Palm Health Foundation salutes trustee Lisa Kirk Wiese, Ph.D., associate professor at FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, for bringing over $5 million in research funding to Palm Beach County and the Glades to increase understanding, early detection, and prevention of Alzheimer's disease in rural populations. Community collaboration, framed by Drs. Boykin and Schoenhofer’s “Nursing as Caring” philosophical model, which includes determining “what matters most” to residents, is the hallmark of Dr. Wiese’s research and scholarly work. Her community-engaged research is led by a group of faith-based health educators, chaired by Antoinita Ifill of Healthier Glades, a foundation initiative. This includes hiring residents in health research; planning, assessment, data collection, evaluation, and developing interventions to address needs. Community leaders participate in profiling their contributions in Dr. Wiese’s scholarly presentations and publications. This powerful collaboration of community partners, launched through state and federal funding, and now sustained by the foundation, is focused on empowering rural, older racially/ethnically diverse adults to age in place through dementia awareness, detection, and management.

With support from The Helen K. Persson Nursing Education Fund at Palm Health Foundation, Dercas Caneus is becoming the compassionate nurse she always aspired to be. Dercas loved science as a little girl and is now living her dream to leave a meaningful legacy that benefits the world through nursing. As a child of Haitian immigrant parents, she saw the impact that nursing can have on her community by breaking down cultural barriers within healthcare. From the beginning of her nursing career as an orthopedic nurse assistant, she experienced how compassion and companionship can start the healing process. And as she gained experience in a hospital setting, she sought to comfort families during a loved one’s last moments, and to share the joy in a patient’s recovery. Through it all, she has valued the art of connecting with people, something that will be so important when she becomes a critical care nurse after completing her education.

Stephanie Kurzejewski knows the pain a family goes through when a loved one is seriously ill. She felt it when her nephew Harrison was diagnosed with a fatal disease at birth. And she lived through it again when her husband Michael’s brain condition led to years of surgeries, ICUs, and a long recovery to return to her and their two children. 

At Harrison’s and Michael’s bedsides, she experienced nurses’ compassion, strengthening her resolve to enter the profession. Scholarships made possible by The Debra Coffman Howe Nursing Scholarship Fund and The Sutton Kailey Nursing Advancement Fund at Palm Health Foundation supported her BSN, and now her APRN, so she can provide the compassionate care for others that her family received. 

Learn how you can pay it forward by supporting nursing scholars. Visit PalmHealthFoundation.org/Scholarships to learn more or contact Carrie Browne at CarrieB@phfpbc.org.