Redlands Vocational Nursing program at the Redlands Adult School held its graduation Friday evening in the Blackstone Theater at Redlands East Valley High School.
Ellen Schollenberger, the founding director for the nursing program, attended the graduation and talked about what the students go through.
She said the licensed vocational nursing program provides "experience in long-term care and acute care. They work at the VA and other various hospitals in the area."
There is one thing Schollenberger is particularly proud of.
"At the end of the program they take a national licensing exam, and our school has a 100 percent pass rate on that," Schollenberger said.
"So we have many many applications to get into our program."
Many scholarships are handed out to the graduates from the community.
"We have a good reputation," Schollenberger said. "Many community organizations give scholarships to our graduates, so we have a great deal of support within our community, which is very nice. All of our graduates are working in these various places. In Redlands Community and Beaver Clinic, their employers are always very happy."
Nursing secretary Mary Amdriz said she is happy to see the graduates reach this level in their educations.
"There's different levels of nursing, and this is kind of the middle level," Amdriz said. "The entry level is called certified nursing assistant, and then the next
level would be called licensed vocational nurse, and that's about 1,700 hours worth of training. And then it goes on to registered nurse, which is usually a four-year program."
Nursing graduate Art Gaitan of Grand Terrace felt relief at the end of his training, and gave the inspirational message at the graduation.
"I feel excited," Gaitan said. "It's honestly a feeling that 18 months ago it was hard to comprehend that I would actually be here today. Going through the last 18 months has been hard and very hectic, but for the most part it's a feeling of excitement."
He went through the nursing program because it led to a way to serve as the military has served.
"I would have to say the bedside care was the best part of the program, especially at the VA hospital," Gaitan said. "It was just being able to give back to some of the men. Both of my grandfathers and my father served in the service, and I feel like this is a small way I could give back to them."
Nursing graduate Karen Katuls of Redlands is 51 now, and finally saw her dream from when she was 18 years old come true.
"It's amazing, it's incredible, it's a mid-life dream," Katuls said. "It was time for me to finish school."
She was impressed with the teachers' dedication.
"The teachers' dedication to make sure we get through and get everything done is amazing," Katuls said. "They didn't want us to rest because they wanted us to be the best we could possibly be, and they pushed us no matter how young, how old, how slow, how fast and made sure we got what we needed."(source) |
