Kristena's Story │ Roper St. Francis Foundation │ Roper St. Francis Healthcare

Scholarship Helps Kristena Obtain Her Graduate Degree

After graduating from nursing school, Kristena didn’t see herself going back to school again. However, her thoughts began to change during a medical conference she attended in 2021. Despite being in the midst of a pandemic, there was so much positivity at the conference about the future of nursing that Kristena started thinking how an advanced degree could help her make an impact on the quality of care for our patients.

“When I got back from the conference, I investigated going back to school, but I was discouraged by the costs of graduate school,” she says. Her nursing scholarship was the key. “Without my nursing scholarship, I don’t think I could have done it,” said Kristena. “The financial support from the scholarship and emotional support from my family helped me to succeed.”

Kristena now serves in the Quality Department at Roper St. Francis, working towards improving the care for all our patients. In her role, she supports our safety initiatives that work to reduce preventable medical errors and harm to patients and teammates. Her work saves lives every day and is a good example of how one nursing scholarship can positively impact our entire system at Roper St. Francis.

Thanks to donors, 48 nurses were able to advance their education through scholarships in 2023.