in achieving one's career objectives. A goal statement provides insights about the applicants. These insights are crucial in determining whether the applicant will fit into the target graduate program. This goal statement outlined substantive issues associated with my desire to transitioning into a career in nursing. I will strictly align with the guidelines covered in the statement to ensure that I become a good nurse and student leader.

Reference

Chuang, S. (2013). Essential Skills for Leadership Effectiveness in Diverse Workplace Development. Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, 6(1), 1-24. Retrieved from: https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1133&context=ojwed.

Hegarty, N. (2015). Catch My Fall: The Importance of Developing a Leadership Philosophy Statement in Sustaining Original Values and Leadership Direction. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 8(2), 1-10. Retrieved from: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1130&context=jvbl.

Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). Goal-Setting Theory of Motivation. International Journal Of Management, Business, And Administration, 15(1), 1-6. Retrieved from: http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Lunenburg,%20Fred%20C.%20Goal-Setting%20Theoryof%20Motivation%20IJMBA%20V15%20N1%202011.pdf.

Peregrym, D. & Wollf, R. (2013). Values-Based Leadership: The Foundation of Transformational Servant Leadership. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 6(2), 1-14. Retrieved from: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=jvbl.