Scholarships Help Genesis Continue Tradition Of Nursing Excellence

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Recruiting and retaining top nurses helps Genesis meet the challenge of continually improving nursing practice for the benefit of patients.

One way to continue the tradition of nursing excellence at Genesis is to assist nursing students with scholarships through the Genesis Foundations.  This year, the three foundations will be offering a combined $141,000 in scholarship funds to current Genesis nurses and to area college students enrolled in BSN degree programs.

“Through generous support of the Genesis Foundations, people in the region have demonstrated the importance they place on nurse development and retention,'' said Judy Pranger, Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive, Genesis Health System. “Developing and retaining skilled nurses at Genesis are factors that positively influence patient outcomes.

"By advancing their nursing educations, Genesis nurses are able to change and grow within a health care delivery system that is also changing.’’

Six $10,000 scholarships will be available to students in the ten-county service area of Genesis Health System.  Recipients must live in one of the 10 counties and must attend college on a full-time basis in Iowa or Illinois and be accepted into, or have applied for acceptance, into a four-year BSN program at a college in Iowa or Illinois.

Recipients of the $10,000 scholarship are required to work two years at Genesis Medical Center, Davenport or Genesis Medical Center, Illini Campus in Silvis.

An additional 40 scholarships totaling $81,000 are being offered to current Genesis nurses who are seeking to complete BSN or MSN degrees.

Those scholarships include six $2,000 awards to Illini nurses funded by the Illini Foundation; one $2,000 award to a DeWitt Campus nurse funded by the DeWitt Hospital Foundation; and, 32 $2,000 awards to Genesis Medical Center, Davenport, Genesis Health Group or Genesis VNA & Hospice nurses funded by the Genesis Health Services Foundation.

The $3,000 Virginia Pilcher Award will be presented to a Genesis Medical Center, Davenport nurse for advanced education and is funded by the Genesis Health Services Foundation.

All nursing scholarship applications can be found at www.genesishealth.com/scholarships.

Deadline for all scholarship applications is March 18.  For more information, call Mary Gaetz-Scholtz at (563) 421-6864 or send email to scholarships@genesishealth.com.