The one who hatched the idea is retired and living in North Carolina where she helps care for her two young grandchildren.
The other who took the idea and ran with is in her 31styear at McLaren Greater Lansing, and has been a clinical nurse educator since 2004.
Together, Sue Brennan and Sue Vollmar each played significant roles in the creation of the Margaret E. McLaren Nursing Scholarship Fund at McLaren Greater Lansing.
Nearly $70,000 in scholarship aid has been awarded to close to 60 employees at the hospital since the fund was created in late 2011. As is customary, the most recent recipients were informed of their good fortune during the annual celebrations surrounding National Nurses Week from May 6-12.
“I never imagined it getting to where it is,” Brennan said of the Nursing Scholarship Fund. “I was just a vessel for the idea and Sue really took it from there. She was like a dog with a bone to get it going.”
The idea of a scholarship fund at what is now McLaren Greater Lansing came about in April of 2011. That’s when Brennan was preparing to step down from her position as a clinical nurse educator because she was going to take a job at a hospital in North Carolina so she could be close to her daughter, Mara, who was pregnant with what turned out to be Brennan’s first grandchild.
Brennan was at a point in her life where she “didn’t need any more stuff.” So she approached Vollmar with an idea of creating a nursing scholarship program, rather than having a going away party that she figured would include gifts from people with whom she had worked for many years.
“I just felt like the time was right,” Brennan said. “People wanted to do something special for me and I thought a nursing scholarship would be a great way to do that.”
Brennan was mentored by Dorothea Milbrandt, vice president for nursing and director of nursing at Ingham Medical Center from 1975-91, and someone who stressed nurses needed to continually “move forward” when it came to their education.
“She said you couldn’t stay stagnant,” Brennan said. “That medicine was always changing and so was health care.”
Brennan figured – correctly it turned out – there were nurses at the hospital, as well as individuals in the Greater Lansing community, who would be interested in contributing to a nursing scholarship fund via the McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation. The program’s support base also includes proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets at the Foundation’s Annual Gala and from honorarium gifts that Michigan State University’s Institute for Global Health makes to thank the Clinical Education Department and nurses for hosting annual programs in which nurses from South Korea and China job-shadow their McLaren Greater Lansing counterparts.
“Nurses are extremely busy,” Vollmar said. “But many of them want to go above and beyond to expand their education. So it’s important to help support them. It’s important for the staff to know that when nurses want to advance and improve their education, we are there to give them a hand as an organization.”
Darcy Tyrrell, patient care manager of the Birthing Center since August of last year, was the recipient of $1,000 scholarships in 2016 and ’17 while working toward her bachelor’s of science degree in nursing (BSN).
Tyrrell had been a patient care manager at McLaren Greater Lansing from 2011-13, but decided to pursue a BSN while working as a safety and quality supervisor at the hospital.
“I didn’t know what the future would bring,” she said of her decision to go back to school. “But I thought it would be smart to have a BSN.”
Tyrrell said earning the degree helped her in numerous ways, including improving her skills when it comes to researching journals, honing her leadership abilities, and making her a more “well-rounded” nurse.
Julie Ashi, director of patient care services, was one of four individuals to receive $1,000 in aid when the first class of Nursing Scholarship Fund recipients was announced in 2012.
Ashi, who began working at McLaren Greater Lansing in 1997, used the scholarship to cover some of her tuition costs as she worked toward her BSN, and she has since earned an MBA.
“I was focused on the leadership track and the education has been very beneficial for me,” she said. “It has made me more well-rounded as a leader.”
While Ashi and Tyrrell were registered nurses who received aid while working toward a BSN, staff who are nurse assistants, unit assistants, unit coordinators, emergency room technicians, and surgical technicians are also eligible to apply for a scholarship if they are enrolled in a program to become a registered nurse by earning their associates degree in nursing.
“It’s a great opportunity for us as an organization to support ongoing education for our employees,” said Deb Leblanc, chief nursing officer for McLaren Greater Lansing. “We always want to make sure they have opportunities to grow professionally and a nursing scholarship can help them do that.”
If you would like to make a gift to support the Nursing Scholarship Fund or another fund, unit, department, or program at the hospital, please contact McLaren Greater Lansing Foundation at (517) 975-7100 or mglfoundation@mclaren.org, or visit mclaren.org/lansingfoundation.