Paying it Forward” - School of Nursing - West Virginia University

Scholarship and Mary H. Arbuckle
School of Nursing scholarships gave Jessica Pforr more time to focus on her course work. Pforr is pictured at her capstone
presentation where she conducted an educational session on Hepatitis C and HIV to inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary at
Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, WV.
Jessica Pforr, a December 2009 graduate and recipient of
the Mary H. Arbuckle scholarship, echoes Tannehill's
sentiments.
"During my senior year in the bachelor's program, I didn't
have time for a full-time job because I was busy with my
leadership rotation in the emergency department at WVU
Hospitals," said Pforr. "The scholarship I received from the
School of Nursing lessened my financial burden and allowed
me more time to focus on my coursework and my nurse
externship at the hospital."
The experience Tannehill and Pforr gained through
externships and leadership rotations eventually led to full-time
jobs for both graduates in the medical-surgical intensive care
unit at WVU Hospitals.
"There is no way I would have been able to start right into
the intensive care unit of a Level One Trauma Center following
graduation had I not had the extra time to spend studying,"
said Tannehill.
According to both Tannehill and Pforr, a great deal of their
success can be attributed to the instructors and coursework at
the School of Nursing.
"I loved my time at the School of Nursing. My instructors
had such positive influences on me and made me want to
become a nurse educator," said Tannehill.
"The information I learned in my critical care class really
helped me when I got to the intensive care unit. There are still
important tidbits I remember from that course that I try to use
in my dealings with patients," added Pforr.
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