UB Faculty, Elizabeth Mika, and Eric Pleskow
PRESS RELEASE Buffalo, NY
May 27, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. – In celebration of National Nurses Month and the recent partnership with UB’s School of Nursing (UBSON) through an experiential-learning Dedicated Education Unit (DEU), BryLin Behavioral Health System awarded a $500 Nursing Scholarship to a UBSON Junior Student.
THE MR. & MRS. LEONARD & LORRAINE PLESKOW NURSING SCHOLARSHIP is named after the founders of BryLin Hospital in 1955, when it was on the corner of Bryant & Linwood. Their son, Eric Pleskow, BryLin President/CEO, said, “My parents dedicated their lives to dispel the stigma surrounding mental illness and gave hope to the community, so that high quality care and treatment could be available to all that needed help.”
This scholarship provided a $500 award to support a UB School of Nursing undergraduate junior student for the enhancement of knowledge and clinical skills in psychiatric mental health nursing and promote career development in this specialty area of nursing practice. This award was presented at a recent ceremony at BryLin Hospital during a month that celebrates May as both National Nurses Month and Mental Health Awareness Month.
The scholarship was presented to the qualifying Junior UBSON Undergraduate student who submitted an essay describing the following:
- What has their behavioral health experience at BryLin meant to them.
- How will they apply this experience to their future clinical experiences and practice as a Registered Nurse.
- and what are their future goals are as a professional nurse.
UBSON recently began a new experiential-learning Dedicated Education Unit (DEU) with BryLin Behavioral Health System this semester, providing students interested in mental health and substance abuse issues hands-on experience in the treatment of patients of all ages at BryLin Hospital.
The students taking part in these DEUs receive hands-on experience, mentorship, and individualized learning. Clinical settings like BryLin Hospital benefit because the DEU model strengthens academic-clinical partnerships and provides DEU nurses with professional development in clinical education. The DEU also supports the university’s role as a research institution.
Essays were submitted and reviewed by a Committee, which included representatives from BryLin and the UB School of Nursing Undergraduate faculty. The winning essay was submitted by Elizabeth Mika who wrote about the “kindness and caring” she saw in the nursing staff during her learning experience at BryLin Hospital. She described how mental health goes hand in hand with physical health and how important mental health is, for everyone.
“This collaboration provides value for both our staff and for UB School of Nursing students”, said Mr. Pleskow. “Our trained nursing staff get an opportunity to provide a quality clinical mental health experience for students while they learn from their peers in our behavioral health setting in this peer-to-peer type model. This scholarship was a way to celebrate what we hope will be a long lasting, mutually beneficial relationship.’
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