Elaine Jones getting medicine for a patient

Elaine Jones received her scholarship from the Good Samaritan Foundation (GSF) the same day she discovered she was pregnant. “I was working
full-time, pregnant and going to school at night,” explains Ms. Jones. “The scholarship came at the perfect time, because it helped me with tuition and books when we were starting to get a little stretched on family expenses.”

She continues, “A lot of the nursing students at school had applied for scholarships and received them. They kept telling me, ‘You could get one. Good Samaritan is there to support the nursing profession.’ So I finally decided, okay, I’ll go and see what it’s all about. I went in, filled out the paperwork, had an interview and received a scholarship for my last two semesters.”

GSF was established in 1951 to help provide trained nurses for the then-new Texas Medical Center. Today, as the population ages and the profession attracts fewer students and qualified teachers, the need for nurses is more urgent and widespread. An article in the Texas Medical Center News reports, “The average age of nurses is 44, and current estimates indicate that by 2020 most of the nurses currently working in the field will be retired. In Texas alone, approximately 27,000 additional nurses are needed.”

During the past half-century, GSF has helped more than 14,000 students become nurses. Currently, 425 students are enrolled in the undergraduate nursing scholarship program. Ms. Jones says, “The only thing GSF asks is that once you get established, you contribute something back. A couple of times each year, they send a letter asking for help with funding for other students. That makes it very nice, because it’s kind of like a perpetual foundation. I try at least once or twice a year to send something. My friend who got me interested in nursing also is a recipient of the Good Samaritan, and she does the same thing. Nurses supporting nurses and the community is a good thing.”

Ms. Jones graduated in 1996 and, except for taking time off to have children, has been nursing ever since. She says, “I took finals on Monday, had my son on Wednesday and graduated on Friday. I took five months off after he was born and then started my first nursing job at St. Joseph’s. I’ve been working here in the ICU at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital since 1999.”

Ms. Jones, who now has two children, works weekend nightshifts so she can be home with her kids during the day. She enjoys her career’s flexibility and says, “It’s great for my kids. They love having mom at home Monday through Friday.” But she also enjoys being a bedside nurse. “I don’t want to go into administration, I want to nurse,” she says. “I like taking care of patients. Even if they’re on a ventilator and can’t talk, they somehow know you care. I love working with people, so nursing is ideal. It’s a great way to make a living, and it’s very rewarding.”

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