Cherokee Uniforms Gives Back

Cherokee Medical Uniforms, in association with The DAISY Foundation, will again award 10 scholarships to support nursing professionals and assist with their career advancement. 

Since 2017, Cherokee Uniforms has awarded $40,000 in scholarships through the The Cherokee Nursing Conference Scholarship program.  This program provides financial assistance to DAISY Award Honorees who are pursuing continuing education credits to support their licensure, credentialing or overall professional development. Ten $2,000 scholarships are awarded each year for use toward attendance at any nursing conference in the United States. The stipend may be used to pay for registration fees, hotel, transportation or any other conference-related expenses. 

The benefits of receiving a scholarship affect not only the individual nurse, but have repercussions that reach far beyond the recipient.

Martha Harlow, a pediatric cardiology RN at the Fox Valley clinic of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, was one of the inaugural scholarship recipients in 2017.

“From the time I started working in pediatrics in 2015, it was a goal of mine to attend the Congenital Heart Disease Conference presented annually by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,” said Harlow, who has been a nurse since 2003.

“I was looking to grow and expand my knowledge base and dig deeper into my specialty, and this is the go-to conference for my field. But with no education funds available, it would have been out of my reach,” she added.   

“Being able to attend this conference for three days gave me a foundation to continue learning and asking questions. It really set me on fire,” she said.

“Not only was this an outstanding educational experience for myself but an opportunity to bring the most recent information back to my colleague at the clinic,” said Harlow. “And it benefited the families and kids that we help every day.” 

Robin Coyne, of Mercy West Hospital in Cincinnati, has practiced nursing for 35 years, 17 of them at Mercy West. Her scholarship enabled her to attend the Association for Radiologic & Imaging Nursing (ARIN) convention in 2017.

 “I am required to complete 60 hours of CEU’s every four years, and interventional radiology CEU’s are difficult to obtain,” said Coyne. “Thanks to the scholarship I not only gained a large portion of my education credits and learned about new techniques and equipment, but I also had the opportunity to interact with other IR nurses and share experiences in one of the smaller specialties within nursing,” she added.

Coyne echoed the sentiments of Martha Harlow: Attending the conference enabled her to learn valuable information to pass along to her colleagues and ultimately enable them all to provide even better patient care.

“We are so proud of our partnership with Cherokee Medical Uniforms, sponsor of this unique scholarship program,” said Bonnie Barnes, Co-Founder and President of The DAISY Foundation. “In a time of shrinking resources, these funds help nurses advance their careers through continuing education and training. And looking at the applications we’ve received in the past, it is clear that this scholarship addresses a critical need in the community. We are thrilled to connect DAISY Award Honorees with this program that benefits the individual nurse, their colleagues and patients.”

Applications for the 2019 scholarship are due November 30, 2018, and recipients have a full year to use their funds. Recognizing the extraordinarily busy schedules of nurses, Cherokee has streamlined the application with the main information consisting of a 300-word-or-less paragraph describing short-and long-term professional goals and how they contribute to professional development and career advancement.

A panel of judges, representing nursing executives and academics from across the country, selects the 10 recipients.

Martha Harlow encourages all DAISY honorees to apply: ”The application process is easy. You just write what your heart is saying and why you want to advance your knowledge. Don’t be afraid—just do it!”

For more information and to apply, go to http://www.cherokeenursingscholarship.com/

About Cherokee Medical Uniforms

Cherokee apparel has been known for comfort and fashion since 1972. This ready-to-wear heritage shapes the way we approach designing and manufacturing medical uniforms and accessories; it has helped our brand become the overwhelming favorite of healthcare workers everywhere.

Cherokee is dedicated to bringing fashion, comfort and quality—as well as more style and personality—to uniforms without sacrificing the functionality you need to do your job.

About The DAISY Foundation

The DAISY Foundation was created in 1999 by the family of J. Patrick Barnes who died at age 33 of complications of an autoimmune disease (hence the name, an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.) Patrick received extraordinary care from his nurses, and his family felt compelled to express their profound gratitude for the compassion and skill nurses bring to patients and families every day. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses celebrates nurses in over 2,600 healthcare facilities around the world. For more information about The DAISY Award and the Foundation’s other recognition of nurses, faculty and students, visit www.DAISYfoundation.org.

Sponsored by Cherokee Uniforms