My ultimate career goal is to become a flight nurse. However, I have many short-term goals, which are all structured so that their completion will increase my knowledge base and confidence, while also providing me with the critical thinking skills necessary of such a career in critical care nursing. My most immediate goals are to complete my nursing education at the University of New Hampshire and pass the NCLEX exam. After having completed a 8 week long externship at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in the Cardiovascular Critical Care the summer before my senior year, I realized my true passion lies in that field. The incredible learning and outstanding staff support I received solidified my desire to work at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in the Intensive Care Unit or the Cardiovascular Critical Care after licensure. Concomitantly, I plan on obtaining my Wilderness EMT certification to enable me to participate in Search and Rescue. A dream of mine is to work in the West where I will be able to combine my passion for wilderness and adventure with my desire to care for those critically in need. Another avenue I would like to explore is travel nursing – to indulge in my love of traveling while also being exposed to different cultural and clinical experiences. Additionally, although I am unsure of the timing, I plan on getting my Master’s degree, so I can give back to the nursing profession by becoming a professor at a university and doing my part to decrease the nursing shortage. A personal goal is to be continually focused on improving and preserving my patients’ health and autonomy, furthering my education to match the advances in nursing, and upholding the image of nursing as honorable and respectable.
Elizabeth Petrus 