Those groups are:
• Charleston Jazz, to expand its access program for children through classes, school performances and interactive events
• Clemson University’s Call Me MiSTER program in Pickens County, for its Camp iRock summer program pairing incoming teachers with experienced educators to learn ways to help elementary students with reading
• Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Emergency and Disaster Response Fund, to help with ongoing efforts to recover from Hurricane Helene
• Crosswell Home for Children, to expand its Independent Living Skills program for those transitioning out of foster care or the child welfare system
Honoring her profession
The nursing scholarship would go to MUSC nurses who want to pursue advanced degrees or training, and would cover tuition, fees and required materials. It comes at an opportune time for the Children’s Hospital, said Kiersten LeBar, associate chief nursing officer for children’s, women’s and behavioral health at MUSC. The pandemic put a strain on all health systems and forced many to bring in additional travel nurses to help carry the load. Now that the nursing staff has stabilized, it’s time to look ahead, LeBar said.
“Now we’re looking towards the future in how do we grow our nurses?” she said. “How do we enhance their skill set and retain them?”
Being able to offer that additional training is a bonus for staff to stay and also helps recruit nurses to areas of the children’s hospital that can be harder to staff, such as the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, LeBar said. Patients in that unit often have long-term stays and repeat visits, so the nurses serve as a kind of family for those patients, she said.
“So when things go well, that’s great,” LeBar said. “But sometimes, when we have hiccups or the outcomes aren’t quite what we would have hoped for, it’s hard on our teams.”
That unit, and many others in the children’s hospital, also require specialized knowledge and training for the nurses that work there.
