GW Nursing Magazine Fall 2016

Morgan Rollo, BSN ’17, always knew
she wanted to be in the medical field. The
idea of more holistic care combined with
the uniquely dynamic role the nurse plays
as an educator, healer and advocate, drew
her to the profession. The simulation
labs, the Global Initiative Program and
the scholarship drew her to GW SON.
“As someone who is a hands-on learner,
being able to practice my skills in the safe
structure of the lab allows me to build
my confidence before I use these skills
on patients in the hospital,” she said.
“And I have always wanted to travel and
experience global health care.”
Although she once planned a career
as a physician, Ms. Rollo now aspires
to be a trauma ICU nurse. She said the
pieces never came together to pursue
medical school. “I think the quote by
Albert Einstein perfectly describes how
nursing found me: ‘Everyone is a genius,
but if you tell a fish to climb a tree, it will
spend its entire life believing it is stupid.’
I was terrified that I had made the wrong
choice… it took less than a day [at GW
SON] for me to realize that I am exactly
where I am supposed to be,” she said.
Dr. Ellen M.
Dawson Scholarship
Ikaika Moreno, BSN ’17, MSN ’19,
a Hawaiian single father, says it was
his daughters who inspired him to go
into a medical field. He described the
helplessness he felt when they fell ill or
were injured and the joy and relief when
they became better with the help of either
a nurse or doctor. Those experiences
touched him in ways his interactions
with other jobs or careers did not and led
him from the hospitality industry to the
nursing profession.
Extensive research on nursing schools
brought him to GW SON. “This fall is the
final semester of my bachelor’s program,
and I hope to continue on to earn a family
nurse practitioner degree. Without this
generous scholarship, it wouldn’t be
possible for me to continue to pursue my
dreams,” he said.
In describing those dreams for his
career and his home, he explained,
“Becoming a family nurse practitioner will
give me the opportunity to help treat,
educate and create awareness about the
preventable and communicable diseases
that plague native Hawaiians and other
underrepresented ethnicities. And
eventually, working with health care teams
throughout Hawaii, I can help the native
populations to overcome these diseases
and once again flourish. My philosophy of
life is teamwork and helping those who
help others.”