During my childhood, I would watch war movies with my father and he would tell me stores about his military experiences. His stories not only made me curious about the military, they also instilled a sense of patriotism in me and a desire to make a difference in our country and the world. These stories were not always positive reflections, nor glamorous tales of military life. What they did convey to me is his regret of leaving the military and that is what intrigued me even further to join the Air Force. In this paper I will talk about why I joined the Air Force, my most important Air Force experiences, duties and responsibilities as an operating room nurse, and how I contribute at the individual level and how that affects the overall Air Force mission at the operational level.
Shortly before graduating high school I began talking to a recruiter and from our discussions developed further reasons for wanting to join the Air Force. I wanted to have a specific purpose, not just a job. I wanted to belong to something bigger. Joining the Air Force gave my life direction, purpose, and motivation to achieve my goals.
Once I was in the military I began to work towards my goal and eventually obtained my Bachelors Degree in nursing. I began working as an operating room nurse and was soon deployed to Iraq. As an operating room nurse I was responsible for taking patients through the entire perioperative experience, from initial injury to procedure recovery.
Just 2 days after I arrived in Iraq our base was attacked. I will never forget that evening. As I opened the door to leave the hospital I heard a huge boom and three seconds later a cloud of dust and debris were at the entrance. I quickly closed the door and we all scra...
... middle of paper ...
... only our wounded warriors but also our active duty, National Guard, reserves, dependents, and DOD civilians. Taking care of these individuals on a daily basis contributes to the medical readiness of our military community. Without the contribution of the medical force there would be less people readily available to deploy and more lives lost due to extensive battle injuries.
In conclusion, I have discussed why I chose to join the Air Force and how my values and life experiences influenced my decision. I described my duties and responsibilities that I perform as an operating room nurse in the Air Force. Finally, I explained how my duties as an individual and as a medical team contribute to the overall mission of the Air Force at the operational level to achieve medical readiness and quality, accessible health care for the entire military community and family.
Veterans need to be taken care of medically, mentally, and financially, as promised by President Obama. "It's a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end. But we know that for too long, we've fallen short of meeting that commitment. Too many wounded warriors go without the care they need. Too many veterans don't receive the support they've earned.
My initial reason to enter the Air Force was a great way to pay for college which turned into a call of duty and a service commitment which has actively allowed me to contribute to the Air Force mission. Thus far I have led a joint force search and rescue effort and a multinational exercise to preserve freedom. As an F-15E instructor WSO and combat mission ready WSO I actively contribute to ensure our freedoms are preserved and the attacks of September 11, 2001 will never happen again.
I had to pass jump school to attend Special Forces school where I had a slot waiting for me. I wanted to be a Special Forces ambassador in uniform so I could represent my country abroad. Special Forces trains a host nations military by teaching it essential skills. I wanted as many overseas assignments as I could get. My respect for Special Forces and my desire to be part of this elite group gave me my motivation to continue and never give up. I wanted to be in one of America’s best units.
at the orphanage, I was able to help build a sidewalk and a garage for
The history of how Surgical Technologists began on the battlefields in World War II, when the Army used medics to work under the direct supervision of the surgeon, nurses were not allowed aboard combat ships at time, this led to a new profession within the military called Operating Room Technicians (ORTs). An accelerated nursing program was form only on operating room technology was set up as an on the job training of nursing assistants who worked in the surgery department, th...
As a medical / surgical RN, I provided care for the elderly, the infirm, the mentally challenged, the young, and the psychologically disturbed. The wide variety of patients exposed me to the effects of life style choices, health care choices, and the resulting impacts to the patient as well as to the family of the patient. This experience has fully matured my view of the awesome responsibility that we, as health care professionals, have been charged with, and it has furthered my desire to obtain the skills necessary to provide more advanced care for my patients. In addition to exposure, maturity and experience, my career as a medical / surgical RN has also sharpened my critical thinking abilities and provided insight on observing signs and symptoms that a patient may be unware of. Furthermore, as a charge nurse I learned the importance of collaborating with other health care professionals in order to provide the highest level of care available. In summary, my career as an RN has provided valuable experience, maturity, exposure to impact and outcome, enhanced my critical thinking abilities, and improved my collaboration
I chose nursing as a career because I found the work challenging, exciting and rewarding. I feel my skills and attributes are well suited for nursing. My ability to sta...
