Jessica Washington, a student at Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing, recently was awarded the school’s 2019 Dr. Donald M. Suggs Minority Nursing Student Scholarship. Washington is a first-term nursing student in Goldfarb’s accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
Donald Suggs, MD, for whom the scholarship is named, is an oral surgeon, newspaper publisher and distinguished community leader. He has served with distinction as a member of Goldfarb’s Board of Trustees and has long been a champion of academic achievement for all Goldfarb students. The scholarship was designed to help recruit and retain students from ethnic groups typically under-represented in nursing and nursing education.
A St. Louis native, Washington graduated from Incarnate Word Academy in 2015 in the top 10% of her class. She was a cum laude graduate of Tennessee State University and is a member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and the International Scholar Laureate Program.
Washington says that after she graduates from Goldfarb with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, she will work in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. She also notes that she intends to continue her education, first by earning certification in neonatal intensive care nursing, then by becoming a Neonatal Practitioner and ultimately achieving a Doctorate in Nursing Practice degree.
Washington was recognized at the St. Louis American Salute to Excellence in Education Gala on September 21, where Dr. Suggs and Nancy Ridenour, Ph.D, RN, APRN, BC, FAAN, Maxine Clark and Bob Fox President of Goldfarb, presented her with the scholarship award. She will receive scholarship funding of up to $25,000.
