WVU Medicine Celebrates Aspiring Nurses

WHEELING - Hospitals have a need to hire nurses, and WVU Medicine welcomed 19 college nursing students into the profession Tuesday.

A ceremony celebrating the Aspiring Nurses Program offered by WVU Medicine took place at Wheeling Park’s White Palace. During the ceremony, the students signed their letters of intent to later work for the hospital system in exchange for financial assistance from WVU Medicine in the coming years.

The Aspiring Nurses Program at WVU Medicine provides financial and human-centered support to nursing students enrolled at select schools in West Virginia and neighboring regions. Nursing students participating Tuesday represented programs at Ohio University Eastern, West Liberty University, West Virginia Northern Community College, West Virginia Junior College and Belmont College.

The students selected to receive the “aspiring nurse” award receive $5,000 a semester for four semesters and an additional $5,000 upon graduation, for a total of $25,000.

In return, the students agree to a three-year work commitment in the WVU Health System.

Douglass Harrison, left, WVU Medicine North Region president and president/CEO of Wheeling Hospital, thanked the college representatives present for their efforts to develop a future workforce.

“If you could just make it all health care, we would appreciate that,” he told them. “We are in need. But I do understand and appreciate what you guys do and support that.”

He noted his own mother - now retired at 84 - still considers herself to be a nurse.

“It defines who she is and what her life was about,” Douglass continued. “She chose nursing for a variety of reasons. She was young and wanted to start a family with my father. And she always said nursing was one of those jobs you could find anywhere. Anywhere they moved she could find a job.

“But it wasn’t just a job for her. It was a career and a passion for caring for others.”

He told the aspiring nurses that they shouldn’t regard nursing as just a “job.”

“If you do, I’ll just tell you right now get out of it,” Douglass said. “It is not a job. It is a career and a lifelong commitment to caring and compassion to other human beings.

“Somebody is relying on you for care, that compassion and quality you will bring to them.”

He added that patients in the hospital may not always remember the names of the doctors they see, but they do remember the nurses.

“Always remember, you will make an impact on somebody’s life - multiple times,” Douglass said.