Feb. 17, 2009 | Nicholas Lang, M.D., believes in paying forward the legacy of quality patient care in the operating room established by the long career of his wife.

“The idea is to honor the career and dedication of my wife by ensuring future generations of extraordinary care inside and outside of the operating room,” said Lang, chief medical officer of the UAMS Medical Center.

Lang was recognized with a luncheon Feb. 13 for establishing a nursing scholarship to honor the career of his wife, Helen Lang, R.N., a longtime surgical nurse serving both Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the John L. McClellan Veteran’s Hospital. 

“As a doctor married to a longtime registered nurse, I’m in a unique position both professionally and personally to fully understand the importance of nursing in patient care and with assisting doctors,” Lang said. “What better way to honor that relationship than by ensuring the training of more skilled professionals through a scholarship?”

The Helen F. Lang RN Scholarship Fund will be awarded annually to a senior Bachelor of Science in Nursing student holding a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. The student must also be interested in surgical nursing with the commitment to pursue working in the operating room or caring for patients recovering from surgical procedures upon graduation.

The Lang family will make a yearly pledge of $20,000 for four years that will be matched by UAMS’ Faculty Group Practice, the group practice for UAMS physicians, to total $160,000.

“This is a very special gift to our students enrolled in our Bachelor of Science Nursing (BSN) program that signifies the importance of the role that registered nurses play in the medical profession and the surgery subspecialty,” said Claudia Barone, Ed.D., R.N., dean of the UAMS College of Nursing. “We are honored to receive this gift and look forward to being stewards of this scholarship.”

Once fully funded, the scholarship will be awarded annually beginning with the fall 2013 semester.