12 Nursing Students Receive CHI St. Vincent Assistance Scholarship

Twelve people standing on a stairway. Twelve National Park College (NPC) registered nursing (RN) students were recently selected for the CHI St. Vincent Nursing Pathway Assistance Scholarship. Recipients include Christy Beene, Hannah Blankenship, Molly Brennan, Carlee Carmon, Kristin Couch-Mahoney, Katelyn Freeman, Emily Garcia, Jennifer Gill, Kaylin Hopper, Amy Hughes, Karin Owens, and Marzeah Rayburn.

The scholarship is a $10,000 educational assistance loan agreement that provides students with a financial incentive beginning their final year in nursing school and concluding after their first year of employment at CHI St. Vincent as an RN. The loan is “repaid” when graduates work for CHI St. Vincent for a total of 18 months.

Janice Ivers, Dean of Nursing, called the program a “win-win.” “Students secure a job prior to graduation and they get money now,” she explained. “And CHI recruits some awesome nurses.”

Students are selected by the NPC nursing scholarship committee based on letters of recommendation and an essay. CHI St. Vincent had originally approved eight scholarships, but the quality of the applicant pool led to a change of plans.

“I received twelve applications with outstanding essays that depicted the mission, vision and core values of a CHI SVHS nurse,” Ivers said. “I felt that all twelve applicants would be an awesome match for CHI. I reached out to Vicky Sanders, Market Director of Nursing Operations for CHI, and told her about the number of applicants and that each of these students depicted the heart of CHI. The next thing I knew the number of recipients increased from eight to twelve! We are very fortunate to have such great local partners to help us support and prepare our future healthcare workforce.”

Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Christy Beene, Hannah Blankenship, Molly Brennan, Carlee Carmon, Katelyn Freeman, Emily Garcia, Jennifer Gill, Kaylin Hopper, Amy Hughes, Karin Owens, Marzeah Rayburn, Mrs. Vicky Sanders, MSN, CNML, market director of nursing operations.