personal statement for auxiliary nurse

Nursing Bay

College personal statement examples and writing tips.

A crucial step in your nursing journey is learning how to write a personal statement that resonates with admissions committees and vividly portrays your passion for healthcare. This collection of amazing personal statement examples is curated to guide and inspire you as you articulate your aspirations, experiences, and motivation to pursue nursing.

What is a Personal Statement?

A personal statement is a written narrative that typically forms a significant part of an application to universities, colleges, or professional programs, particularly in fields like nursing. It’s an opportunity for junior year applicants to present themselves beyond test scores and grades, offering insights into their personalities, experiences, goals, and motivations.

In a personal statement, applicants explain why they are interested in a specific field of study or profession, what they hope to achieve through the program, and how their background and experiences have prepared them for this path. It’s a chance to highlight unique attributes, significant life experiences, challenges overcome, or special achievements that make them an ideal candidate for the program.

Why Read Personal Statement Examples?

Reading personal statement essay examples is immensely beneficial for several reasons, especially when preparing your own statement for applications to nursing programs:

Inspiration and Ideas: Examples can inspire you and provide ideas on structuring your statement, what kind of content to include in your application essay, and how to convey your story and passion effectively.
Understanding Expectations: They offer insight into what admissions committees look for, helping you understand the level of detail, tone, and approach that resonates successfully in such applications.
Learning from Others: Seeing how others have articulated their experiences, challenges, and aspirations can guide you in reflecting upon and articulating your own journey and motivations.
Avoiding Common Mistakes: By examining a range of examples, you can identify common pitfalls and clichés to avoid, ensuring your statement stands out and feels genuine.
Gaining Confidence: Reading successful common app essays can boost your confidence, showing you that crafting a compelling narrative that combines personal experiences with professional aspirations is possible.
Diverse Perspectives: Examples offer a glimpse into the diversity of paths and motivations that lead people to nursing, potentially broadening your perspective and enriching your own approach to writing your statement.

How Long Should a Personal Statement Be?

The length of your personal statement should ideally align with the guidelines provided by the institution or program you are applying to. Personal statements are expected to be concise yet comprehensive, often ranging around 500 to 650 words , translating to about one to two pages.

This word count allows enough space to clearly articulate your experiences, motivations, and aspirations without overloading the reader with information. It’s important to always adhere to the program’s specific word or character limits to demonstrate your ability to follow instructions and present your thoughts.

What Should a Personal Statement Include?

A well-written college admissions essay should include several key elements to effectively communicate your suitability for the program or position you are applying for. Here’s what to typically include:

Introduction

Your personal statement should begin with an engaging introductory paragraph that captures the essence of your motivation for pursuing your chosen field. This could be a brief narrative of a defining moment, an experience that ignited your passion, or a clear articulation of your interest and enthusiasm.

The introduction sets the tone and should intrigue the reader, providing a glimpse into your unique journey and motivation. It’s important that this section hooks the reader’s attention and provides a compelling reason to continue reading your statement.

Academic and Professional Background

In this section, brainstorm and detail your relevant academic and professional experiences that have prepared you for this next step. Highlight key academic achievements, coursework, research, or projects that align with the field you are pursuing.

Also, include any relevant work experience, internships, or positions that have given you practical skills and insights. This part of the statement is crucial for showcasing your foundational knowledge and preparedness for advanced study or professional development and gaining a scholarship in your chosen area.

Extracurricular Activities and Volunteering

Your involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteering can significantly enrich your personal statement. This section should reflect how these activities have contributed to your personal growth, skills development, or understanding of your field.

Whether it’s a hobby, leadership roles in clubs, participation in sports teams, or volunteer work in community organizations, these experiences demonstrate your broader interests, commitment, and ability to balance multiple responsibilities. It’s an opportunity to show aspects of your character and values that academic achievements alone might not convey.

Personal Qualities and Skills

Reflect on and draft the personal qualities and skills that make you suited for your chosen path. This might include traits like resilience, empathy, critical thinking, or effective communication. Use specific examples or experiences to demonstrate how you have developed and applied these traits.

This personal reflection not only provides depth to your statement but also gives the admissions committee a clearer picture of who you are as an individual, beyond academic and professional achievements.

Career Goals and Aspirations

Discuss your career aspirations and how the program or position you are applying for aligns with these goals. This section should convey a clear vision of where you see yourself in the future and how the specific program or role will be a stepping stone toward that vision.

It’s important to show that you have a direction and purpose and that you see this opportunity as integral to your career journey. This not only demonstrates foresight and planning but also shows your commitment and seriousness about the path you are choosing.

Reasons for Choosing the Specific Program or Institution

Clearly articulate why you are applying to this particular program or institution. Discuss what specific aspects of the program, faculty, institution’s philosophy, or opportunities available are particularly attractive to you and why they resonate with your goals and preferences.

