Susan Bowar-Ferres Scholarship
For Graduate Nursing Students Demonstrating Leadership to Achieve Magnet Designation
Created in 2023, the Susan Bowar-Ferres Scholarship is devoted to nursing leadership in the Magnet Recognition Program, which recognizes healthcare organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence, and innovations in professional nursing practice. Consumers rely on Magnet designation as the ultimate credential for high-quality nursing.
Susan Bowar-Ferres, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, is an NEF Board Member Emerita who dedicated many years of service to the NEF Board of Directors, as President of NEF, as well as Chair of the Bylaws Committee. A nursing administrator in multiple health care service organizations spanning 50 years, Dr. Bowar-Ferres has devoted more than three decades of her professional career to the Magnet Recognition Program, serving as an appraiser, team leader, and team member. Under her leadership as the Chief Nursing Officer, NYU Langone Medical Center earned two successive Magnet designations.
Dr. Bowar-Ferres is dedicated to excellence in practice and all that Magnet recognition means. The Susan Bowar-Ferres Scholar shares these values and aspirations. The scholarship is given to a master’s or doctoral student demonstrating leadership in aspiring to or continuing to achieve Magnet designation, such as being a Magnet Program Director/Coordinator, or a leader or actively involved member of their quality council, clinical indicator council, or similar quality improvement program.
Featured Susan Bowar-Ferres Scholarship Recipients
These three NEF Scholars exemplify how advanced nursing education, leadership, and a commitment to continuous improvement can strengthen the nursing profession and improve patient care:
Baomi Phung, BSN, RN, PHN
- Teaches as an adjunct nursing clinical instructor for baccalaureate maternity on-campus clinicals at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
- Worked as a labor and delivery nurse and decided to pursue a PhD in Nursing to understand how to address structural barriers and create emotionally safe environments for different communities to ensure safe, high-quality perinatal care and equitable maternal health outcomes
- Conducted and published a dimensional concept analysis on patient emotional safety to better understand what feeling safe means to patients during healthcare interactions
Laura Koke, RN, BSN, CPN, CPHON
- Held a variety of roles including stem cell clinic nurse for transplant patients, oncology nurse, infusion nurse, team leader, and Lymphoma nurse navigator
- Serves as Riley Children’s Health’s (Riley) Magnet Program Coordinator, submitting successful Magnet documentation, and supporting a Magnet site visit and Riley to achieve its 5th Magnet designation
- Achieved recognitions, including Clinical Magnet® Nurse Champion, Riley Nurse of the Year Award, Indiana State Nurses Association President’s Award, and Elite 50 Graduate Student at Indiana University Indianapolis (IUI)
- Performed a statewide double-arm research study in conjunction with the American Nurses Advocacy Institute, the Indiana State Nurses Association, and IUI to measure the effectiveness of a variety of educational methods on nurse political astuteness
- Developed a research study measuring the effectiveness of professional governance at Riley Children’s Health to strengthen the practice environment and improve the pediatric and maternal care received at Riley
Quasha Morefield, MSN, FNP-BC
- Worked in a Med-Surg/Oncology unit and has a nursing certification in Med-Surg accredited by the ANCC
- Facilitates the efforts for New York Presbyterian-Westchester Hospital to attain Magnet status, which elevates the standards of care provided to all patients
- Conducted a performance improvement project on her unit titled “H.U.S.H: Helping Us Promote Healing- Quiet Time,” aimed to support patient experience scores, and initiated a nursing mentorship program to promote nursing success, career advancement, positive relationships, and retention while enhancing the quality of patient care