By Sarah Morgan Johnson
As a junior at Birmingham’s Ramsay High School, Niesha Nicholson, BSN, RN (BSN 2021), was first introduced to the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing through the UAB Center for Community Outreach Development’s Summer Science Institute in 2016.
This three-summer research experience is for high school students interested in learning what it is like to do “real” science. During her last summer as a Student Research Intern, Nicholson was placed under the supervision of UAB School of Nursing faculty to work on her own original research project.
As she did her research and got to know UABSON faculty members, Nicholson began to dream of returning to the School as a student. In August 2017, dreams became reality when she started the School’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. Today she is enrolled in the UABSON Master of Science in Nursing Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner Specialty track.
“The summer of 2016 is when I fell in love with the UAB School of Nursing. I spent a lot of time in the School and with faculty, and I realized I wanted to be a nurse and wear those green student scrubs too,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson is thankful for the support and mentorship she has received from the School’s faculty and staff during her time as a high school student and in both UABSON programs, including University Professor Marie Bakitas, DNSc, CRNP, NP-C, AOCN, ACHPN, FAAN, FPCN; Assistant Professor Lisa Pair DNP, CRNP, WHNP‐BC; and Office of Research and Scholarship Program Manager II Bernice Dunklin.
She is also grateful for the generous donors who have funded the UAB School of Nursing scholarships she has received during both of her nursing programs. In 2019, Nicholson was the recipient of the Board of Visitors Endowed Nursing Scholarship. In 2020, she received the Ethel M. and Jessie D. Smith Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship. In 2024, she received the UAB Benjamin and Roberta Russell Nursing Scholarship.
“Receiving these scholarships has been a tremendous blessing. It has made continuing my education so much easier. One day, I hope to create my own scholarship fund so I can be a blessing to students and help them reach their nursing goals,” Nicholson said.
In 2024, Nicholson won the Nancy Smith Memorial Award for Learning, which is given to nursing students who have exhibited perseverance and dedication to their education and the profession. Nancy Harris Smith began her career as a nursing associate at the School in 1978 and returned as a Simulation and Skills Labs Instructor in 2008. Before passing away from breast cancer in 2014, Smith touched faculty and students with not only her compassion, leadership and nursing expertise, but also her perseverance and dedication to the School and the nursing profession.
“Receiving the Nancy Smith Memorial Award meant the world to me. To receive such a special award reminds me of how the UAB School of Nursing has shaped me into the person I am today. To have my name displayed in the School forever also reminds me of the dedication and hard work I have done as a student with an everlasting goal of gaining knowledge and making a difference,” Nicholson said.
After she graduates, Nicholson hopes to specialize in Pediatrics and Adolescent Gynecology. She feels confident her time at the School has prepared her to make a difference in research and patient care.
“The UAB School of Nursing has prepared me by giving me the opportunity and ability to do whatever I believe I can do in the field of nursing and as a future provider. I cannot wait to make a difference,” Nicholson said.
