Care Initiatives DON Leadership Scholarship Application Form

2026 Care Initiatives Director of Nursing (DON) Leadership Scholarship

These scholarships are for assistant directors of nursing (ADONs), DONs or registered nurses (RNs) who are employed by an IHCA member facility and are interested in pursuing the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing (AAPACN) DNS-CT (Director of Nursing Services) Program Dec. 7-10, 2026. Applications are due by May 31, 2026.

Applicant Information

Applicant Name(Required)

First Last

Applicant Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

Applicant Phone(Required)

Applicant Work Email(Required)

Applicant Personal Email(Required)

Employer Information

Is your employer a member of the Iowa Health Care Association?(Required)

Yes

Employer Company Name(Required)

Employer Address(Required)

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

Administrator/Director's Name(Required)

First Last

Administrator/Director's Phone(Required)

Administrator/Director's Email(Required)

Applicant's Job Title(Required)

Number of Years Applicant Has Worked in Long-Term Care(Required)

Month/Year of Hire at Current Employer(Required)

Educational Program Information

Applicants must be enrolled or plan to enroll in the AAPACN DNS-CT certification program held in December 2026, to be eligible for this scholarship.(Required)

Yes, I agree to be signed up for the AAPACN DNS-CT certification program held in December 2026 IF I receive this scholarship. (Scholarship recipients will be notified by the end of July 2026.)

Required Documents

Essay(Required)

Max. file size: 50 MB.

Compose and upload an essay of no more than 500 words. It must be your own work and include discussion on the following: 1) The reason you have selected long-term care as a career field and your work history in long-term care (i.e., nursing facility (SNF/NF), continuing care retirement community (CCRC), assisted living facility (AL) or home health (HH/HC) agency), including any supervisory experience or future anticipated supervisory duties. Please include the number of direct reports you have directly supervised and the scope of your supervisory responsibility. 2) Describe your career goals specific to long-term care. 3) Describe how you plan to apply what you learn from the leadership training covered by the scholarship to your work in long-term care. Describe how this leadership program will improve or enhance your current supervisory skills and outcomes.

Letter of Recommendation(Required)

Max. file size: 50 MB.

Upload one letter of recommendation from your administrator/director or manager. Please ask them to include your name, their name, organization name, telephone and email address in the letter. Also in the letter, ask them to describe why they believe you would be a worthy recipient of an IHCA Foundation scholarship. Please limit letters to 200 words or less.

Scholarship Award Terms, Conditions + Terms of Agreement

Terms and Conditions(Required)

Upon being awarded the scholarship, a recipient is required to execute any and all documents IHCA determines are necessary, including but not limited to a promissory note. If the scholarship recipient does not complete the educational program during the time frame for which scholarship funds are provided, any unused funds are to be returned to the IHCA Foundation. This scholarship is not intended nor in any way should it be construed as an obligation by the IHCA member organization to employ or continue to employ the recipient. If awarded the scholarship, the scholarship recipient grants IHCA permission to publish any information provided in the scholarship application for scholarship fundraising purposes and to use the recipient’s likeness in any photograph or video in any and all of its publications, including television commercials, print advertisements, website and social media entries without payment or any other consideration.

Yes, I agree to the terms and conditions.

No, I do not agree to the terms and conditions.

Terms of Agreement(Required)

I certify with my initials below that I meet all the requirements for the scholarship for which I am applying. I certify that all the information contained herein is true and correct. I further certify that I have read, understand and agree to the Scholarship Award Terms and Conditions.