Blinn-Bryan Vocational Nursing Program pins 22 nursing graduates
Classroom, lab and clinical experiences prepare students for rewarding healthcare careers
June 16, 2017
Blinn College recently recognized 22 new Vocational Nursing Program graduates with a pinning ceremony recognizing their commitment to patient care.
Graduates received their pins Thursday, June 15, after successfully completing a rigorous 10-month program that consists of classroom, laboratory and clinical experiences. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities throughout the Bryan-College Station area are utilized for clinical rotations.
This year’s graduating class includes: Allie Acord (College Station), Mike Bellis (Bryan), Desiree Blanco (Bryan), Frank Boykin (College Station), Kasey Boykin (Bryan), Amber Candaleria (Bryan), Debrisha Carroll (Hearne), Haley Carter (Bryan), Vicki Castillo (Navasota), Chahala Copelyn (College Station), Abby Culbreth (Bryan), Audrie Cummings (College Station), Haley Davila (Edge), Atlantis Denton (College Station), Katherine Fossett (College Station), Charla Lopez (Normangee), Debbie Miller (Somerville), Yeni Patino (Bryan), Lexis Shipper (College Station), Ashley South (Jewett), Myesha Stevenson (College Station), and Brooke Woode (Richmond).
Over the past five years, the Blinn-Bryan Vocational Nursing Program has posted a 96.7 percent first-attempt pass rate on the NCLEX, including 100 percent pass rates in 2012 and 2013. The program is based at Blinn’s Health Science Center Campus, where students regularly gain hands-on experience at the College’s 26,000-square-foot Simulation Center.
The Simulation Center includes an emergency medical services skills/simulation lab with an ambulance simulator, an operating room with attached scrub area, 16 mid-fidelity private hospital rooms, six low-fidelity private hospital rooms, six high-fidelity intensive care unit rooms, a physical therapy lab, two radiologic technology x-ray suites, one apartment setting room, and a virtual IV training room. Through faculty-developed simulations, students develop their procedural skills and enhance their clinical decision-making process in a safe, controlled healthcare environment.
“My faculty and I strive for student success,” said Tammye Anderson, Program Director. “Our program is very intense and the students are in class or clinical for 8-9 hours per day, Monday through Friday. Through tough love, our students graduate confident and prepared to begin a career in nursing.”
Graduates are eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination and the Nursing Jurisprudence Examination, and are considered licensed vocational nurses after passing both exams. Graduates who pass their state board exams are qualified to work in home health, dialysis, hospitals, clinics and physicians’ offices.
According to Workforce Solutions Brazos Valley, local demand for licensed vocational nurses is expected to increase 21.8 percent between 2012 and 2022, and 35 local positions are expected to open each year.
Graduates who pass their state board exams are qualified to work in a variety of settings, including home health, dialysis, hospitals, clinics and physicians’ offices. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for vocational nurses is expected to grow 16 percent nation-wide between 2014 and 2024, resulting in 117,300 additional positions. In 2015, the median pay for a Texas vocational nurse was $43,170 per year.
