2019 Ed Hyland Scholarship Recipient - Madeline Okey

Written by Madeline Okey, BSN, RN, CCRN, SRNA, 2019 Ed Hyland Scholarship Recipient

I am writing to you to express my sincere gratitude for the honor of receiving the Ed Hyland AANA Foundation scholarship award made possible by DANA sponsorship. I understand he was an outstanding member of the CRNA community in Delaware, and I am humbled and proud to be chosen to represent his memory. The financial assistance made possible by this scholarship will help with my cost of living and given that I have no family nearby and am not currently working, it will give me a peace of mind that is ultimately priceless. This award represents more than financial support to me, and I will forever strive to carry myself in a manner to exemplify Ed Hyland’s qualities of professionalism and dedication in nurse anesthesia practice.

Going into my final year of this program, I have been blessed with opportunities to learn and grow as a person and aspiring nurse anesthetist. I have been supported by educators in my program who strive for the success of every single student, providing me the tools for both clinical competency and professional competency. I have been supported by educators at Christiana Hospital and A. I. DuPont Hospital for Children, where dedicated preceptors have led by example to show me what it means to provide quality care for every patient. I have been supported by new acquaintances at the 2019 Annual and DANA conferences, where colleagues spoke to me with respect and kindness, opening my eyes to the importance of excellence in and advocacy of this amazing profession.

This support, coupled with this generous award, has filled me with a gratitude that will last a lifetime. I feel empowered and inspired to continue representing our profession with the same integrity shown to me. I look forward to the future where I can continue to learn from my colleagues and perpetuate the support shown to me to the future of anesthesia practice. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

Madeline Okey, BSN, RN, CCRN, SRNA
Drexel University, Nurse Anesthesia Program
Class of 2021