Cheryl Slater is the recipient of the 2023 Madeline A. Naegle Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to graduate nurses studying mental health nursing. Cheryl received her undergraduate degree from Endicott College and her MSN from Western Governor’s University. Her Master’s degree was in Nursing Education. She is currently enrolled at Boston College part-time in the doctoral “DNP” Primary Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (DNP PMHNP) program of study.

Cheryl has been employed as a Neonatal ICU, Newborn Nurse, and Pediatric Clinical Nurse Educator at Boston Medical Center for the past six years. Prior to this position, she worked as a staff nurse in a neonatal ICU, adult ICU, and pediatric settings. Cheryl was motivated to become a nurse because she felt a strong passion to help sick infants and children.

Cheryl volunteers with multiple global health groups focusing on neonatal-maternal health and nursing education. She has also been involved with research projects focusing on opioid-exposed neonates and has aided employee resiliency programs. She was instrumental in creating a portal resiliency program for maternal child health nurses for in situ employee aid. As the coordinator of an annual Pediatric/Newborn Bereavement Conference she participates in the education of nurses on how best to care for bereaved families.

After completing her DNP in PMHNP, Cheryl hopes to continue working with bereaved families and opioid-exposed newborns in low-resource settings. She would also like to help support pregnant women with substance use disorder. Cheryl is extremely honored and grateful to receive the 2023 Madeline A. Naegle Scholarship. She plans to utilize the NEF scholarship to assist her with her tuition in pursuit of her PMHNP DNP.