I decided to pursue a career in nursing because I believe there is profound purpose in caring for people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. While working as a Patient Care Technician (PCT) in a hospital, I realized that I wanted to do more for my patients. I wanted to expand my knowledge, take on greater responsibility, and play a larger role in helping individuals heal both physically and emotionally. What draws me to nursing is the trust patients place in us when they are experiencing fear, uncertainty, pain, or illness. Nursing is more than administering medications or performing clinical tasks; it is about treating every patient with dignity, compassion, and respect. The connection between nurses and patients is what makes the profession unique. Nurses spend more time at the bedside than most healthcare professionals, creating opportunities to build trust, provide comfort, and ensure patients feel heard. I have learned that when patients feel seen and understood, they are more engaged in their care and more confident in the healthcare team supporting them. My inspiration for healthcare began long before I entered a hospital as an employee. Growing up in a Haitian household, caring for others was a core family value. Whenever someone was sick, my grandmother and aunt were always the first to step in, offering remedies, comfort, and unwavering support. They taught me that caring for others is not simply an act of service, but it is an act of love. In 2012, my grandmother was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Her diagnosis deeply affected me. She was someone who rarely became sick and spent her life caring for others, yet suddenly she found herself relying on others for support. During her hospitalizations, I witnessed firsthand the impact nurses and PCTs had on her experience. Whether they were helping her walk safely, bringing her warm blankets, or simply taking the time to listen, they treated her with kindness and dignity. Their compassion provided comfort not only to my grandmother but also to my family. Watching them care for her during one of the most difficult times in her life inspired me to pursue a path in healthcare. In September 2019, I began working as a PCT with Memorial Healthcare System. Over the past five years, this role has given me invaluable experience and a deeper understanding of patient care. It has strengthened my clinical skills, taught me the importance of teamwork, and allowed me to build meaningful relationships with patients from diverse backgrounds. Working alongside nurses has shown me the critical role they play in coordinating care, advocating for patients, educating families, and collaborating with the healthcare team to achieve the best possible outcomes. My desire to become a nurse is not motivated by a title or financial gain. It is driven by a genuine passion for serving others and a commitment to making a meaningful difference in the lives of my patients. Nursing will allow me to combine clinical knowledge with compassion, advocate for those who are vulnerable, and provide care that promotes healing in every sense. The opportunity to positively impact someone's life during a moment of need is the most rewarding aspect of healthcare, and it is the reason I am committed to pursuing a career in nursing.

Prompt 1- At some point or moment in our lives, we've all been ill, with either the flu, stomach virus or more severe illness. All we've really wanted was someone to be kind and nurturing during our most vulnerable moments. I myself remember a time when I was sick, my mom and grandmother, who were not nurses, took care of me and made me feel special, cared for. It was in that moment where the attentiveness and care I received lessened the pain and fatigue I was experiencing. That moment steered me in the direction of nursing since nurturing others was an innate quality I already had. Fast forward to the year 2012, my grandmother, same woman who sat by my side and made sure I was cared for, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. My first response was to care for her as she had cared for me. But at 12 years old there was only so much I was capable of doing for her. I would watch as the nurses came in to do their rounds, periodically checking to make sure she had everything she needed. They were complete strangers and yet they interacted with her as if she were their own grandmother. There was compassion, a need to nurture in every visit from the nurse not just a quick pill pass or a one stop checkpoint. This moment ignited the desire for me to pursue nursing and to continue to be an example of a nurturing and compassionate nurse. Prompt 2- In my opinion, the phrase human touch means for one to have a sense of humanity, to express empathy or to show deep kindness that cannot be expressed through words, only through actions. Human touch can impact patient care in a multitude of ways. One way is through emotional support and comfort. Nursing is a career where your heart and brain have to work together to provide meaningful care. This is what makes nursing so special and able to avoid being replaced by AI. When patients come into the hospital, majority of the time they are anxious, feeling fearful or sometimes upset. Despite whatever emotion they may be feeling, at that time, they are at their most vulnerable and emotionally unstable. It is our job as nurses to be that anchor for our patient and help them process their emotions in a healthy way. We must work together with the team, which includes the patient, on how to go about their care plan process. Sometimes that can look like allowing the patient to ramble and vent for a few minutes or asking the patient to express their feelings and understand why they are feeling those emotions. It can also mean just being there, standing in silence, and using the power of your presence to support a patient who may feel lonely or does not have a strong support system. Another aspect of human touch that impacts healthcare is through connection. As a nurse by connecting with your patient and creating that safe space for them trust is built, which is a very important part of nursing and nursing care. Trust is the foundation that allows for complete honesty, full cooperation and grounds for free expression in any relationship, that includes nurse and patient relationship. This aspect allows for the patient to have full knowledge and control of their care while working with the nurse and trusting that the nurse has their best intentions at heart. The patient does not feel like a burden, or their illness but rather an active participant in their own healing process. The human touch makes a huge impact in the patient's care that technology cannot replace.

