According to LHAAMC, the Grow A Nurse Scholarship Program is funded through staff donations, raffles, and sales of nurse-designed t-shirts during Nurses Week.
The program began in 2010, after Carol Finkinger saw a similar effort at a nursing conference. In its first year, nurses set a $5,000 goal but raised about $1,300 through donations.
The effort grew as awareness spread through the hospital. The first scholarship recipient later donated money to support the next award, helping inspire the name “Grow A Nurse.”
Any LHAAMC nurse enrolled in a nursing program may apply, along with patient care technicians entering a nursing program. A 15-nurse committee reviews applications and selects recipients.
Per LHAAMC, the program usually awards one $5,000 scholarship each year, but the sale of about 1,000 t-shirts last year helped fund a record three scholarships this year.
LHAAMC nurses and scholarship recipients were scheduled to be recognized during the hospital’s annual Nurses Week Dinner. T-shirts were also set to be sold at the event and throughout the week outside the cafeteria.
This year’s winning shirt design was created by Patient Care Technician Carol Preller. Titled “The Power of Nurses,” it shows nurses in capes near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
Money from this year’s t-shirt sales will support next year’s scholarship.
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