NEWPORT — North Country Hospital’s Scholarship Review Committee recently selected longtime nurse, Abby Provost, to receive a $2,000 continuing education scholarship from the Sheryl M. (Washburn) and Buddy L. Carter Nursing Scholarship. Fund.
Provostbegan her nursing career after graduating from Norwich University.
Her first nursing job was on the cardiothoracic unit at Fanny Allen Health Care, now known as UVM Medical Center, and a year later came back to her hometown area and started as an Emergency Room nurse at North Country Hospital.
She has worked her way up through the ranks in many departments over the last 22 years.
Provost earned her BSN as well as a Master’s in Nursing Administration and Leadership from Western Governors University.
She is currently enrolled in the Family Nurse Practitioner program at Frontier Nursing University.
“I have Sheryl (Washburn) Carter to thank for her encouragement while she was a nursing leader here at North Country Hospital,” Provost said. “She mentored many nurses, including me, to continue with their education and earn higher degrees in nursing if that was their dream. She also challenged us to push ourselves and each other to build a stronger community.”
“This scholarship fund is an important one, in that it focuses on advancing education for nursing staff at North Country Hospital,” Wendy Franklin, Director of Communications & Foundation, said.
Sheryl Washburn was Vice President of Patient Care Services at North Country Hospital from 2008 through 2013.
She had a passion for rural healthcare and rural nursing.
She was especially interested in supporting Northeast Kingdom residents to seek nursing degrees and subsequently provide excellent nursing care in local healthcare settings.
Sheryl loved one-to-one mentoring of novice nursing leaders and fostered their growth into being role models and mentors for their staff.
She and her husband, Buddy, chose to establish this scholarship fund to further these efforts.
She also continues s to honor the memory of her late husband, John Washburn, who benefited from NCH nursing care prior to his death in 2013.