I started my Nursing career in India and then I came to the United States and became an RN. I entered Nursing with the thinking that Nursing is a profession that will always allow me to have a job and all my patients will get better. However, from my experiences I understood that Nursing is more than just giving medications, and it requires clinical competence, cultural sensitivity, ethics, caring for others, and life-long learning about others and the evolving field of medicine. Florence Nightingale once said:
My quest of becoming a Registered Nurse (RN) actually began in the year 2000 while I was a Emergency Medical Technician in the military. With my wife 's and military colleagues ' encouragement, I decided to go back to school to become an RN. I took and completed all my general education requirements for the Associate Degree in Nursing and finally became a nursing student in the Fall of 2001 with intentions to obtain my BSN soon after that. A few weeks after starting the ADN program, the terrible events of 9/11 occurred, setting my military career into high gear by getting promoted through the ranks along with the additional responsibilities. I welcomed the military promotions as a way to supplement my family income while I attended nursing school. Soon after graduating from the ADN program in the Spring of 2003, I became active with the military for about 8 months thus putting my quest for the BSN on hold. In January 2004, I was hired and started working The Queen 's Medical Center (QMC) in January 2004. Two months after completing my new hire orientation, I was recalled to military active duty for 21 months for deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soon after returning from deployment, I resumed my job at QMC. The military deployment placed our family in a great financial burden, which took us several years to recover from, thus my quest for the BSN was again put on hold.
...th during deployment as well as in the United States Army hospitals. The deployment setting can test military nursing workers in ways that are not the same as what is typical for private citizen nursing employees who practice in traditional civilian hospitals. Providing nursing care to traumatically wounded American military personnel and enemy combatants and living in rigid circumstances are cases of some of the stresses deployed nurses suffer. Depersonalization is also a huge risk factor of burnout in military nurses. One factor that is helpful in avoiding burnout in the Army setting is that physicians, RNs, LPNs and medics all cooperate in ways that may be unusual in a private citizen hospital. In the military setting, the scope of practice increases and nurses are most often times reinforced entirely by their colleagues (Lang, Patrician and Steele, 2012).
I interned a cardiologist where I got to see the life of a physician as he went about his daily routine. I achieved getting my Certified Nursing Assistant license after assisting patients at a nursing home. I became a camp counselor for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where I took care of a 10-year-old child during a summer camp. Through these experiences, I gained confidence in my character and purposefulness. Furthermore, I went on a mission trip to Kenya where I experienced life in a third world country. It was here where my eyes were opened to see a world that is in dire need of help. These people are malnourished, living in detrimental conditions without accessible health care. The experiences I had in Kenya reminded me to never take anything for granted. My engagement acting on all these opportunities fueled my perseverance to pursue my career in health
Right from when the two divisions were found, both the Ambulance and the Nursing Cadet Divisions had shown great enthusiasm and promise to be one of the elite groups within and beyond the school. The two shades of grey uniforms of the cadets had presented a visible reminder that our cadets were a highly disciplined entity among the many uni...
In my medical career, I have been privileged to work alongside some of the most professional, dedicated, knowledgeable and compassionate nurses. I have seen first-hand the difference that they can make in a patient’s life and their family, during those unfortunate times when sickness and injury can be so overwhelming. The appreciation and respect that I have for nurses, as well as their indispensable contribution to the health care system, is what encourage me to pursue nursing as a profession.
Due to working with people around in the university Colorado hospital, I believe I am equipped, ready, and determined to dedicate my life to this high level of responsibility. The leadership opportunities allowed me to develop and practice certain characteristics required for nursing. In the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit it has trained me to overcome emotional discouragement, be patient, be attentive to others’ needs before my own, be available for others, build and maintain relationships, organize events, and manage my time under a busy schedule. Moreover, knowing the competitiveness and rigor of nursing school, it has motivated me to maintain disciplined study habits to precede my goal to become a nurse. While working in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit for two years, my experience at this hospital became the most rewarding and enjoyable. The level of complexity and the demand of taking care of the patients in the hospital contributed to my strong passion and urgency to continue to grow my knowledge and help patients. I am fortunate enough to say that all my hardships, triumphs, and various experiences have contributed to my desire and determination to meet the demands of the nursing
Being able to clearly understand how my job contributes to the Air Force, the Joint Environment, and the DoD is extremely satisfying. I take my work seriously because I know that what I do can have a direct impact on the military’s ability to fight and win wars. The personal achievements that I have experienced during my 22 years in the Air Force are also very gratifying. The work I did as a Security Policeman stand out the most. It was here that I went from a boy to a man in just a few short months and fully understood what it meant to be a part of the military. From humble beginnings in a small town I made the decision to enlist and take on a task bigger than myself. I had no idea what I was getting into.