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Carrying on the ministry of healing

Inspired by Loyola Nursing’s mission, Sisters of the Resurrection establish scholarships 

By Nicole Etter
September 20, 2021

From an early age, Sister Donna Marie Wolowicki, C.R. (BSN ’71, MSN ’75) has known of the profound impact nurses have on the health and well-being of their patients. From her early interactions with nurses at her childhood pediatrician’s office to the nurses who cared for her three-year-old sister in the hospital, Sister Donna has witnessed it firsthand. It’s the same deep and caring spirit that inspired her to join the Sisters of the Resurrection. 

“Every nurse touches thousands of lives in their lifetime — directly through the patients they care for and their families,” says Sister Donna. “I wanted to make that same kind of difference.”  

At Loyola University Chicago’s Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Sister Donna learned how to make that difference. “Loyola has had an impact on me all my life,” she says. “What I really appreciated was the integration of the whole person in our studies. It wasn’t just the physiology and management of disease. It was about how a person’s heart and soul are affected by sickness and wellness, how their family is affected, and how their faith and belief in God is affected. I learned to look at the total impact of bringing healing and wholeness to a person.” 

Sister Donna began her career as an intensive care nurse at Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, where she worked for more than four decades. Her leadership skills helped her advance within the hospital’s administration until she eventually became executive vice president/CEO, a position she held for 22 years. In 2013, she transitioned to a new leadership position, President of Resurrection College Prep High School for young women. Sister Donna’s journey as a nurse and educational leader clearly demonstrates her commitment to providing exceptional care while cultivating the next generation with the education, support, and formative experiences they need to make career and life decisions.  

While at Resurrection College Prep, Sister Donna worked with Vicki Keough, then dean of the School of Nursing, to bring Loyola faculty into the high school and share their insights into nursing careers with students.  As she listened to the faculty, Sister Donna was impressed to see how her alma mater had evolved since her graduation. “It was wonderful to see the way they interacted with the high school students. The same values at Loyola had not only continued, but had expanded and became sensitive to today’s environment,” she says. Through these interactions, students learned about the variety of career opportunities, such as conducting research, advocating for policy changes, and working with communities – in addition to patient care. For Sister Donna, the entire experience benefited both students and faculty. 

As she began to conclude her tenure as Resurrection College Prep High School president, Sister Donna thought about establishing a scholarship at Loyola Nursing. “This will be meaningful for the future,” she says. “Loyola Nursing instills deep values that affect the lives of others in profound ways. These scholarships will continue to nurture the next generation of nurses.”  

When she approached the Sisters of the Resurrection about supporting a Loyola Nursing scholarship, they readily agreed. Loyola’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion resonated with them, and they were impressed with the new degree path to support first-generation students and students of color as they earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The Pathway to the Loyola Nursing BSN through Arrupe College launched in 2019 as a partnership program between the School of Nursing and Loyola’s Arrupe College. Through this pathway, students from Arrupe can begin Loyola Nursing’s BSN program while pursuing their associate degree, completing both degrees in just five years. The Sisters originally considered a smaller gift but were so inspired by School’s focus on mission, they felt compelled to pledge a significant gift to establish two, new endowed scholarships: one for Arrupe students in the BSN Pathway program and one for Resurrection College Prep graduates. 

The Sisters hope their mission of serving those in need and treating all people with dignity and respect will live on through the care and healing of the students they support with these scholarships. To help students facing life obstacles who need financial support to achieve their aspirations is yet another reason to give. Additionally, the scholarships are a way to honor the Sisters’ decades-long legacy of providing health care at Resurrection Medical Center on Chicago’s northwest side. Sister Donna, now provincial superior, notes that the order has decreased from more than 200 Sisters in the area to 21. “Our local order is coming to a close, and we want to make sure that we continue to touch the lives of individuals and families,” she says. “These scholarships help us do that in a meaningful way that aligns with our mission,” she says. “Anything we can do to support those students, no matter the size of the gift, let’s do it.”