HANCEVILLE – About 200 new nursing students attended orientation Tuesday at Wallace State Community College. During the day-long event, the students were given information about when to expect certain classes to be taught, their uniform scrubs, text books and equipment they will need, financial aid and more.
The incoming students were provided time to meet with current nursing students to get their perspective and any advice they can offer about the program. Wallace State’s Nursing program is among the best in the state, consistently graduating classes that rank near the top of the list for successfully completing the same licensure exams administered to graduates of four-year institutions.
The Nursing program’s state-of-the-art facility is one of the features that drew Jake Martin to the Wallace State program. The Pelham man said a friend recommended he come to Wallace State because of the school’s impressive Simulation Center, which is designed to model a hospital ward.
Martin, who will be the third generation of his family to become a nurse, said he likes the one-on-one interaction nurses have with patients while helping to care for them.
Gabrielle Harris, a 2013 graduate of Good Hope High School, said she’s wanted to be a nurse for a long time. She said she cares about people and wants to be a part of improving people’s lives. In the future, she hopes to work in dermatology or a similar field. Having issues with her skin, she said she wanted to “take something that hurt me and benefit others.”
Keri Philbrook of Cullman saw how nurses help others when her late husband was hospitalized multiple times during his fight with cancer. After her husband’s death, she changed her course of study from education to nursing.
“I never thought I would be a nurse,” Philbrook admitted. But after seeing how nurses impacted her and her husband’s lives during his treatment, she went in a new direction.
“I’ve seen the good nurses and the bad nurses,” she said. “I want to be a good nurse. I want to be able to help people with the same situation that I had.”
Wallace State’s Nursing program accepts new students each fall, with applications accepted April through June 1 of each year. Those interested in the nursing program should view the course catalog to learn about prerequisite courses that can be taken before admission into the program, call the Wallace State Nursing program at 256-352-8199 or visit the Nursing program’s page on the Wallace State website at wallacestate.edu.
The Health Science division is hosting a Second Opportunity for Health Science programs meeting at 10 a.m., Thursday, June 25 on the 12th floor of the James C. Bailey Center. Anyone interested in learning more about health programs at Wallace State that still have openings for Fall 2015 is welcome to attend. Wallace State Community College is located at 801 Main Street NW, Hanceville, AL 35077.
