Elaina Parrillo

Elaina “Laina” Parrillo, BSN, RN is a recipient of the Jane Eleanor Knox Scholarship, given to a doctoral student who has illustrated a unique commitment to nursing and clearly demonstrated leadership potential. Laina is currently a candidate for her DNP Pediatric Primary Care NP and PhD at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. Prior to her graduate studies, Laina graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Ever since she was a child, Laina knew that she wanted to be a nurse and work with children and their families. Her younger brother was born with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia and died at age two in the hospital. Throughout his long stay in the hospital, there was little emphasis on his quality of life and decision-making support provided to her family. It was at that time that Laina knew she wanted to pursue pediatric nursing. During her BSN education, she realized the great need for additional research for best practices to optimize quality of life for families with children who have a serious, chronic illness. This led to her pursuit to become a nurse-clinician scientist to conduct rigorous nursing research and translate findings to her own clinical practice.

Laina is currently a fifth-year student researching how to improve cancer survivorship care for children and families during the transition to school. Her work focuses on how parent perceptions of the support they have received during their child’s transition to school and their understanding of the available resources and needs of a pediatric cancer survivor influence their child’s psychosocial wellbeing during the initial transition to school. Laina is a member of Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honors Society and the Johns Hopkins University student representative for the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Maryland Chesapeake Chapter.

The DNP/PhD degree aligns with her goals of becoming an independent nurse clinician scientist. Laina intends to use her degree to work at both a research-intensive university and in primary care after the completion of her program to advance pediatric survivorship care. As a future PNP, she would like to work in primary care to promote the health of survivors, particularly psychosocial health and schooling, and identify meaningful clinical problems for families. As a faculty researcher, she is interested in expanding her graduate study work and exploring innovative methods of incorporating survivorship care within the primary care setting, such as developing methods for provider training and enhancing interdisciplinary communication of survivor needs.

The NEF Jane Eleanor Knox Scholarship is extremely meaningful to Laina. The scholarship supports her in achieving her goal of becoming a nurse-clinician scientist to make an impact in the field of pediatric cancer survivorship and improve the nursing care for families. The scholarship not only provides support throughout her program but will recognize her unique path and commitment to nursing as a caregiver, researcher, and future leader.