GoodRx Helps Announces 2022 Nurses for Change Scholarship Winners

GoodRx Helps is proud to announce the winners of the inaugural Nurses for Change Scholarship. As part of our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in the healthcare workforce, we're providing financial support to individuals in underrepresented groups.

The Nurses for Change Scholarship was announced earlier this year in the spirit of supporting diversity in the nursing field. Persons of color are underrepresented in many healthcare professions, including nursing. Approximately 19% of all nurses in a 2020 survey identified as non-white.

As part of this inaugural scholarship application process, we asked applicants to share how they plan to incorporate their learning and lived experiences into providing care to patients and communities.

We're pleased to introduce you to this year's winners, and we are excited to see where their healthcare ambitions take them.

Gabriel Trisko

Lipscomb University, BSN, Class of 2024

Gabriel is an honors student and poet who is interested in pediatric medicine. She holds a minor in psychology and is passionate about mental health care, especially in the pediatric population. Her plan after completing nursing school is to provide mental health care in an underserved community. Gabriel's goal is to work with all members of a family to ensure recognition of any mental health struggles and to advocate for her adolescent patients.

Wanjiku Wainaina

Delaware State University, BSN, Class of 2025

Wanjiku graduated from high school in the top 10 of her class and also enjoys community service. Building upon that experience, she plans to work in underserved communities after graduating from nursing school. She believes establishing and maintaining trust with patients is of utmost importance, especially with those who may lack trust in the healthcare system. She plans to learn a new language in order to facilitate communication with more patients.

Janelle Rafanan

University of Nevada, BSN, Class of 2022

Janelle has a strong start in leadership and advocacy. A winner of a scholarship that advocated for Asian, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern communities, she became a vaccination ambassador. She also advocates for her peers in student government. Janelle is passionate about increasing diversity in healthcare and believes nurses have the power to counter discrimination against vulnerable populations.

Ravleen Kaur

Yuba College, Marysville, ASN, Class of 2023

Personal experiences motivated Ravleen to pursue nursing and make a difference in people's lives. Believing that knowledge is power, she aims to use her fluency in three languages to educate patients and advocate for them. She also wants to help dispel myths about mental illness. In addition to providing patient care in the mental health space, her goal after graduation is to start public health workshops and screening programs.

Vanessa Nguyen

Laboure College of Healthcare, ASN, Class of 2022

Vanessa has extensive experience working with underserved populations, including people in correctional facilities, without housing, and with limited access to care. She is passionate about providing quality healthcare to vulnerable populations and developing solutions to overcome unique challenges. As such, she plans to run a mobile clinic to provide medical and mental health resources to lower-income communities and those without insurance.

Vanessa advocates for convenient healthcare, breaking down indifference barriers, long-term patient retention, and destigmatizing mental health care.

Ross Theriot

University of California, San Francisco, MSN, Class of 2024

Ross obtained a graduate degree in child development. He returned to school to become a community provider who is mindful of both evidence-based practice and social determinants of health. Through his years of experience in community work, he developed an appreciation for the value of programs that serve underserved, diverse populations with significant barriers to care. Ross is passionate about supporting the journey of marginalized birthing people, specifically those within Black and Brown communities, in order to decrease the maternal and infant mortality rates within those communities. His care philosophy is to listen, advocate, and uplift.

Brielle Lowe

Texas Woman's University, BSN, Class of 2023

Brielle is following a lifelong desire to work in healthcare. She enjoys serving others in her community through volunteerism with her church, school, and local nonprofits, including a nonprofit that she started out of her own passion to serve and educate. She won the Bronze White House Presidential Service Award for her community service project that aimed to increase public awareness about kidney donation and low transplantation rates among communities of color. Brielle recognizes that communities of color experience healthcare disparities, so her ultimate goal is to provide education and action plans to lessen these disparities.

Tawanda Johnson

Delta State University (Robert E. Smith School of Nursing), DNP, Class of 2022

Tawanda began her nursing career as a registered nurse, then became a family nurse practitioner. Most recently, she obtained additional certifications in psychiatric nursing and advanced diabetes care. She enjoys mentoring nurse practitioner trainees and promoting health strategies in her community and church. Tawanda plans to advocate for the incorporation of prediabetes screening in faith-based organizations, such as churches in the African American community, with the ultimate goal of reducing the progression of diabetes.

Diana Wong

University of California, Los Angeles, APRN, Class of 2023

Diana has over 15 years of experience in community volunteerism, working as an EMT, and providing care to a wide variety of people as a cardiac ICU nurse. She believes that every person - locally and globally - has the right to the best chance in life and healthcare despite their color, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and socioeconomic status. Her care philosophy is to narrow the gaps between lower socioeconomic status and quality healthcare. Diana plans to become a nurse practitioner so she can provide cardiology services to adults and children in underserved communities.

Katie Tucker

Yuba College, LVN, Class of 2024

Katie, who holds a chemistry degree, was prompted to pursue nursing after serving as a caregiver for an injured family member. She witnessed others' mental health struggles due to physical ailments and the pandemic and hopes to bring more awareness to mental health issues. She also wants to work toward making mental health services more accessible to everyone.

Katie aims to treat each patient as a whole person. She recognizes that while physical health is often the most urgent need, mental, emotional, and psychological well-being are also essential to a healthy future.

We wish our scholarship recipients the best of luck in their journeys to improve healthcare for all.

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