As a dedicated nursing professional with a passion for learning, the prospect of obtaining a Ph.D. in Nursing at XXXX University represents a major step towards the fulfillment of my professional dream of positively impacting the world by producing the greatest possible ripple effect in society through my service as a nurse scholar of excellence. Upon first lives on a daily basis through this profession by consistently showing love and care in a personal way. Not only would I touch the lives of my patients, but also their families and friends who, in turn, might spread that love to others. Since it has been said that every act of kindness creates an endless ripple, I have come to realize that my calling in life is to maximize the size of that ripple by broadening my circle of impact at higher levels of teaching, research, and academic leadership.
Over the past 15 years I have acquired extensive experience as a clinical nurse and nursing instructor both in private hospitals and as a XXXX in the US Army. My commitment to academic excellence and leadership over the course of my career has been repeatedly acknowledged with special recognition such as the Student Nurse Leadership Award in 1993 and the Xi Pi Chapter Outstanding Graduate Student Practicum Leadership Award in 2004. In exercising my conviction of making a positive contribution through my profession to society, I have been actively involved in both local and national chapters of the American Nurses Association, participating in numerous conventions and professional development conferences across the country. Academically, I chair several committees at the Methodist College of Nursing in XXXX, Illinois, and was recently published as a contributing editor in the Fourth Edition of Medical-Surgical Nursing: Critical Thinking in Client Care (LeMone & Burke, 2007).
My greatest satisfaction, however, has come as a professor in the BSN program at the XXXX College of Nursing, where I have the opportunity not only to teach and interact with students who will XXXX University is my first choice for doctoral studies because of its reputation of academic rigor and its summer program that specifically aims at building upon my master's degree.
Although I have a wide variety of research interests, there are two possible topics that I would be most anxious to pursue in this program. First, considering the extremely high rate of recidivism among alcoholics treated at facilities based on the twelve step program, I would like to narrow down the key ingredient to successful recovery by examining the lived experience of recovery from alcoholism using the twelve steps of alcoholics anonymous. My other research interest stems from a question posed to me many years ago by the family of a potential organ donor regarding the possibility that something besides his organs, such as his personal anguish, might be transmitted to the recipient. Since I have been unable to find more than anecdotal evidence of this phenomenon, the topic of cellular memory in organ transplant recipients is one that greatly intrigues me.
In considering possible dissertation mentors who have similar research interests, I have identified Dr. Lisa Burkhart or Dr. Ann Solari-Twadell, if these topics were given a spiritual dimension, or Dr. Karen Egenes, Dr. Beverly Kopala or Dr. Nancy Hogan, based on their interests in issues of ethics, ethical dilemmas and death, respectively. Whichever the topic and whoever I have the privilege of working under, I am excited about embarking on the Ph.D. program at XXXX, certain that I will face this challenge with the characteristic determination and tenacious enthusiasm that has consistently marked my career.
