Child Nursing Personal Statement

Growing up in a large family, I have enjoyed caring for younger siblings which has made me want to care for other children. I want to study child nursing because it will provide me with opportunities to care for the health of children whilst also supporting families, which I know is paramount to high quality care.

I find working with children refreshing as it enables me to appreciate the children's view on life, which does make me smile. Through volunteering with a local nursery for a year, I communicated with children who have not yet acquired language and so conveying meaning largely depended on non verbal behaviour. Here I realised that children do have specific needs and I believe I am capable of meeting them. For example, through working
with a one year old, I observed when there were changes to her behaviour and that these changes had a cause, such as hunger or tiredness. As a nurse, it is important to pay close attention to changes in behaviour because that is the responsibility of a nurse. When a child was injured, I followed health and safety procedures to ensure the injury was dealt with. Equally as important was calming the child down when they were distressed which is one of my strengths when working with children. Through personal experience as a patient, the child nurses approached myself and other children in a manner that was inspiring; not only did they approach delivering health care with a sense of humour, they also skillfully deflected the attention away from the treatment which has confirmed my desire to study child nursing.

I have fun when working with children of all ages.
Having gained experience with older children through volunteering with a year one class and Dyslexia Action, I can appreciate the different approaches needed to cooperate successfully with the range of personalities.Encouraging the students to complete tasks once they were aware of the purpose and benefit will be beneficial to nursing because makes them feel comfortable.Children won’t understand the theory behind the practice, but through justifying why as a nurse I’m doing what I’m doing in a way that makes them feel comfortable and delivers person centred care is what excites me about nursing. Just as important as the child is the family, who will also be concerned for what is happening to the child. I have regularly communicated with the parents and carers of children during school open days during my position as the Student Ambassador, I best assisted them with the concerns for their child which left them feeling fully
informed.

In my community, care that involves the family is vital.
Working in partnership with families is an important aspect of nursing, but so is holistically working with other healthcare professions. Through completing the Outward Bound Leadership and Teamwork course, I developed the ability to recognise strengths and weaknesses of other team members and the importance of working in synchrony. I can communicate with a wide range of people in order to achieve the end goal, which is essentially the role of a nurse- to provide the highest quality of care for the patient. As the Marketing Director for Leap Enterprise, I approached strangers in a wide range of settings in order to sell a product. I have the confidence and interpersonal skills to approach a variety of people in order to provide the best health care for
patients.

My academic choices have prepped me for the skills required to study child nursing, largely because they have enabled me to focus on articulating my own ideas. Critically evaluating sources in History has improved my ability to notice the finer details, which is necessary in observing the patient's health. Conducting as well as assessing observations and experiments in Psychology allows me to combine theory with practice whilst also maintaining codes of ethics. English language has shown me that writer represent their theories in particular ways, just how nurses record and represent patients data.
Through participating in the Lessons From Auschwitz, I visited the camps and saw the conditions individuals were subject to as a result of discrimination. Seeing the result of human experiments conducted on children horrifies me and as a nurse working for the NHS, I am motivated to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and without discrimination.

I have seen the health care in other countries and I am committed to a career in nursing with the NHS, although it will be challenging it will always be rewarding because I will be able to make tangible differences to children's lives which has always been my goal.