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ȺpÎÞÂë Faculty Receive the 2025 IBHE Nurse Educator Fellowship Award

Drs. Donna Martin and Renea McKeown, ȺpÎÞÂë College of Nursing and Health Sciences faculty members, received the awarded by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Honorees receive $10,000 to further their professional development and continue providing experienced education and improvements to the ȺpÎÞÂë nursing programs.

Planning to attend conferences to be more proactive in learning about self-care, Martin is looking to find “ways to incorporate self-care into the curriculum of the undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at ȺpÎÞÂë.” 

Also, the professor of nursing intends to raise awareness about self-care within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, emphasizing wanting to create restoration spaces for nursing students and staff.

McKeown plans to add additional supplies and resources into the nursing program to continue to expand hands-on learning.

Attending the 2025 National Nurse Educator Summit in Orlando, the assistant professor of nursing hopes to “gain valuable information that can be applied to the course to improve the delivery of material and the student’s learning.”

McKeown also plans to attend webinars that will help her better prepare students for the NCLEX-RN exam; 2024 ȺpÎÞÂë graduates received a 98 percent first-time pass rate. Expanding her knowledge in this area would help her in the development of writing NGN-style exam questions.

The Nurse Educator Fellowship, awarded by the , supports the retention of skilled nursing faculty at institutions that specifically award nursing degrees. It supplements the recipients’ salaries and assists with professional development and continuing education costs. 

ȺpÎÞÂë is a modern, enterprising, Catholic university with a growing student enrollment from GED through doctoral level programs. As part of the global Lasallian network of 65 universities, Lewis is known for preparing graduates who impact the world for the better. Visit www.lewisu.edu for further information.