About the SeniorAdvisor.com 2014 In-Home Innovation Scholarship: We started the scholarship program to bring awareness of the unique benefits and challenges of in-home caregiving for seniors to younger generations. The questions posed by the scholarship encouraged our nation’s future caregivers to present solutions for improving home care in the United States. College-aged students were required to answer one of the three essay topics below and provide a short bio as part of their scholarship application. Read the winning essays here.

How can your major of study improve the lives of seniors receiving in-home care services?

Essay response by Eladra Ludvigsen, Bethel University

The purpose of in-home care services is to offer a more meaningful way of life. A way of life that is more personalized, more dignified, and more grounded. A way that goes beyond the necessary procedures and reaches optimum comfort for the individual receiving care. Unfortunately, there are everyday circumstances that interfere with this mission. Fortunately, in my major of study, I can actively fight against these setbacks. As a nursing major, when the world throws the quality of in-home back one step, I am able to bring it two steps forward.

It may seem obvious that nursing majors would be able to improve the lives of seniors receiving in-home care, but I believe there are reasons this is true that go beyond the typical logic.  Yes, nursing majors take all of the required courses and come out of school as a well-trained care giver. Not to say that this aspect isn’t extremely important, but I also think that the complexity of this major is often overlooked. I’d like to start off mentioning the firsthand experience with seniors that is required for many nursing programs, including mine. It is a requirement to obtain a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) license to pursue a nursing degree at my university, and many others. For me, working as a CNA gave me insight into the lives of seniors at various stages of health. A CNA learns the physical, emotional and practical aspects of being an altruistic and well-rounded caregiver to seniors. The experience Nursing majors obtain is crucial to understanding the impact and difference one can make in their career for seniors receiving in-home care services. The other, more diverse, aspect of nursing that is prevalent in effecting seniors life’s is the characteristic of passion. The only way a student studying nursing would be able to survive the grueling time, physical, and emotional demands would be because of the passion that they have for it. Money alone is not enough to ignite this special type of determination in people. It is the desire and need to be life-changers that burns inside nurses that makes them prime candidates to become true advocates for better in-home care services.

With a Nursing degree in hand I will feel prepared to serve in the in-home care industry. From the training and experience that I will have received, I will be able to effectively impact the lives of seniors. Being the main care-giver to an individual, I can make their experience with in-home care more positive every single day. Having this position presents so many opportunities to show the individual kindness and superb care. My main aspiration is to take my nursing degree and use it to give a better tomorrow for my patients. The path that leads toward a better way of life for seniors receiving in-home care is a challenging, yet dire route that needs to be taken.

My major of study can aid in generating trail blazers that have the passion and desire to keep up with the ongoing changes that need to be made. These charges are crucial in order to accommodate and improve the life of every single senior receiving in-home care. With the backbone of experience and the vital elements of passion for a better life that this field of study creates, I am confident to go forward and improve the lives of seniors receiving in-home care services.

About Eladra

Eladra is pursuing a degree in nursing at Bethel University.