Bob Poynter, of Seymour, Indiana, made a generous gift to the Indiana University School of Nursing at IUPUC (IUSON) honoring his wife, Vicki Johnson-Poynter, who has worked throughout her career developing “Future Nursing Leaders.” The gift will support an annual scholarship for a junior in the Baccalaureate Traditional or Accelerated Nursing Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC).
Bob offers the reasoning for the gift: “I wanted to honor Vicki’s 40 years of service as a nursing leader. She has improved the care in every community where she has worked, and I want to honor her hard work and dedication in a meaningful way. She has a passion for quality patient care; I would like to be a part of preparing other nurses to carry on her vision.”
Bob wishes to further Indiana University's mission and to encourage others to give to IU. He has pledged $50,000 to the Foundation with annual payments of $10,000 from 2016 through 2020. The IU Foundation has committed to match the proceeds each year after the gift is fully paid.
Each year a Scholarship Committee of IUSON nursing faculty select an award recipient for the Vicki Johnson-Poynter Future Nurse Leader scholarship. If funding exceeds the scholarship balance, the excess amount will be applied towards other nursing students.
Dr. Beth Sharer, Division Head at the IUSON, had this to say about Vicki, “Vicki Johnson-Poynter has dedicated her career to leadership in nursing. This annual award to nursing students who exemplify those characteristics of a leader in nursing is a very appropriate way to recognize her contributions to nursing practice and nursing education. The ongoing recognition and reward for nursing students exemplifying leadership characteristics help to promote quality healthcare in our region.”
Vicki has been a registered nurse for 40 years and holds a Master’s Degree in Nursing from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Additionally, she worked in operating room management for 25 years and worked in nursing administration from 2003 until her retirement in 2016. Vicki holds specialty certifications in operating room nursing and nurse executive. When she retired in April 2016, she held the position of vice president and chief nursing officer of Schneck Medical Center.
Although retired, Vicki will continue to teach. “I feel strongly that all nurses are leaders. It is implicit in our professional role. I hope to teach nurses how to be responsible for the quality and safety of the care they render each day through shared governance, conflict resolution, and development of their leadership style. I encourage each nurse to be an active part in their unit activities. Patient care will benefit if they do. Future nursing leaders are tenacious and well-grounded in knowledge. Healthcare will always have numerous political facets, but nurses concentrate on patient care. Our strength comes from our ability to drive change and implement plans. We are agile and able to adapt to the direction needed to improve patient care in whatever setting we find ourselves” said Vicki.
Furthermore Vicki shares, "I hope this award will bring the focus on how important a nurse leader is to an organization. We are a specialty the same as surgical, medical or emergency room nursing. It takes highly developed skills and organization to lead a nursing department. I hope that this award will find its way to a future CNO!"
"Nursing leaders are being called upon to lead in many non-traditional areas of healthcare. As hospitals and communities work together to improve the care they give to communities instead of just within the walls of the facility where they lead, it will change their thinking. Nurses will be on the forefront to improving care within their communities," said Vicki.
Vicki has one daughter, Beth, who is a practicing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in Owensboro, Kentucky and a nine-year-old grandson, Mason. Vicki and Bob Poynter, reside in Seymour, Indiana.
For more information about the nursing program at IUPUC, visit iupuc.edu.