Donna M. O’Brien Memorial Scholarship Fund

Donna (Moulaison) O’Brien was born November 7th, 1947 in Melrose MA. From the time she was a little girl she knew she wanted to be a nurse. Her parents Ann and Russell Moulaison worked hard and helped make this dream a reality by paying for her to go to nursing school. She graduated from Malden Hospital School of Nursing in 1968. She started her career in the recovery room at Malden Hospital. From there she moved to Melrose Wakefield hospital, where she was a medical surgical nurse for a few years. Then she moved to pediatrics, and then her dream job opened up and she joined the labor and delivery team. She spent most of her career helping people bring new life into the world, but a big part of her job was training the new nurses, and working with the student nurses. She loved this part of her job, making sure the next generation of nurses were their best clinical selves was something she prided herself on.

She met her husband John in 1969 while working at Malden hospital, he was a respiratory therapist, and a year later in 1970 they were married. They remained married for the next 53 years. They had two children Jonathan, and Mary Kate. She played such a huge role in their lives, and the lives of her grandchildren. She was the heart and soul of her family, and provided so much richness to everyone’s lives around her.

Donna retired in 2013 after 45 years of nursing with 35 of those years spent in labor and delivery. She spent her retirement doing what she did during her career, taking care of others. She cared for her aging parents, her grandchildren, and anyone else who needed it. You could always depend on her, if you needed her she was there.

Then in January of 2022 she was diagnosed with Glioblastoma brain cancer. While this was a crushing diagnosis, she carried herself with such grace and strength, she was an inspiration to all of us. She passed away peacefully on September 10th, 2023.

We, her family, have started this fund in the hopes that her spirit of caring, and striving to provide education to the next generation of nurses will live on. We hope that this helps you on your journey, wherever that may be, and wish you the best of luck on your adventure.