RALEIGH — WGU North Carolina is pleased to announce that Trisha Granger, a clinical nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at UNC REX Healthcare in Raleigh has received the James Julian Ashe Memorial Scholarship. This partial scholarship is valued at $2,000 and recognizes a new WGU nursing student interested in neonatal or pediatric intensive care.
Granger has been in neonatal nursing for 20 years and is enrolled in WGU’s RN-to-BSN program. Upon completion, she plans to earn her certification in NICU and pursue a master’s degree in nursing leadership.
The James Julian Ashe Memorial Scholarship was created by Western North Carolina residents Jim Ashe, a WGU faculty member, and his wife Catherine in memory of their son James who was born with an uncommon chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 18. James was lovingly cared for by family members and nurses during his brief life of five months. It became evident to both Jim and Catherine that working with sick children is not just a profession but a calling, and they established the scholarship as a way to remember their son and honor hardworking NICU and PICU nurses.
“Working in the NICU is my passion, and these tiny patients and their families are what make my job so unique,” said Granger. “I am still in awe of receiving this scholarship, and I’d like to thank WGU and the Ashe family for this honor.”
“I can’t even imagine what it’s like to experience such a loss, but we are extremely grateful to the Ashes for memorializing their son with a scholarship to help improve outcomes for other infants,” said WGU North Carolina Chancellor Catherine Truitt. “I congratulate Trisha on earning this scholarship and wish her continued success in her studies and nursing career.”
WGU North Carolina is the state affiliate of Western Governors University, an accredited online university offering more than 60 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in healthcare, IT, business and K-12 education. The university has more than 123,000 students enrolled nationwide, including about 3,300 in North Carolina. Tuition is about $3,225 per six-month term for most degree programs.
For more information about WGU North Carolina, visit www.wgu.edu/north-carolina.html.
