Pretty decent: Charitable trust to provide nursing scholarships :: Lisle Sun :: News

The Evelyn R. Simmers Charitable Trust has donated $600,000 to the department of nursing at Benedictine University to endow scholarships for students pursuing either a bachelor's or master's degree in nursing.

Prior to their deaths, Evelyn Simmers and her husband, Wallace, who owned a small manufacturing company in Chicago, were well-known for their support of hospital activities and programs.

Benedictine's R.N. to B.S.N. (bachelor of science in nursing) completion program provides registered nurses with the skills and knowledge necessary to undertake leadership positions where they work and further their education at the graduate level. The program is offered through a partnership between Benedictine, the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Triton College in Morton Grove and Memorial Medical Center in Springfield.

The fully online master of science in nursing program at Benedictine is designed to prepare registered nurses for the rapidly changing face of health care. The program emphasizes leadership, education, administration and public and global healthcare.

The donation will make the programs available to more nurses during a time when there is a critical shortage of qualified healthcare workers.