Brenda Nickerson, has had a remarkable career in nursing over the past 45 years.  As a public health nurse and researcher, she has been an outstanding role model for the nursing profession.  A native of Joanna, SC, she was awarded a full four-year scholarship to the USC College of Nursing and she holds a BSN and a MSN from USC.  A participatory and transformational nurse leader, she is described as a true public health hero.  For many years she served in important leadership positions at the South Carolina DHEC.  Perhaps the crown jewel of her lifetime achievements was establishing the Best Chance Network (BCN) to make breast and cervical cancer screening available to medically underserved women.  This program was the first of its kind in the nation and under her sterling nursing leadership, the BCN became a model program, forging partnerships through8out the state to provide screening, follow up care, and outreach services.  The BCN remains a source of pride to our state today.

Each year, the College of Nursing selects an alumnus for the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award based on his or her contributions to the nursing profession.  The recipient of this award must have significantly or uniquely contributed to the nursing profession and demonstrated leadership in community affairs, nursing professional organizations, and in growth and development of others in these areas.  The recipient should also recognize and define their own contributions in a meaningful way, and to be able to effectively articulate the benefits of their USC nursing education.

Brenda in front of the Hollings Cancer Center mobile Unit.  The unit was a state of the art mobile with 2 state of the art clinic rooms for pap smears and clinical breast exams and patient counseling and teaching.  Also included a specially equipped room for digital mammography.  In collaboration with the Hollings Cancer Center, Best Chance Network has served poor rural and underserved women in a 12 county low country area since 2000.

 Our first recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni of the Year Award, Dr. Jada Quinn, is truly deserving of the award as she has achieved so much in her young nursing career. In 2010, she  joined our faculty as an Assistant Clinical Professor. She has been very active on the faculty serving on the curriculum committee and assisting with the preparation of the accreditation visit this spring. Through the tedious coordination of experiences for 200+ students, she has developed and fostered community partnerships, which will be of long-term benefit to the USC College of Nursing.  She has single- handedly acquired additional clinical sites to compliment the quality nursing education which she delivers in the classroom setting.  Dynamic in her lecture style, she brings youth and vibrancy into the classroom setting. She has become an expert teacher in the use of clinical simulation for medical surgical nursing. Her altruistic nature and giving attitude are exuded in her philanthropic activities of contributing to the educational funding of those who are to follow in her footsteps.  She enthusiastically serves as the faculty advisor for the Graduate chapter of Chi Eta Phi professional sorority as well as the Chairman of Program development.  Dr. Quinn is a member of the College of Nursing’s Partnership Board, a member of the South Carolina’s Nurse’s Association, a Cockcroft fellow, and a member of the Alpha XI chapter of Sigma Theta Tau.  She is highly thought of by her peers and is a rising star in the realm of academia.