Former St. Mary’s Medical Center Employee Gives Back
Dr. Jane Fotos believes in education, a necessity she recognized upon completing her nursing program and discovering none of that training would count toward an academic degree. The importance of education became evident when she chose to teach nursing and needed academic credentials.
It didn’t stop her, though. Returning to school at the age of 45, Fotos went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as a Doctorate in Educational Administration from West Virginia University.
She hopes other students at the St. Mary’s School of Nursing (SMSON) will follow in her footsteps with help from the Dr. Jane C. Fotos Leadership in Nursing Endowed Scholarship.
“There is a huge demand for nurses in fields like education, public health, and community health,” said Fotos, who earlier established a similar scholarship for Marshall University’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. “There’s also a huge need for master’s-prepared nurses to become educators.”
This grant marks the 14th endowed scholarship at SMSON, the oldest program of its kind in the state. These $2,000 scholarships will be awarded annually to fourth-semester SMSON students from West Virginia who plan to continue their education after earning a two-year associate’s degree. Awards may be used for tuition, books, fees, academic support materials, and/or equipment.
Ask Jane about the benefits of an advanced academic degree in nursing, and she can produce a long list—including a broader view of the health care setting, development of critical thinking skills and clinical-based application and judgments, and integration of clinical knowledge and evidence-based practice opportunities.
During her distinguished career, Jane worked as a nurse at St. Mary’s, a nurse educator at the school, and associate dean of continuing education at Marshall University’s nursing school. She also helped develop Marshall’s bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in nursing and incorporated the university into St. Mary’s program, so SMSON associate nursing degrees now come from Marshall.
In recognition of the many professional accomplishments and community contributions Fotos has made, the City of Huntington Foundation named her an inductee to the Greater Huntington Wall of Fame in January 2021.
Fotos feels strongly about women’s capabilities, saying she grew up in a time when women struggled to find a place in society and were often denied the opportunity based on gender.
“What I think I’ve done with my life is I’ve been a change agent in Huntington,” said Fotos, a native of Indiana. “I didn’t want another nurse to go through what I had to go through to get my credentials.”