There are gender-based misconceptions about caregiving roles in the nursing profession that can create an issue with staffing, especially since there is a nursing shortage. One way I can positively impact the nursing profession is by inspiring and mentoring young men into the field of nursing. I want to be able to show them that you can have the "physical strength" but also be compassionate and caring to the patients and their families while they are trying to heal. I also would join a nursing organization or board where I can be an advocate to have my voice heard on policies that will build on inclusivity. I recall working as a PCA (Patient Care Technician) where I was assigned to an elderly patient. She was very frail and was giving the other nurses a difficult time. I entered the room, introduced myself and explain I would be doing her vitals and drawing blood for test that were ordered. She did not want me to handle her because she thought I would be too rough. I told her I would be as gentle as a lamb. I gained her trust by asking her to tell me something about her childhood. She was happy to tell me and boy was she going. Before you know it, I was done with vitals an blood draw. She was amazed at how she did not feel any pain or anything at all. Later in the shift, the charge nurse approached me to say how the patient only wants me to be her nurse until they discharge her. I would like to say, I did not do anything that special but listened to her story and be compassionate. I treated her just like I would have treated any member of my family. I want to radiate that as a man yes I am tough, disciplined and stoic, but I can be kind enough to place two warm blankets over you if the hospital room is too cold or help your grandparent put their socks on. That I can be patient enough to take the time to explain to you why you are being prescribed a new medication blood pressure regiment or why I am collecting labs from you so frequently. I want to show that as a man I can care for you and nurse you back to health without you feeling like you are in military boot camp. I want to inspire young men and volunteers that nursing is a field that is open to them and being caring or vulnerable with a patient does not make him any less of a man or makes him soft. But most importantly I can show that I can be there and be present, that during this time where you may not feel your best I can help provide a safe, comfortable space where you can trust me to care for you without fear.

The greatest challenge I had to overcome was self-doubt . There were plenty of moments in my childhood up until 2023-24 where I struggled with low self-esteem and believing in myself. Between each era of that time I experience bullying, I was struggling financially, dealing the death of loved ones and fighting to get into a nursing program. But, after experiencing multiple rejections from different programs I struggled to find the motivation to go back to school. I began to think about whether or not college was for me, let alone nursing. I had this immense passion for the career yet for some odd reason the many opportunities were closed in my face or financially I wouldn't be able to finish a semester. I faced so many pessimistic thoughts, feelings of discouragement plagued me daily and I talked down to myself because where I thought I'd see myself in five years is not where I am currently. Then, one day I came across two quotes that ignited a change of mindset for me. "Everything requires discipline, hard work, dedication and most importantly self-belief.", "A champion is defined by their wins, but how they recover when they fall."-Serena Williams. This experience has affected me because it challenged me to break out and shine in moments where it felt like my life was nothing less of ordinary and dark. It pushed me to look inward and reshape the way I see and think about myself from negative to positive. I was challenged to demand greatness from myself, to push myself to believe that I very much capable of not only getting into nursing school and obtaining my nursing degree, but to also fight and persevere for anything I want to achieve in life. From that moment I started listening to motivational speeches every morning, began speaking positivity over my mind and over everything I did. I decided to take control of my thoughts, to be persistent, to recover and be a champion. I believe I am a good candidate for this scholarship because I am in great need of financial assistance to pay for school. I also believe that with this scholarship it would ease the financial strain I am facing and allow me to focus on studying and preparing for the NCLEX. I've made it into the nursing program here at FVI and am currently in concepts 2 with the intent to finish and graduate from FVI August 2026.

I have always wanted to pursue a career in healthcare, but the career that stood out the most to me in the healthcare world was nursing. And I say this because nursing is a mixture of healing not just the body but building trust and delivering top of the line care to a complete stranger in a act of kindness. Nursing is a field where compassion and nurturing thrive together as one. The choice to take the responsibility to nurse, to nurture a complete stranger back to health depicts a form of kindness and humanity the world needs today. It is an honor to be a nurse and to show a patient that even though they may feel the worst they have ever been, they can trust me to do everything in my power to be a light for them in what may seem to be their darkest hour. As a nurse, our hands, heart and overall demeanor must be gentle and warm so that our patients can come to the hospital at ease, knowing that they would be well taken care of. That stands out to me because I do believe that in everything we do as people, we should always lead with kindness and beneficence. Also, it is the connection with your patient that makes nursing special and what separates it from the other careers in the healthcare field. Nurses make patients feel heard and seen. So as a nurse the way you interact with your patient determines the kind of relationship you and the patient will have and also how compliant the patient may be towards medical advice and care. Nurses spend a great amount of time with the individuals they are caring for, and with that time more trust is being built between the patient and the nurse. Setting a comfortable atmosphere through therapeutic communication and active listening allow people to fully express their fears, concerns and struggles without feeling judged. This is one of the most important parts of the process of being a nurse because vulnerability equals honesty and honesty builds trust. In the end, nursing is more than just administering tabloids or shots. Nursing is demanding more and more compassionate hearts who are set on the mission to not just heal the body but to provide qualities of care that are rare. Nursing is not just a job. It is a passion, it is a commitment to care for everyone regardless of race, gender, ethnicity and it is a honorable profession that I admire.