FALL 2023 — Melissa Mendez, a student in the School of Nursing's Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (MS) program, has received a scholarship from Nurses Educational Funds (NEF) for 2023-24. Mendez is one of eight master’s students around the country to be awarded the highly competitive scholarship this year.

Mendez, who currently works as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital in the Bronx, was motivated to become a nurse by the shortage of nurses in the healthcare workforce. Because of nursing staff shortages, she has often worked as the only Spanish-speaking nurse on the unit.

Mendez believes that being a nurse practitioner will provide her with many opportunities for improving healthcare in minority populations. She plans to act as a role model to inspire other Hispanics and other minorities to work in healthcare. Her advanced practice preparation in clinical care and pharmacology will also propel her future goals of more comprehensively treating the mentally ill in her community in the Bronx.

Nurses Educational Funds, established in 1912, is a non-profit organization that has depended solely on donations to advance its only mission: to promote leadership and health equality through annual scholarship support for professional nurses seeking master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing education, advanced clinical practice, research, health policy, and administration.

Annual NEF scholarship applications open on October 1 and close on February 1 of the next year. To apply, please visit their website at www.n-e-f.org.