Brick, NJ – October 7, 2020 – The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship committee presented its 2020 scholarships on September 29 at Hackensack Meridian Ocean Medical Center to deserving recipients, Shoshana Diamond of Jackson Township and Emily Trione of Brick Township. Each recipient received a $500 scholarship to further their nursing education.
Diamond has been employed with Ocean Medical Center since 2013 and is currently a member of the surgical team. During the past seven years, she has become well versed in several sub-specialties including general, orthopedic, vascular and thoracic surgery. According to many of her colleagues, Diamond works tirelessly every day to ensure that her patients receive the highest quality of care. She is a Registered Nurse and member of the Ocean Medical Center’s Shared Grievance and Surgical Site Infection Committees. Diamond is pursuing her MSN degree at Chamberlain University School of Nursing with an expected completion date of June 2022.
Emily Trione is pursuing her BSN at William Patterson University with an anticipated completion date of December 2022. She is the daughter of Nancy Trione, a long-time career nurse at Ocean Medical Center who was one of three individuals who received the inaugural Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship in 2011. Emily is currently a Patient Care Technician and part of the 4 North nursing unit at the medical center. She has been touted by her superiors as a hard-working individual with a very strong character who is always looking to improve. Her ultimate goal is to become a part of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as she advances her nursing career.
“On behalf of the entire scholarship committee, I want to congratulate Shoshana and Emily, says Walt Konopka, chairperson of the Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund. “They are exceptional Ocean Medical Center team members who truly have a sincere desire and compassion for the nursing profession and nursing education just like Barbara did. Both of them have an exceptional drive to gain as much knowledge as they can to help their fellow team members and patients and have placed a priority on their own personal nursing education to help serve all of us better.”
Now in its tenth year, The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund has awarded $20,000 to 35 nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center. The scholarship fund provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in the nursing profession. It was created to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant resident Barbara Forfar, or “Foof,” as she was called by her fellow nurses and colleagues, and her 44 years of dedication to the nursing profession – with all but three years of her service associated with Ocean Medical Center.
“We are grateful for the incredible support of our team members throughout the years,” says Marie Foley-Danecker, chief nursing officer of Ocean Medical Center. “It’s also such a beautiful tribute to Foof – whom we still remember fondly. These scholarships help to make our entire team better and we are appreciative of everything the committee does for our team members, including the Rock for the Nurses fundraiser.
This year’s Rock for the Nurses Fundraiser was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has been rescheduled for Sunday, May 2, 2021.
For more information about The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund, including how to make a donation, please visit www.forfarscholarship.org or connect with The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund on Facebook or Twitter.
ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN OCEAN MEDICAL CENTER
Serving Ocean and southern Monmouth counties, Ocean Medical Center is an advanced care hospital that offers the convenience and easy access of a community hospital with high technology advances and expertise of a major medical center featuring expert care coordinated by a team of top specialists in emergency, cardio vascular, women’s health, cancer and orthopedic services. Delivering on this promise, Ocean Medical Center is home to an innovative medical-surgical floor equipped with 36 private patient beds that integrates technology and design to transform the patient experience and empower patients to return to their lives as soon as possible. This forward thinking renovation project completed the $82 million expansion including the 44,300 square foot state-of-the-art Hirair and Anna Hovnanian Emergency Care Center and a new comprehensive Cancer Center. Ocean Medical Center officially became a premier community-based teaching hospital with the launch of its inaugural class of family medicine and psychiatry residents in 2018 and, further medical education developments included the addition of an internal medicine residency program in 2019.
The medical center provides the only 24/7 obstetrical hospitalist coverage and a dedicated obstetrical emergency department in the community to enhance the continuity of care for women and their infants. Certified by the Joint Commission as an accredited orthopedic program, Ocean Medical Center is a designation for orthopedic joint replacements where more than 1,000 joint replacements are done annually. The Vascular Program is among the first in Ocean County to offer Trans-cervical Carotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) for patients with carotid artery disease. Other key services include: designation as a Primary Stroke Center; brain lab neurological surgery, DaTscan and advanced imaging technology; da Vinci® robotic surgery; general thoracic and vascular surgery; one of the nation’s most advanced cardiac catheterization laboratories and cardiac services; acute care of the elderly; and critical care services. Ocean was recognized as a high performing hospital in U.S. News & World Report 2018-19 for heart failure and colon cancer surgery and earned The Joint Commission Seal of Approval for four disease sites: Jt. Replacement, Stroke, Palliative Care, and Colorectal cancer.
The medical center has achieved Magnet® recognition, one of the highest and most prestigious distinctions a health care organization can receive for nursing excellence and high-quality patient care. In spring 2019, Ocean Medical Center was once again awarded an ‘A’ rating in the Leapfrog Safety Grade and received the 2018 Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award for superior safety performance. Ocean Medical Center received the highest score in the hospital network for team member engagement in the Great Places To Work® survey and has been honored for Environmental Excellence by Greenhealth for its ongoing commitment to improving environment performance.
Additional certifications and awards include: 2018 Get with the Guidelines® continuous quality improvement awards for Heart Failure Gold Plus Award, Stroke Gold Plus and Stroke Honor Roll Elite Awards, the 2018 ACTION Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award.
The medical center also operates the state’s first satellite Emergency Care Center in Point Pleasant, the Ocean Care Center, and hospital-based programs at Jackson Health Village.
ABOUT THE BARBARA FORFAR NURSING SCHOLARSHIP FUND:
The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established on January 15, 2011 and is part of the Ocean Medical Center Foundation family of funds.
The fund provides monetary assistance to qualified nurses and nursing students of Ocean Medical Center who desire to continue their formal education in nursing profession in the form of scholarships and awards one (or more) nursing scholarship during September of each year to eligible applicants.
The Barbara Forfar Nursing Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of long-time Point Pleasant resident Barbara Forfar or “Foof” as she was called by her fellow nurses and other colleagues in the operating room, and her forty-four years of dedication to the nursing profession with all but three years of her service associated with the Ocean Medical Center or its predecessor hospitals.
To qualify for the scholarship, the applicant must be an employee or nursing student at Ocean Medical Center and must be enrolled in a RN program, an upper division program (RN to BSN) or advanced degree program (MSN, PhD) in nursing.
All Ocean Medical Center nurses and nursing students from all OMC practice areas are eligible to apply. The scholarship must be used to supplement tuition, fees, lab costs, books or educational supply expenses.
###
