DNP Student Sylvaria Oyinkolade Receives Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley Memorial Scholarship Award

Sylvaria Oyinkolade, MSN, RN-BC, CALA, a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student at William Paterson University, has been selected as one of this year's Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley Memorial Scholarship Award recipients by the New Jersey League for Nursing (NJLN) Board of Directors and Scholarship Committee. Each year, awards are presented to one student at the doctoral, master's, and bachelor's levels.

The award is named after Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley to celebrates her legacy as the former president and CEO of the Bayonne Visiting Nurse Association, Inc. for over 48 years. The $10,000 scholarship is made possible by a grant awarded in her honor to the NJLN by the Community Health Connection Foundations, Inc. 

"Mrs. Oyinkolade's passion and commitment to making a difference in the lives of families in New Jersey is commendable. Standing out among many exceptional applicants for receiving the Dr. Maureen Sullivan Foley President award is a feather in her cap," says Dr. Venkat Sharma, PhD, dean of the College of Science and Health at William Paterson. 

Oyinkolade is a Health Care Case Manager for Rutgers University, where she works with children in the foster care system. Her final DNP project at William Paterson will focus on working with children and families with asthma transitioning from foster care into the community and self-managing their disease process through education and awareness.

"My goals are to improve my patients' overall quality of life and reduce the racial/ethnic disparities in asthma prevalence in low-income communities. I plan to work with the children and their families by providing educational awareness about the disease process and management," says Oyinkolade, an Iselin, NJ resident.  

The New Jersey League for Nursing was founded in 1915 and is the state affiliate for the National Organization for Public Health Nursing. NJLN's mission is to "promote excellence in nursing education to build a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of our state, nation, and the global community."

Oyinkolade and the other scholarship recipients were presented with their awards on July 29 during a virtual event held by the NJLN.

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10/11/21