Rosa Harris

Class of 2021
Nursing Major

Cedar Crest student Rosa Harris ’21 was selected to receive a prestigious nursing award from the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN). Students in nursing programs across the Lehigh Valley were nominated, and Harris was notified in April that she had been named the winner of the Raymond L. Hoffman Award for Excellence as a Student Nurse, one of two Friends of Nursing Awards granted by LVHN in 2021.

According to LVHN.org, “Friends of Nursing Awards recognize and promote excellence in nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research.” Harris accepted the award at the Friends of Nursing Celebration in September 2021.

“I am grateful and humbled to have been nominated,” she says. Harris chose to attend Cedar Crest College after hearing positive comments about the College’s School of Nursing from nurses in the Lehigh Valley. She needed a nursing program that was flexible and could meet her needs as a part-time student, and Cedar Crest was the right fit.

“The professors in the School of Nursing are very supportive and knowledgeable,” Harris shares. She thanks faculty members Todd Hastings, Ph.D., Rebecca Seaman, MSN, Ellie Franges, DNP, and Eileen Fruchtl, MSN, for their encouragement, positivity and source of inspiration.

"Rosa demonstrates what I refer to as ‘empathy in action’ through her engagement of people in care settings. She has displayed a tremendous collegial posture with her peers at a time when teamwork in health care is a high priority, and she is clearly strongly committed to nurturing both family and community all while advancing her career,” says Hastings, who nominated Harris for the award.

Fruchtl, who also nominated Harris, adds, “Listening and sharing stories of Rosa’s care in clinical was inspirational and reminded me that the future of nursing is bright because we have students like Rosa living out the mission of the School of Nursing and our College. She is going to be a dynamic leader in her community and her future profession.”

Harris is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in nursing at Cedar Crest and is on track to complete the program in December 2021. After graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree in nursing.