Making the Best Use of Educational Benefits at The Elliot

Elliot Heath System is proud to support our employees with a range of educational opportunities and tuition benefits. Director of Ambulatory Nursing-Primary Care, Melissa Taylor has leveraged those benefits to earn two degrees! She credits tuition discounts, tuition reimbursement, and loan forgiveness as well as the encouragement of her colleagues with a large part of her success.

Melissa explains, “When I was a resource nurse in primary care, the opportunity to advance in nursing leadership came via an ambulatory clinical nurse manager position. However, a BSN was required. The idea of returning to school was daunting, and the thought of taking on the financial burden was a serious concern. While investigating possible programs, I learned that Elliot Health System has agreements with several institutions to provide tuition discounts.

I took advantage of the 10% tuition discount and enrolled at Southern NH University. I was also able to apply for tuition reimbursement. When EHS instituted the loan forgiveness program, I qualified for a monthly contribution. Once my paperwork was complete, the organization did the rest of the heavy lifting. It was satisfying to see my balance decrease so rapidly with the additional monies applied to the principle amount!

I assumed the Ambulatory Clinical Nurse Manager position and grew in leadership over the next two years. I had fabulous mentors at The Elliot and was fortunate to grow in a safe, supportive environment. In 2018, I had the opportunity to advance once again when the Director of Ambulatory Nursing position became vacant. Once again faced with a graduate degree requirement, I enrolled at Walden University for my MSN, again taking advantage of the 10% tuition discount as an Elliot employee. The tuition reimbursement for this second degree helped immensely, and the mentorship from my leadership colleagues was instrumental in my successful completion of the program in November 2022.

I can confidently state that my final cost for both degrees was less than half of what the balance would have been without these financial supports. The Elliot values their employees, as demonstrated by their dedicated support to those in pursuit of higher education and advancement. But of greater than or equal importance was the encouragement and willingness to help from many colleagues, including Martha Leighton our CNO and my preceptor Donna Frizzell. This is just one of the many intangible benefits of working at EHS; you have your own support squad! I hope that I will be able to “pay it forward” by offering the same encouragement and mentorship to others in pursuit of professional growth and development in this organization. I could not picture myself working anywhere else!”

- Director of Ambulatory Nursing-Primary Care, Melissa Taylor, MSN, RN, AMB-BC, NE-BC