Scholarships can be both motivation and rewards.

Stephanie Grambau worked hard to earn her scholarship. Now that scholarship will help support her continued hard work.

A 53-year-old resident of Manheim Township with a Lititz address, Grambau was recently awarded a prestigious Nightingale scholarship to be used in her pursuit of a Master of Science in the field of nursing. Grambau attends Millersville University's Wehrheim School of Nursing, where she is studying to become a family nurse practitioner.

Grambau was awarded the $6,000 Nightingale scholarship following a stringent application process that took into consideration her grade-point average, volunteer experience and letters of reference. She formally accepted the scholarship at the end of October at the 34th annual Nightingale Awards Gala at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hotel in Harrisburg.

"It was pretty exciting," reported Grambau. "It was a nice night and just a little overwhelming. It was all nurses from all over the state. There was all this energy from having all these nurses together in one place."

Grambau is about halfway into the three-year pursuit of her master's degree. Currently a registered nurse, Grambau is employed by South Central Pennsylvania Medical Reserve Corps, a nonprofit health institute headquartered in New Cumberland.

"I work part-time, and I study all the time," said Grambau. "There's a lot of studying. I spend more time doing schoolwork than doing anything else. To be a nurse practitioner, you really need to have the experience even to study for the degree."

Grambau is striving to be the best nurse she can be, despite the fact that the field was not her first chosen profession.

In 1992, Grambau graduated with a Bachor of Arts in philosophy from Villanova. Four years later, she graduated from Temple with a Bachelor of Science in nursing.

"I wasn't fulfilled by the business world, just making money for someone else," said Grambau. "I didn't think I was making a difference. I did a lot of volunteering before I became a nurse."

Because Stephanie's husband, Todd, was a member of the military, the Grambaus moved around a lot. Stephanie took nursing jobs where she could find them, all kinds, with varying responsibilities.

"I was always starting a nursing job in a new area," said Grambau. "At the time, I felt it was detrimental because I wasn't making any progress. During the pandemic I realized I wanted to be a nurse practitioner, and it struck me that I had a broad knowledge base of nursing. I've seen a little bit of everything, and that's what a family nurse practitioner needs. In reality, it was leading me to this point."

Grambau simply followed her calling.

"For me, I felt like the entire nursing career was leading me to this," said Grambau. "Nurses take care of people; it's what we do. Nurse practitioners make their own determinations; we don't just follow someone else's instructions. I really want to take care of patients in a complete manner. Nurse practitioners look at the whole patient. We can change people's lives."