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More than $35,000 already has been raised for the Cheryl Giefer BSN to DNP Scholarship Fund, and this spring, 10 students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program each were awarded $1,000 as the first recipients.
Amy Hite, director of the Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing, received an anonymous donation of $25,000 to create such a scholarship. Giefer, who retired as director of the school last year to return to the classroom, was Hite’s BSN and MSN teacher and hired her as a faculty member.
Giefer has been an incredible mentor to her and has had a profound impact on the nursing school, Hite said.
“It’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Giefer said. “I can’t believe they did this. It’s amazing.”
The scholarship fund is especially for students in the DNP program, which Giefer played a key role in launching in 2016.
The program has been highly successful; the pass rate on the Family Nurse Practitioners National Board Certification by Pitt State students is 100 percent. The 74 credit-hour terminal practice degree allows those who earn it to practice a more advanced level of nursing and earn a higher salary.
Giefer has been a Gorilla since 1974. She was among the first students to graduate in nursing from Pitt State (BSN ‘78), and after earning advanced degrees at KU and the University of Arkansas, was hired as a faculty member at her alma mater.
In the years that followed, she taught scores of students — many of whom wound up working alongside her at Girard Medical Center and several she hired to teach in the nursing school.
From 2016 to 2024, she served as director of the nursing school, a position now held by one of her former students, Amy Hite.
She was also an active grant writer, bringing in millions for educational equipment and innovative programming, faculty salaries, and student scholarships. She led the completion of a new $8 million simulation hospital at Pitt State in 2023.
It was not difficult, Hite said, to get contributions to a scholarship fund in Giefer’s name from graduates who are now nurses, doctors, colleagues, friends, family, and others in health care.
“They’re very aware of the difference she made,” Hite said. “They gave because of their connection to her, because of how she impacted their lives.”
This year's recipients are:
Lopez (BSN, ‘20), who is at Wesley Medical Center ICU, said it was an honor to receive the scholarship.
“Dr. Giefer continually advocates for her students; she’s constantly raising the bar for us, which opens up so many opportunities for us and gives us confidence,” Lopez said. “This program makes us so much stronger.”
Tomasi, who is in the emergency department at Mercy Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, said she had the good fortune to work alongside Giefer her entire career, starting as a paramedic and advancing through levels of nursing education.
“I've known her 28 years now and she’s been so impactful,” Tomassi said. “I feel like it’s a full circle moment to get this scholarship.”
To contribute to the Cheryl Giefer Scholarship Fund, visit pittstate.edu/foundation, choose “Give Now,” and complete the required fields. In the “Specify fund type” field, write “Cheryl Giefer NP Scholarship.”
Learn more about the Irene Ransom Bradley School of Nursing at Pitt State.
