BY MERRY SUE BAUM
There is a shortage of nurses across the country, and New Jersey is no exception. The demand is high throughout the Garden State, but it is especially acute in Essex County. An aging workforce, COVID burnout, and a lack of support for nursing education are among the reasons for this shortage.
Concerned about the future of nursing in urban areas, Evelyn Marguiles, a graduate of Weequahic High School in Newark, recently gave Rutgers School of Nursing a $2 million gift to establish an endowment. The funds will be used for full-tuition scholarships for undergraduate nursing students each year. Future nurses from Newark high schools, especially Weequahic, have first consideration for the scholarships.
Marguiles first thought about giving the gift when her husband became ill and needed in-home nursing care. Many of the nurses who came into the couple’s home were from far-away places like Uganda. They told moving stories of coming to the U.S. and joining the health care field. Marguiles knew that about a quarter of the Newark population lives in poverty and can’t afford to go on to college, even though many are bright enough. She decided to help change that.
The first recipient of the Evelyn Marguiles Endowed Scholarship is Aishat Jimohkuku, who began her journey at Rutgers School of Nursing in the fall of 2023. A native of Nigeria, Jimohkuku decided become a nurse when she was only nine. It was then that she watched television in horror during the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa. “I saw people in such pain,” she says. “And I saw the positive impact medical professionals were having on their patients’ lives. At that point, I knew I wanted to be a nurse.” Her family eventually emigrated to the U.S., and in June 2023, Jimohkuku graduated from Weequahic with high honors.
At her graduation, she was presented her scholarship by Kyle D. Warren, PhD, MAE, senior vice dean of administration and student affairs, School of Nursing and associate vice chancellor of student affairs, Rutgers Health. In June 2024, he was keynote speaker at Weequhaic’s graduation ceremony where he presented two additional scholarships.
“When I received this scholarship, my family and I were more than overjoyed,” says Jimohkuku. “It is a career path opener, allowing me to strive for my goal of being a nurse without the stress of financial worries.”
Rutgers School of Nursing knows that more needs to be done to address the nursing shortage. It is partnering with Weequahic, one of six public high schools in Newark that launched job-sector academies in 2020. These academies focus on areas like allied health, business and finance, education, engineering, environmental studies, and law. Students in the Allied Health Services Academy spend four years studying topics such as human body systems and medical interventions, along with their regular curriculum. A cohort of students recently visited the School of Nursing’s clinical learning and simulation labs.
Yolanda Cassidy-Bogan, Weequahic’s school-to-career coordinator, was an honored guest at the School of Nursing’s May 2023 convocation where she celebrated the new nursing graduates. “We’re trying to really prepare our high school students for the real world, so they too can graduate and go into the health care field.
Meanwhile, Aishat Jimohkuku is thriving at the School of Nursing, working hard to achieve her goals. Her long-term career goal is to become a neonatal intensive care nurse.
“What makes the school unique is the way equity and equality are built into our curriculum, teaching us to become nurses who are socially and emotionally aware of our environment and commitment to society,” she says. “I appreciate the passion behind all the professors who are committed to educating us.”
