Always an education advocate and supporter, and an educator herself, Winifred “Winnie” Guthikonda recently established a new endowment through the Mount Carmel Foundation to provide scholarships in perpetuity to MCCN students. The first scholarship from the Yavorsky Guthikonda Nursing Scholarship Endowment will be awarded for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
“In 1986, when my father and father-in-law died within six weeks of each other, my then husband and I wanted to find a meaningful way to honor their lives,” said Guthikonda. “We decided to build a school in their honor in India, where my husband was born.”
The school – which is comparable to a community college in the U.S. - was established in 1991. “The library in the school was dedicated to my father, Leonard J. Yavorsky Memorial Library. The school is named the Guthikonda Sreeramula Degree College. Since inception, it has since branched out from an arts and sciences school, to include engineering and law. Being able to bring education to those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to further their studies, left an indelible impression on me,” she said.
Making education a priority in her own life took on even more meaning and relevance when Winnie and her husband divorced and she looked for a way to re-start her life. Originally from Youngstown, she graduated from a nursing diploma program there. Post divorce, 25 years later, she returned to school, earning a bachelor’s degree in health care psychology, then an MSN, board certification in her specialty as a Certified Post Anesthesia Nurse (CPAN) and finally her APN certification in clinical education.
Part of getting that fresh start was a move to Columbus, Ohio, at the suggestion of her brother-in-law Mark Herbert, MD, FACP, a Mount Carmel infectious disease physician. “I started working as a casual, in the PACU at Mount Carmel West as I was working on my MSN,” Guthikonda said. “Mount Carmel helped me realize that I could make my own life, and my own friends. It was instrumental in me getting a new start after the divorce. Providing scholarships for tomorrow’s nurses is a way for me to give something back. Founding the successful school in India was a profound experience for me. I’m sure this endowment and getting to know the students who benefit from it will be too.”
“Selfishly, these younger nurses are going to be taking care of me someday, so I want them to be prepared,” she joked. “Seriously, though, medicine is changing so rapidly and there is more and more technology involved in patient care now. Tomorrow’s nurses will have new challenges to face, as well as new opportunities to embrace. In my 50-year career, the advancements in care have been amazing.”
Guthikonda, in her role as a perianesthesia clinical educator at Mount Carmel, had the opportunity to work on the earliest iteration of high-reliability organizations, learning directly from the airline industry, where the concepts, practices, and processes were initially developed. “I was the only Mount Carmel nurse who, along with one physician from the system, was sent to Memphis to train with airline pilots in 2004,” she said. “We began applying the principles learned first in surgery and then rolled it out to obstetrics. Now, those same practices are used throughout the health care system to help ensure safe, high-quality care.”
“Nurses will need to continue to learn throughout their careers, as well as share their knowledge and experiences with the next generation,” said Guthikonda. “Future nurses will have even more opportunities to branch out into new specialties.”
While she left the Mount Carmel system in 2017 to live closer to her daughter in Maryland, Guthikonda still shares a deep bond with the health system. “I’m proud of my faith and being a product of the Catholic school system, too,” she said. “My values align closely with those of MCHS and MCCN, so providing scholarships to Mount Carmel nurses helps fulfill my desire to give back in a way that honors both my career and my faith.”
“It’s important to be humble and kind,” Guthikonda said. “My faith and my education have helped me truly appreciate the value of life. It is a privilege to be an educator of future nurses, who see people when they are most vulnerable. Respecting patients and doing whatever it takes are essential in our work.”
Guthikonda is looking forward to meeting her endowment’s first scholarship recipient at the MCCN Scholarship and Donor Recognition dinner in September. “My hope is to keep in contact with them, encourage and watch their progress over time,” she said.