INDIANAPOLIS – Working at 2 a.m. is hard enough; working it twice is even harder. WGU Indiana, an online, competency-based university established to expand access to higher education for Indiana residents, is kicking off its seventh annual Night Shift Nurse campaign to celebrate nurses who add an extra hour to their normal shift due to Daylight Saving Time changes at 2 a.m. on Nov. 3. As part of the campaign, WGU Indiana staff and leaders will deliver Night Shift Nurse Appreciation Kits to 125 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the state.
"This campaign has become near and dear to WGU Indiana, as it honors the important and often unrecognized contributions of night shift nurses,” said WGU Indiana Chancellor Alison Bell. “Many of our nursing students are also night shift nurses, and our online, flexible coursework allows them to pursue higher degrees in healthcare while still providing quality care to patients.”
WGU Indiana started the night shift nurse deliveries in 2013. This year, appreciation kits will reach nearly 2,714 night shift nurses at 125 hospitals and health care units across the state. More than 150 WGU Indiana students and graduates volunteered to put together kits and assist in deliveries. Each box contains candy, WGU branded sleep masks, pens, notepads that read “I work night shift. What’s your superpower?” and information about WGU Indiana’s nursing program. The deliveries will also serve as an opportunity to learn more about WGU Indiana’s $2,000 Night Shift Nurses Scholarship.
"Night shift work has a significant impact on the physical, psychosocial and professional lives of nurses,” said WGU Indiana State Director of Nursing Mary Lawson Carney, DNP, RN-BC, CCRN, CNE. “The WGU Indiana Night Shift Nurses Scholarship recognizes the unique challenges these nurses face and the work they do in the middle of the night so that patients can continue to receive quality care at all hours.”
To encourage night shift nurses to pursue their dreams of going back to school, WGU Indiana is offering five Night Shift Nurse Scholarships - each worth $2,000. Applications are due Dec. 31, 2019.
