Posted: 6/23/2010
Scholarships won by two Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) students will offset the expense of a nursing education and facilitate their pursuit of a career in patient care.
Frank Mataska, Accelerated 10, has received the $2,000 “Cherokee A Nurse I Am” Scholarship. As a response to the large recent number of nurses who’ve left the profession, Cherokee Uniforms commissioned for an inspirational film to be created, “A Nurse I Am”, and scholarships to be awarded to dedicated nursing students. In Mataska’s application essay, he responds to the hackneyed question, “Why don’t you be a doctor?” through anecdotes and reflections about two of the nurses from the film. Mataska mentions one nurse in particular who takes the time to have a mute man with a tracheostomy explain his needs by way of pen and paper, which illustrates the type of close-to-patient care that attracts him to nursing.
“A nurse operates from a patient perspective,” Mataska writes. He explains that being a nurse means understanding the needs of the patient that may not necessarily be evident to a doctor. He describes a nurse’s care as “holistic,” one that makes an effort to recognize not only the physical aspects of illness but also how the illness affects the patient as a whole.
Jody Andrade has received the Paul W. Speier Point Foundation Scholarship for her outstanding leadership qualities and her commitment of service, particularly to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community. The Point Foundation is the leading scholarship-granting organization for LGBT students in the nation, empowering students with the financial, practical, and emotional support needed for academic and personal success.
With a master’s degree in Gender, Policy and Development, Andrade worked for years in advocacy and public policy for several diverse marginalized populations, including serving as Director of the Colorado Anti-violence Program and later in the Maryland Governor’s Office as an analyst of child welfare and maltreatment. Her resume catalogs an impressive list of positions and field experience, not involving any nursing. Why is Jody Andrade, now a student of the Accelerated class of 2011, laboring for a degree in nursing?
“I was looking for a way to have real and lasting impact on people’s lives today, as opposed to the policy work, which might have an effect ten years from now,” Andrade says. She explained that the money from the Point Scholarship will release the pressure of repaying student loans, and allow her to “choose the work [she] wants to do, even if [she] could get higher compensation elsewhere.”
To read Frank Mataska’s essay:
http://www.anurseiam.com/show_winners.php?winning_nurses_id=43
To read about Jody Andrade: http://www.pointfoundation.org/scholars/scholars10/andrade.html