Neonatal Nurse Scholarship Essay

I cannot believe it is senior year! Where did the time go? I remember my first day of ninth grade like it was yesterday. High school has flown by so quickly, it is crazy to think at the end of this school year I will be out of school. I will be the first person to graduate in my family since my grandma did fifty years ago. I have to start thinking about what I am going to major in during college and the type of career I would enjoy doing for the rest of my life, or until retirement. What should I do now? What do I need to do to get there at this point in time? For a few years now, I have been considering a career in neonatal nursing or a career in pediatric psychology. As of today, I think that a career as a neonatal nurse practitioner would be better suited for me.
As a pediatric psychologist, I would help children with their decision-making and social skills which will help them be successful in their day to day lives. I would also meet up with their parents to talk about strengths, weaknesses, developmental, or social problems. I would help the child solve their problems or recommend ways to cope with them. I work very well with children, I am very compassionate, caring, and empathetic. I think that I understand children better than adults because I have always been
the oldest kid in my neighborhood.
If I decide to be a pediatric psychologist and stayed on the east coast I could potentially make $60-$65K a year. Although, if I moved to the west coast I could make up to $80K a year. If I choose to live in the midwest area of the United States I could make $70K a year (Child Psychologist Career Information, Jobs, Degrees & Training Programs). Generally, most child psychologists make around $65,000 a year. After I finish my schooling, I can decide where I would like to live. Right after finishing all the required schooling and gaining the needed degrees, I could start by making a salary of around $30,000 to $45,000 a year. After gaining five to ten years of experience in this career my salary could increase to $55,000 to $80,000 a year, depending on where I live. If I have ten or more years of experience in this field I would possibly be making between $80,000 to $100,000 a year (Psychologists Salary and Wage Information).
Being a pediatric psychologist I will have to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree, and either a PhD or PsyD (Child Psychologist Career Information, Jobs, Degrees & Training Programs). If I decide to get a PhD or PsyD I would be in school ten years after I graduate from high school. If I get my PsyD I would be able to prescribe medication to the children that may need it to be successful.
As a neonatal nurse practitioner, I would be taking care of infants who were born with or have developed a variety of different problems, such as prematurity, heart deformities, infections, or surgical problems. Although the neonatal period is the first month after birth, the problems after birth may last for months. Neonatal nurses sometimes care for these infants for up to two years, but most of the time they just care for them until they can be released from the hospital. Many of these nurses work twelve hour shifts and work on weekends or holidays (What Is Neonatal Nursing?). If I chose to be a neonatal nurse practitioner and stayed on the east coast I would potentially make between $55K to $65K a year.
If I chose to live in the midwest I would only make about $45K a year. If I decided to live in the California bay area, I would make around $100K a year (Neonatal Nurse Practitioners/Neonatal Nurses!!??). Neonatal nurse practitioners have claimed to receive the highest base salary among the eight different nurse practitioner specialities (Salary: How Much Does a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Make?). As a neonatal nurse practitioner I would generally make a salary between $31.73 to $52.40 per hour (NICU-Neonatal Travel Nursing Jobs: Sustaining Life for Vulnerable
Patients). To become a neonatal nurse practitioner I would need to obtain a Bachelor's degree and a four year medical degree. I will then need to do a pediatric internship and residency for three years. I will also need to do a neonatology fellowship for three years. If I choose to go into a career in neonatal nursing I will need to have eight years of schooling after high school and six years of internship or fellowship. Before I can actually go into this field I will be in schooling or training for fourteen years after high school. To be a neonatal nurse practitioner I would need to have a current Basic Life Support and CPR certification, a Pediatric Advanced Life Support certification, pass the NCLEX nursing test, and complete the minimum requirements of Continuing Education Units (Neonatal Nursing Jobs). Pediatric psychology does have it’s benefits because there is less required to go into that career, but I believe that I would be more interested in being a neonatal nurse practitioner. I say this because, although I do work well with children and helping them to overcome their problems, I would rather work with infants. I believe that I would enjoy working in a hospital setting because I could be a traveling neonatal nurse practitioner and go to different hospitals around the United States
Although, both careers would show the strengths that I have, I have found that a career as a neonatal nurse practitioner would be the best career choice for me. I believe that I would enjoy being a neonatal nurse practitioner after I finish my schooling. I have wanted to be a Neonatal nurse practitioner since my niece was born, because she had to be admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, at Community Hospital East, in Indianapolis, IN, because she had some trouble breathing on her own. She was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for about a week in a half to two weeks. When I went to visit my mom in Indiana I got to go with my sister to visit her and it was kind of like a light bulb went off and that is when I decided I really would like to be a neonatal nurse practitioner.