Wailea Community Association continues to support Maui’s newest nurses

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 underscored nurses’ crucial contributions to the wellbeing of our island communities. Nurses provide comfort, compassion, and care in our most desperate moments, and we never have enough of them.

In response, the Wailea Community Association initiated a partnership with the nursing program at UH Maui College, covering graduates’ costs for licensure examinations. These exams must be taken in person on O‘ahu, at the only authorized testing center in the state. Costs per student can exceed $450, which includes transportation and testing fees.

Before they help our loved ones in the operating room, guide us through recovery, or welcome our grandchildren into the world, Maui’s nurses at the very onset of their careers must deal with the many stresses of earning this licensure. Wailea Community Association relieved one major cause of this stress, and continues to cover the expense, five years later.

Better results and greater career opportunities

“The smiles on students’ faces, reflecting the pride they have in accomplishing a goal in their young lives, gives us a sense of shared achievement,” says Frank “Bud” Pikrone, General Manager of Wailea Community Association.

The association’s leadership in Maui’s healthcare doesn’t end here. WCA also offsets the costs for pricey test preparation software, which includes practice exams, tutoring, books, and simulations. Although costs for the software have increased, this support means access to nursing careers has not decreased.

Additionally, Wailea Community Association provides scholarship funding for students who continue their schooling toward their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees. This financial aid benefits hospitals who prefer hiring nurses with bachelor’s degrees, and empowers the nurses themselves, who have more career opportunities and have higher salaries.

Lasting impact on healthcare in Maui County

To date, Wailea Community Association has contributed more than half a million dollars so that Maui’s healthcare providers may be educated on Maui and offer healing for Maui’s people.

“WCA has transformed the nursing student experience, decreasing stress levels for every student,” says Dr. Anne Scharnhorst, UH Maui College Allied Health department chair. “The software they fund is very expensive, but it has helped 100 percent of our nursing students to pass their licensure exams. WCA has impacted the healthcare of Maui County by sending out well-prepared, new nurses who know their community appreciates and supports their efforts at excellence.”

UH Maui grad Cheryl Keyhani says, “WCA lifted a major burden, allowing me to focus entirely on studying and preparing for the NCLEX without the added stress of how I would afford these essential expenses. I am happy to add that I am now a registered nurse, and I am incredibly grateful for the role Wailea Community Association played in helping me reach this milestone.”