Wallace State Nursing pins 97 students; includes first group to complete new mobility program
Tabatha Veal, left, of Falkville, and Jedidiah Hardman and Jacob Reed, both of Cullman, were recognized as Nightingale Award winners on Thursday, Aug. 1, during the pinning ceremony for the August 2019 graduating class from the Department of Nursing Education. The program pinned almost 11 students during the ceremony.
HANCEVILLE, Ala. — The Wallace State Community College Department of Nursing Education pinned almost 100 students who recently completed the Associate Degree in Nursing program. More than 20 were the first to enroll in a Mobility Nursing option that allows licensed practical nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists and radiological technicians a pathway to complete an associate degree nursing in three semesters.
“This group has forged new ground in order to meet the changing healthcare workforce requirements,” said Deborah “Pepper” Hoover, director of the Department of Nursing Education.
Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics congratulated the graduates and thanked their families for sharing their loved ones with the college as they trained to become nurses.
“Wallace State nurses have a brand,” Karolewics said. “They are sought after. You are joining an outstanding group of alums and we find them everywhere we go. I’m always honored to receive care from a nurse I know is a Wallace State graduate, because I know that I’m in good hands.”
In his address, class president Jacob Reed, of Cullman, reminisced about their journey through nursing school, sharing amusing anecdotes about their first skills tests and check-offs, multiple choice exams that included all correct answers, but only one that would be the most correct answers, and simulations.
“This is where I had my first and only experience delivering a baby, which revealed to me that maternity nursing would not be an area that I would be seeking employment,” Reed said of one of those simulations.
“I am so proud of each one of you who will be walking across the stage tonight,” Reed told his classmates. “The path to becoming a nurse was challenging but so rewarding. Each graduate here tonight had a thought that became an idea. That idea became a dream, which through action manifested into a goal and that goal turned into a destination that we are celebrating here tonight.”
A record number of 16 students were nominated as Nightingale Award recipients, Reed, Jedidiah Hardman of Cullman, and Tabatha Veal, of Falkville, receiving the awards. Other nominees were Casey Allen, Savannah Beard, Brittney Black, McKenzie Burden, Justin Davis, Kristen Gentry, Jared Goolsby, Shelby Henderson, Kaeli Huddleston, Jessica Lane, Nick McAnnally, Breanna Nicholson and Brennen Stricklin.
The Wallace State Department of Nursing Education is currently accepting applications through Sept. 1 for entry in Spring 2020 for the Associate Degree Nursing program and the new UAB/Wallace State Community College Nursing Joint Enrollment Program. Applications for the Mobility program are accepted from March 15 to May 15 for fall entry.
For more information about the Wallace State Nursing program, visit www.wallacestate.edu/nursing or call 256.352.8199.
Registration for Fall 2019 classes is currently underway through Aug. 22. Classes begin Aug. 19 for Regular and Flex Term I and Oct. 9 for Flex Term II. Visit www.wallacestate.edu or call 256.352.8000 for more information.