Kiajuana Hampton

It also involves caring for the welfare of others with true compassion and concern while also striving to help people regain their strength and wellness. The nursing profession provides the link between patients and physicians, providing an emphasis on building strong supportive bonds with patients, while also ensuring proper healthcare needs are fulfilled.  When people are sick or going through hard times, a simple kind word, smile or hug makes a huge positive difference.  Anyone can be a nurse, but it takes a special kind of person to be a good one and it begins with love and a passion to help others. I would like to make a positive impact while taking care of people as it provides a joy that I simply can’t describe.

As a child, I would constantly be hospitalized for my severe case of asthma. It was there where I noticed that the nursing staff was the backbone of the doctors.  The doctor would briefly stop by and issue orders, while the nurses would quickly set the plan into motion.  Nurses stood out to me because they tended to add a little extra to the recipe—tenderness, compassion and comfort.  They did simple and sensitive tasks such as bringing my mom, who was a single parent, a warm blanket and pillow to make sure she got adequate rest before she had to rush off to work.  This provided me with inspiration, and I began to envision myself in the role of a nurse.

Nurses can make a profound impression on their patients and it is my hope to be able to make them to my patients when I become a nurse. As a beginning nurse, I treat my patients with respect and also provide an environment in which they feel comfortable and important. I have never left a room without leaving a mark, whether it is a kind word, shampoo session, or a listening ear. Patients inspire me as well. They have shown me that it only takes a split second to have the tables of life turned, but an entire lifetime on the road to recovery. The healthcare personnel can make the bitter difference on how smooth that road is. The Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing scholarship has been a blessing towards helping me further develop into the person that I already am, and to gain the skills that I need as a nurse to make a difference in patients’ lives.  For this, I am very grateful.