Hillsdale Hospital is now accepting applications from the county’s high-school seniors for a nursing school scholarship.
The hospital’s Future of Nursing program awards $10,000 per year toward tuition for high-school seniors to complete a nursing degree, according to Mary Carpenter, education and development coordinator.
The application requires two letters of recommendation, high school transcripts, and two essays about the student’s interest in healthcare and Hillsdale Hospital. Recipients must attend a college in Michigan and pursue either an associate degree in nursing or a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Upon graduation with one of these degrees, recipients also will have an employment commitment to Hillsdale Hospital depending on how long they went to school, according to Rachel Lott, director of marketing and development.
“If they went to school for five years, they have an employment contract for five years,” Carpenter said. “If it’s four years, they stay here for four years. A lot of times they’ll stay for longer, but they have to stay here for that commitment period.”
Carpenter said it’s important to encourage talented youth in the Hillsdale area.
“They’re young people who live here and have their roots in the community,” Carpenter said. “We have a student right now who actually works in the hospital so she’s getting that experience working with the Hillsdale Hospital employees and just really staying local in the community.”
Lott said the retention of local talent is essential, especially in the current healthcare climate.
“We’re in a time in the healthcare industry where nursing recruitment is a big challenge. It’s a major conversation we’re having in healthcare right now and this program is just an example of Hillsdale Hospital’s successful track record at recruiting and retaining local talent,” Lott said. “One of the advantages we have in this very difficult market is that we have already established and started building our own pipeline of future talent instead of waiting for that talent to come to us.”
The hospital’s track record retaining Future of Nursing scholarship recipients has been impressive, Lott said.
“That shows the importance of the hospital’s effort to reach out to and help our local community members advance their careers and advance their education,” Lott said. “But also, that speaks to the culture that we have at our hospital. People who have been through this process can go anywhere they want after the employment contract, but they choose to stay here. I think that’s really a testament to the organization that we have and the type of environment that we foster to help our nurses to be successful and to love their jobs.”
Lott said she hopes the hospital’s recent recognition as a top 100 rural hospital will help the cause.
“That recognition will hopefully make this an even more exciting opportunity for high school seniors,” Lott said. “To have that external recognition and validation can help those students feel even more confident that this is a place they want to be after they graduate.”
Since starting in 2001, the Future of Nursing program has awarded more than $3 million to more than 55 students. The funds come from community donations, according to Lott.
“We have provided academic assistance for nursing students for many years, and we are excited to continue that,” Meghan Campbell, chief nursing officer, said in a press release. “We have incredible nurses on our team today who came up through this program, started their careers with us right after college and have been here ever since.”
Interested students can visit www.hillsdalehospital.com/education for more information.
