As of this time, I have not received any professional awards. However, while I was working as a pool nurse at Leesburg Regional Medical Center, I was given an honorable recognition by my Nurse Manager that was included as part of the monthly hospital newsletter. More gratifying than anything else, however, is the gratitude that has been expressed to me by many of the patients and their families I have provided care for during my short tenure as a nurse so far. Having a patient or family express their deepest appreciation towards you for the job is an amazing, heart-warming, and proud feeling. As a new nurse, I think I have done well in accelerating my career so far by remaining determined and focused on the end goal of becoming a more advanced practitioner.

     I hold a few different certifications including BLS, ACLS, TNCC, and have taken the ECCO curriculum for ICU nursing. I have acted as charge nurse on a handful of occasions as well which motivated and proved to me that I have the capacity to fulfill a leadership position in the future. Furthermore, I frequently act as a interim preceptor to new grads and orient other nurses to the unit. Some of the things I have learned are truly amazing and I never really thought that I would be so advanced so early. For instance, I am competent in using CRRT for patient dialysis and the RotoProne bed which is used to treat patients who have developed ARDS. Both of these interventions require a 1:1 ratio and the utmost in attentiveness to ensure patient safety.  

     I know, moving into the future, I will continue to advance even further professionally. My plan as of now is to go into either primary critical care as an ARNP or to attain certification as a CRNA. I am unsure of which path I wish to take at this time, though I think I am tending to lean more towards ARNP. In the more immediate future, I will be getting my certification for CCRN which will also help to advance me professionally. At this point, even if I stopped trying to advance professionally, I would still have accomplished more professionally and academically than anybody else in my immediate family ever has. However, I do not plan on stopping any time soon because I have developed a hunger now for achievement.