Sheyla Reyes

Nursing is in my thoughts daily. Even when I take breaks during the day, they never really are breaks because I find myself on Google searching Nurse Residency programs, Master’s programs, hospitals where I could potentially see myself practicing, or sometimes reading unreliable nursing blogs. I love nursing so much it has become contagious! My sister and two cousins have now been inspired to become nurses and my aunt returned to school and became licensed this year as a Certified Nursing Assistant.

People can help others in many different ways but nursing gives me a very special way of helping others. Our patients are in a strange and intimate setting where as nurses, we will be touching and poking them at times they may be vulnerable, yet trusting us to care for them. I remember my best and worst nurses and I want to resonate in my patient’s memories as one of their best.

I found nursing as a hospital volunteer in a children’s hospital. Service is a big part of who I am and I went to the hospital setting as just another volunteering experience. I saw nurses proactively and constantly interacting with patients and other health care team members. I saw that whenever a patient needed assistance they would ring the call bell asking for their nurse. Nurses are the bridge between physicians and patients. We know our patients the best.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation NCIN Scholarship has given me a one of a kind advisor, increased my academic and professional resources, and widened my opportunities for success. I believe in the value of nurses, I believe I will one day be a nurse just like those I now admire, and I thank this scholarship for also believing in my potential as a future nurse.