2025 Nursing Conference Grant Winning Essays

The questions for this year’s application cycle were as follows: 

1. Please describe how you will share what you learn at this conference with colleagues. 

2. How will you incorporate what you learn from this educational offering into your practice? 

3. How will this conference advance your long-term career goals (beyond the attainment of continuing education hour requirements)? 

 

Essays were lightly edited for grammar, flow, and readability.  

 

Amy Ross

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Essay 1:  After attending this conference, I will share details of pertinent sessions to the corresponding teams with which I interact in my role. For example, there will be many sessions related to transition to practice programs, details of which I will present back to our residency coordinators. Fellowship program information would be shared with continuing education coordinators. In my current role, I have the opportunity to work with all members of our Clinical Learning and Development department, who provide support services to nurses throughout the continuum of their career. Generally, after attending a professional development opportunity, I take extensive notes to ensure understanding and use that information to present at either a weekly virtual team meeting, or our quarterly in-person meetings. In the past, I have also used information learned from conferences to develop professional development activities for our team, supporting their growth in addition to sharing information.

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Essay 2: Since earning my Daisy Award, I have progressed in my career from a staff nurse, to charge nurse, to unit-based educator, new grad residency coordinator, and am now the Manager of Learning Programs for my hospital system. During that time, in an effort to better serve my colleagues and patient population, I also obtained my MSN as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. I am fortunate to have been given the opportunity to transition to support roles where I worked with an incredible team, applying my unique skillset, and participated in the development of a Transition to Practice Nurse Residency Program for Piedmont Healthcare. As I continue to grow within my role and continue supporting the divisions of our Clinical Learning and Development Department, it is important to stay on the frontline of education practices and research. In years past, this conference has highlighted trends and best practices in the implementation of residency programs, with information delivered by professional development specialists from across the country. Attending this conference would provide unique insight in how improvement of processes here at Piedmont Healthcare would positively impact our new graduate nurses and give me the opportunity to learn from peers in my field. The 2025 agenda includes topics such as Expanding cultural humility, Transitioning from new graduate nurse to nurse preceptor, and information about the development of a fellowship program. While the 2026 agenda has not been published, it would be an extraordinary privilege to learn how to better serve our new graduate nurses and provide improved professional development opportunities for experienced staff. I would like to take the information I learn and either improve our existing programs or develop new opportunities to support our nurses' growth through their own careers. Nursing is so often a difficult job, in so many ways, I hope to bring services to the table that help my colleagues feel valued and seen. Nursing work is so special (please take a moment and watch the "The Caring Moment" by Dr. Jean Watson if you can!), and to honor that, and to give back in the best way I can, I seek as many opportunities as possible to learn.

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Essay 3: The 2026 Professional Development and Practice Summit will specifically be geared towards information to bolster programs supporting new graduates and the ongoing learning of experienced nurses. Incorporation of topics as referenced above, in addition to incorporation of wellbeing practices and quality assurance measures, will support my goal of developing a successful externship program. Additionally, increasing my knowledge in the areas discussed at this conference will assist in my continued support of nursing staff and members of my own department. I have always enjoyed learning and sought out avenues for personal and professional growth. Nursing is a path of service, and I serve my patient population by supporting the nurses who directly care for them. I would be honored to be considered for this scholarship, as receiving it would allow me an opportunity I might not otherwise have to learn from experts in my field. 

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