Donna H Crouch Scholarship

The Donna Crouch Memorial Scholarship was established by John Crouch in memory of Donna Crouch. Donna was born on December 28, 1939 in Damar, KS. Donna received her Nursing Degree from the Dominican School of Nursing in Great Bend, KS in 1960, followed by a Bachelor’s Degree from Chaminade University in Honolulu, and a Masters of Human Resources Management in Economics Degree from University of Utah in 1979. She was a nurse and administrator serving as the V.P. of Patient Services and Director of Nursing at St Mary’s Hospital located in Grand Junction, Colorado for 20 years. Donna served her community as a member of the Board of directors for both the Colorado National Monument and the Museum of Western Colorado. Donna loved being a nurse. Her career at St. Mary’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center allowed her to implement many of her deeply held beliefs about caring and nursing philosophy. Within the hospital, Donna created divisions of nursing by decentralizing nursing into specialties of Medical-Surgical, Critical Care, Surgical, Women and Children’s and Emergency. This allowed for more focused care for the patient and family. She was a leader in creating and implementing a Clinical Ladder for nurses to achieve their own professional growth and development in nursing. Standardizing and researching the very best in nursing practice was an important goal for Donna. The Nurse Practice Committee was formed under her leadership so that nursing could function at a very high level. The Women’s Pavilion was developed during Donna’s leadership so that women could access educational information and classes to enhance their health care. The Air Life program thrived during the years that Donna was at St. Mary’s, but few knew that Donna implemented paramedics on the flight team to assist in the transport of the patient. St. Mary’s Hospital, under Donna’s leadership, was the first Colorado hospital to initiate domestic violence screening for all women admitted to the hospital. Donna was active and highly respected by her peers within the hospital. Her contributions to the President’s Council were many and significant. Outside St. Mary’s, Donna was very active in the Colorado Society for Nurse Executives and the American Organization for Nurse Executives. She also was an active member of the Colorado Hospital Association. A very special honor for Donna was being nominated by her nursing teams and becoming a finalist for the State of Colorado Nightingale Award for Excellence in Human Caring.