Guidelines

• Some nursing scholarships require special essays from all applicants. These essays usually need to respond to specific questions listed on the application. Prospective nursing students can apply for these scholarships through hospitals, non-profit medical charities and civic groups. Other nursing scholarships come from colleges or universities, or their health or nursing departments directly. They may rely on the same essays that a nursing applicant submits for admission, or require additional essays. Whatever the case, read the scholarship application and admissions guidelines carefully.
  
  

Preparation

• In preparing a nursing scholarship essay, it's important to gather information and make a plan. Start by reading about the group that offers the scholarship. Find out its mission and history so you can discuss how you embody the organization's goals or values in some way. If the scholarship application includes questions, make sure you work out an outline that addresses them directly. Finally, determine what the central theme, or main point, of your essay will be. For example, if you choose to write about a family member's illness that prompted you to pursue nursing, make sure each section of the essay addresses this story in some way.
  
  

Content

• There's no rule as to what nursing students should include in scholarship essays to have the best chance of being selected by the scholarship committee. An essay should reflect a nursing student's personal interest in the field, which likely includes an intellectual interest in medicine as well as a personal desire to help others. You should discuss both forms of motivation, but you don't need to discuss specific medical knowledge or experience; scholarships committees will also have access to your transcripts and other supporting documents. Only discuss internship experience or life experience if it addresses the scholarship application's questions or is relevant to your main point.
  
  

Tips

• Nursing scholarships are competitive and most committees receive a deluge of applications. Make yours stand out by introducing a personal element, such as a story that indicates why you want to pursue nursing, or your own experience with nurses when you've been a patient. At the same time, show that you can handle the stresses of a nursing job by relating your past experience dealing with responsibility or a fast-paced work or classroom environment. Ask someone to proofread your essay to make sure it's grammatically and stylistically perfect; for nurses, precision and care are extremely important.