This shows that you have done your research and are making a well-informed decision. It also indicates that you have a genuine interest in what the program or institution uniquely offers, rather than a generic application.

Conclude your statement with a strong, memorable closing that encapsulates your main points and reaffirms your enthusiasm and suitability for the program or career. This is your final opportunity to leave a lasting impression, summarizing why you believe you are an ideal candidate.

The conclusion should tie back to your opening, creating a cohesive narrative that leaves the reader with a clear understanding of your passion, commitment, and readiness for the next step in your academic or professional journey.

What Does an Admissions Officer Look for in a Personal Statement?

When reviewing a personal statement, admission officers are looking for several key elements to assess the suitability of a candidate for their program:

Clarity of Purpose: Admissions officers want to see a clear understanding of why the applicant wants to pursue a particular field or program. The statement should convincingly articulate the candidate’s passion, motivation, and how the program aligns with their career goals.
Personal Insight and Self-Reflection: A strong personal essay offers insight into the applicant’s personality, experiences, and the factors that have shaped their decision to pursue a specific path. Admissions officers look for depth of reflection and a sense of how past experiences have driven the candidate’s current ambitions.
Relevant Experience and Skills: It’s important for the statement to highlight any relevant academic, professional, or volunteer experiences that demonstrate preparedness for the program. Admissions officers are interested in how these experiences have contributed to the development of skills and knowledge pertinent to the field.
Writing Quality and Structure: The ability to communicate effectively and coherently through writing is crucial. Admissions officers pay attention to the overall quality of writing, including grammar, clarity, coherence, and the ability to organize thoughts logically.
Individuality and Authenticity: They seek to understand what makes each applicant unique. A personal statement should reflect the individual’s authentic self, showcasing unique perspectives, diverse experiences, and personal growth.
Commitment and Passion: Demonstrating genuine enthusiasm and a strong commitment to the field is essential. Admissions officers look for candidates who are likely to thrive in the program and contribute positively to their field.
Alignment with Program Values and Goals: Candidates who show that their personal and professional values align with those of the program or institution often stand out. Admissions officers look for indications that the candidate has researched the program and understands how it fits into their broader aspirations.
Future Potential: Finally, they are interested in the applicant’s potential for future success and contribution to the field. A compelling statement should give a sense of the candidate’s ambition to go to college and how they intend to utilize the education and opportunities provided by the program to achieve their long-term goals.

The Best Personal Statement Examples

Here are some nursing statement examples that illustrate effective writing styles, clear articulation of goals, and the ability to connect personal experiences to broader career or academic aspirations:

Personal Statement Example #1

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When reflecting on the nursing personal statement examples provided, several key takeaways emerge that are crucial for anyone crafting their statement. These insights are vital for effectively conveying your passion, commitment, and suitability for a career in nursing:

Clearly articulate your personal motivation for choosing nursing.
Highlight your relevant healthcare experiences and achievements.
Specify your interest in any particular nursing specialty.
Showcase qualities and skills that make you suitable for nursing.
Outline your long-term professional aspirations in nursing.
Acknowledge the challenges and rewards in the nursing profession.
Express dedication to ongoing learning and professional development.
Ensure clarity, structure, and coherence in your statement.
Customize your statement for each specific nursing program.
Maintain authenticity and genuineness throughout your statement.

Final Thoughts: Personal Statement Essay Examples

These nursing personal statement examples and key takeaways provide valuable insights for anyone aspiring to enter the nursing freshman year. They demonstrate the importance of a well-crafted statement that blends personal motivation, relevant experiences, and a clear understanding of the nursing profession’s demands and rewards.

An effective personal statement is not only a reflection of your qualifications and aspirations but also a testament to your passion, empathy, and commitment to the field of nursing. It’s a unique opportunity to showcase your individuality and suitability for a career that is as challenging as it is rewarding.

Nursing CV examples

Build your CV on this template

When applying for a nursing role, a great CV is crucial if you want to get hired.

Your CV needs to grab recruiters’ attention and tell them exactly why they should interview you quickly.

This guide will walk you through every step of creating a winning nursing CV and also includes 7 nursing CV examples you can use for inspiration.

Guide Contents

Structuring and formatting your CV

Writing your CV profile
Detailing work experience
Your education

Vital skills for your nursing CV

Senior staff nurse cv example.

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Nurse Manager CV example

This is an example nurse CV to give you a general idea of the layout and content of a nursing CV.

However, when creating your own CV, you should take into consideration the roles you are applying for and the specific areas of nursing you specialise in.

The rest of this guide will show you exactly how to populate each area of your CV, and the skills you should be highlighting.

Build your CV now

When creating your nursing CV, how you structure and format it, is just as important as the content listed within it.

Now, more than ever, people have very low attention spans when it comes to reading – especially recruiters, who sometimes see hundreds of CVs per day.

So, making sure your CV is structured and formatted in a way that is easy to read, and allows recruiters to pick out the information they need is crucial.

