Nurse Leader Stacey Winter Found Her Career Adventure Close to Home

Stacey remembers a time when she thought her career dreams would take her to far-off places. But as her friends graduated and moved away, Stacey moved just a few miles away to Lena.

She began working at FHN Memorial Hospital as a certified nursing assistant (CNA), caring for patients in the skilled care unit on the overnight shift. After working three years as a CNA, Stacey was accepted into FHN’s scholarship program, which provided financial support as she pursued her goal of becoming a registered nurse.

Stacey added to her experience in a variety of specialties, working with FHN’s surgical, intensive care, and gastrointestinal (GI) teams. While she grew her resume, she also advanced her education; another FHN scholarship program allowed her to work and supported her while she began her bachelor’s degree locally at Highland Community College. In 2011, she graduated with her education in nursing from Lewis University in Romeoville.

After witnessing how the pandemic challenged healthcare workers and even stretched them to their limits, she felt special concern for young nurses who were beginning their career when COVID-19 struck. She wants to help them the way her mentors have helped her.

Now, with more than 20 years of healthcare experience under her belt, Stacey is making another big leap, stepping into the role of Nursing Operations Leader for the Telemetry and Intensive Care teams at FHN Memorial Hospital in Freeport. In her supervisory role, Stacey draws on her decades of patient care to support and empower her team.

“I always thought I’d be a bedside nurse, but I see this as a great avenue to help inspire other nurses.”

Healthcare Career Scholarship Program

To uphold the Mission of FHN and services we provide in our communities through the support of future healthcare professionals, FHN is providing up to three $1,000 scholarships to students pursuing specific healthcare careers.

Applications will be accepted from any student residing in FHN's service area and currently enrolled in an accredited program of study involving the following healthcare careers:

Benefit-eligible staff of FHN may not apply.

• At all times, FHN reserves the right to determine whether the one (1) scholarship opportunity is to be awarded based upon its review of the applications received. FHN also reserves the right to determine qualifications/eligibility. A minority student selected to receive the scholarship shall be responsible for all tax consequences arising from the scholarship.

• A "minority student" is an individual who is either African American/Black (a person having origins in any of the black racial groups in Africa); Hispanic American (a person of Spanish or Portuguese culture with origins in Mexico, South or Central America, or the Caribbean Islands, regardless of race); Asian American (a person with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Pacific Islands (including, among others, Hawaii, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia); or Native American (a person who is a member of a federally or state recognized Indian tribe, or whose parents or grandparents have such membership, including native people of Alaska).

• For purposes of this program, the "service area" includes Stephenson, Jo Daviess, Carroll, Ogle, and Winnebago counties in Illinois.

• In order to be eligible, the minority student must be currently enrolled in an accredited program of study involving the noted healthcare careers and/or have otherwise declared their major in such a career and are taking courses in furtherance of that major.