The scholarship advisory committee of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce that they have awarded nursing scholarships totaling $2,500 to five members of the Ocean Medical Center staff.
Jamie Cowling (Belmar), Tara Davis (Toms River), Kyle Leach (Point Pleasant Beach-not pictured), Kristin Pappa (Point Pleasant Boro) and Sharon Scrofine (Brick-not pictured) were presented five individual $500 scholarships during an award ceremony held Thursday afternoon, September 19 on the Ocean Medical Center main campus in Brick.
The ceremony marks the third time in as many years that scholarships have been awarded to Ocean Medical Center employees from the scholarship fund.
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The five 2013 scholarship recipients were selected by the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund Scholarship Advisory Committee from twelve total applicants after the committee reviewed all scholarship applications and supporting documents from each of the candidates who applied.
Jamie Cowling patrols the halls of 5 West at OMC and is a valued team member of the Telemetry/Respiratory Unit. She is pursuing her RN degree at the Brookdale Community College School of Nursing with an expected graduation date of December 2013.
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Tara Davis received her RN degree in 2002 and is currently pursuing her BSN at the Kean University School of Nursing at Ocean with an expected graduation date of May 2015. She is a long-time member of the 4 East Oncology team and has achieved Clinical Scholar IV.
Kyle Leach hails from Medical/Surgical Department located on 3 South at OMC. He is pursuing his RN at Ocean County College School of Nursing with an expected graduation date in December 2014 and plans to peruse his BSN at Kean University School of Nursing at Ocean thereafter. He is a member of the Safe Patient Handling Committee at OMC.
Kristen Pappa is a passionate and committed team member of the Oncology Unit who started at Ocean Medical Center in 2008. She is pursuing her BSN at Kean University School of Nursing at Ocean with an expected graduation date of May 2016. Kristen is a member of the Wound Care and Safe Patient Handling Committees.
Sharon Scrofine is a valued team member of Emergency Department at the Ocean Care Center, a satellite of Ocean Medical Center. She is pursuing her MSN degree with a focus on Clinical Administration at Kean University School of Nursing at Ocean with an expected graduation date of May 2014.
“On behalf of the entire scholarship committee, I want to congratulate these five exceptional individuals who truly have a sincere desire and compassion for the Nursing profession just like Barbara did. They each have an exceptional drive to gain as much knowledge as they can to help their patients and have placed a priority on their own Nursing education. We want to wish all of them all the best of success for many years to come” mentioned Walt Konopka, Chairperson of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund.
The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established on January 15, 2011 and is part of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation family of funds.
The fund provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in nursing profession in the form of scholarships and awards one (or more) nursing scholarship during September of each year to eligible applicants.
During its short 30-month history, The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund has awarded $7,000 total to 14 nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center.
The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant resident Barbara Forfar or “Foof” as she was called by her fellow nurses and other colleagues in the operating room, and her forty-four years of dedication to the nursing profession with all but three years of her service associated with the Ocean Medical Center or its predecessor hospitals.
To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be an employee or nursing student at Ocean Medical Center and must be enrolled in a RN program, an upper division program (RN to BSN) or advanced degree program (MSN, PhD) in nursing.
All Ocean Medical Center nurses and nursing students from all OMC practice areas were eligible to apply. The scholarship must be used to supplement tuition, fees, lab costs, books or educational supply expenses.
The 2013 scholarship application due date was July 12.
Earlier this year on April 21, the Scholarship Fund held its second annual nursing scholarship fundraiser (Rock for the Nurses-Rock for the Shore) at Jenks Club in Point Pleasant Beach and teamed-up with the United Way of both Monmouth and Ocean County and split the proceeds of the event to help provide some much needed financial assistance to Hurricane Sandy victims at the Jersey Shore.
The successful Rock for the Nurses-Rock for the Shore fundraiser included nine of the top bands from around the Jersey Shore and was attended by over 300 guests.
For more information about Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund, including how to make a donation to the fund, please log on to the official fund website at www.forfarscholarship.org