The structure and format of your CV have two core purposes:

They create the initial first impression by putting together a professional looking document that potential employers will take seriously
They create a logical structure to allow readers to read and navigate quickly

This infographic will serve as a good for putting your CV’s structure together.

Formatting tips

Use the following guidelines as much as possible to ensure your CV stands out and looks professional.

Stick to simple, easy to read fonts , such as Arial
Don’t use too many colours – black text on a white background works best for readers
Keep it simple and to the point – no unnecessary distractions like images or graphs.

CV structure overview

When structuring your nursing CV, it’s very important that you make it easy to read, with no big chunks of text, and that all of the most important information is easy to see on first glance.

Your CV should feature the following sections.

Name and contact information – should be listed directly at the top of the page so it’s easy for recruiters to contact you

Personal statement/profile – a short introductory paragraph summarising your skills, experience and knowledge within nursing

Work experience – List your roles in reverse chronological order to showcase your ability to apply your skills and knowledge

Education and qualifications – List out your qualifications related to nursing, and include the key details of each one

Contact details

Your contact details should always be placed at the very top of the page and should be impossible to miss.

Information to include:

Phone number
Email address

You’re not obligated to disclose the following and they will not affect hiring decisions:

Full address
Your date of birth, nationality, and sex
A photograph

Your nursing CV profile

This section should go directly under your contact details at the top of the page.

Your profile or personal statement is your chance to shine and get noticed, but you have to be mindful of people’s time, so keep it short, punchy, and to the point.

In order to ensure that recruiters keep reading your CV, here are the key things to include in your profile section:

Nursing qualifications – Provide an overview of your most important nursing qualifications

Environments you have worked in – Perhaps you’ve worked in private care homes, or maybe you’ve worked across a number of specialist hospital wards – employers will want to know this.

High level nursing skills – Skills like patient care, medication provision and ward hygiene will be important to most nursing roles

Nursing experience – Whether you are a newly qualified nurse, or have 20 years experience, you must make your experience level clear here

Quick tip: If you worry that your written English isn’t perfect, try using our quick-and-easy CV Builder to eliminate the risk of making mistakes.

Core skills section

To create a snap shot of your skills, add a core skills section underneath your profile.

It’s simply a bullet-pointed list of your most relevant talents spread out over 2 or 3 columns.

The effect this has, is that it shows recruiters a great summary of your skills that they can digest within seconds of opening your CV – great for a positive first impression .

Work experience

In your work experience section you need to list your previous roles in reverse chronological order like the diagram below.

You should focus on your nursing experience, writing plenty of detail in nurse roles, and much less detail in non-nursing roles.

In case you have no employment history in nursing – for example, if you’ve just graduated, you can also list any volunteer work or university placements to compensate.

How to structure your role descriptions

To provide an easy and pleasant reading experience for recruiters, lay your roles out like so:

Here’s a brief outline of what to include in each section:

Role outline

A sentence or two describing who you work/worked for, and what the overall purpose of the role is.

“Delivering ongoing care within a 28-bedded geriatric ward to elderly patients presented with acute to chronic health problems”

Key responsibilities

List the key tasks you carry out during your role, and show how they impact your employer, colleagues and patients.

Ensuring the timely and accurate completion of all administration and documentation
Conducting patient assessments, planning and supervising the safe and compassionate delivery of care
Liaising with ward managers and doctors to arrange plans and schedules

Achievements

Add any achievements made during the role, that have made a big positive effect in your workplace.

Contributed significantly to raising standards across local community nursing; observing and mentoring Junior Nurses, and improving care metrics by an average of 10%

Quick tip: If you worry that your written English isn’t perfect, try using our quick-and-easy CV Builder to eliminate the risk of making mistakes.

Education and qualifications

When applying for a job as a nurse, it’s important to make sure you have the right qualifications for nursing.

Anyone wishing to work as a nurse, regardless of the role, must possess a degree in nursing.

Your education and qualifications should come directly after your work experience, and be listed from the most recently achieved.

Any qualifications relevant to the role you’re applying for should be listed in this section.

Although every nursing role will be different, there are certain skills that are essential to nurses across the board.

Here are a few of them…

Patient care – The ability to care for patients is paramount to a nurse’s skill set and should be evident throughout your CV.

Knowledge of medication – Administering medications and understanding their effects is another crucial skill for most nurses.

Ward management – Not only is this skill useful if you plan on climbing the ranks within a ward, but it will also show that you know how a ward is run, and have a deeper insight into staffing levels and patient bed allocation charts.

Hygiene and health – Ensuring you know what your patients area eating, and that they are clean and comfortable in their beds

When applying for nursing roles, a good CV that’s well structured and formatted in a professional, clear way is essential.

It’s also important to highlight your key skills, and show what you can bring to any role so you have the best chances of standing out and being selected.

Hopefully this guide has provided you with some useful tips to get you started.