Homegrown Island nursing program graduates nine new LPNs
The dividends of a program designed to provide career opportunities and improve health care on the Island were evident at a modest graduation ceremony held Friday night at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.
The practical nurse program's 2009 graduating class: (right to left) Samantha Cron, Carol Marie Grow, Morgan Ann Hauck, Latonia James, Beth A. Johnson, Jade Mazza, Nicole McCue, Maureen Elizabeth Tripp, Deborah A. Tucker. Photos by Ralph Stewart
In front of more than 150 relatives, friends and hospital co-workers nine women, ranging in age from 21 to 50, celebrated the completion of an intensive 10-month practical nurse program offered through Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School (UCCRTS) in partnership with the Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
Samantha Cron, Carol Marie Grow, Morgan Ann Hauck, and Maureen Elizabeth Tripp of Edgartown, Jade Mazza and Nicole McCue of Oak Bluffs, and Latonia James, Beth Johnson, and Deb Tucker of Vineyard Haven wore white gowns and apricot tassels on their mortarboards, traditional for those in nursing schools.
As part of the commencement exercises, they participated in a candle-lighting ceremony, another tradition for graduating nurses. UCCRTS nursing instructor Deborah Herlihy lit a candle, which was used to light each student's candle in turn, to represent passing the flame of knowledge of their new profession to them.
Samantha Cron (left) and Carol Grow celebrate.
Ms. Herlihy also presented the graduates with their nursing pins. Unique to the UCCRTS nursing program, the pin's design depicts the Cape Cod Canal and the Bourne and Sagamore bridges.
Two students received special recognition: Latonia James for clinical excellence; and Beth Johnson for academic achievement.
UCCRTS leaders invited to participate in the ceremony included Superintendent Kevin Farr and Principal Robert Dutch, District School Committee chairman Donald Haynes, and Director of Nursing and Health Careers Pat Gales. Ken Chisholm, Martha's Vineyard Hospital's Director of Human Resources and Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center's Administrator, also took part.
"It's really the culmination of 10 months of hard work," Ms. Gales said in a phone call last week. "The students made a lot of sacrifices and have given up a lot to realize a dream many of them have had for a long time and never thought possible. They have gone to school full-time, five days a week, and not only had to do classroom work but also had to travel off Island a couple of days a week during the winter to do their clinical work."
Morgan Hauck (left) and Latonia James participate in the candle lighting ceremony. Photo by Ralph Stewart
The idea for an LPN program on the Island grew out of efforts to staff Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Martha's Vineyard Hospital. About five years ago, Mr. Chisholm sought a way to reduce Windemere's reliance on contract Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) brought to work from off Island.
Mr. Chisholm also hoped to offer educational advancement for employees unable to attend school on the mainland and to provide a nursing career path for Island high school graduates who wanted to remain on the Vineyard.
A workforce training grant received from the state's Department of Workforce Development in 2007 enabled Windemere to bring an LPN program to the Island, which UCCRTS agreed to run, in addition to its programs in Bourne and Harwich.
By working part-time or per diem at Windemere or the hospital, students in the practical nurse program were eligible for free tuition if they committed to work two years at either institution once they became LPNs.
As part of the grant's match requirement, Windemere paid the housing costs for Ms. Herlihy, maintained benefits for the students, and provided time off for them from their jobs at the hospital or Windemere to attend classes.
Among this year's practical nursing students, Ms. Grow worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the hospital, and Ms. McCue and Ms. Tucker as CNAs at Windemere. Ms. James worked in the dietary department at the hospital and Ms. Johnson in the housekeeping department at Windemere. Ms. Mazza worked at a doctor's office in the hospital.
"It's a life-changing program," Ms. Gales said. "Some of the students had no prior health care experience at all, and had thought about doing a program like this but didn't have the opportunity. It is difficult for them to pursue education and hold down jobs and take care of families, especially if they have to travel off-Island. This program made it convenient for them to accomplish their goal and achieve their dream."
A generous donation from Allen and Audrey Pekor as representatives of the Lennar Foundation helped make this year's program possible, Mr. Chisholm said last week. "It's been a good two years," he said. "We're very thankful to Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School to make the effort to come to the Island, and to Deb Herlihy for sacrificing her life off Island to come here for two years."
Ms. Herlihy volunteered to teach on the Vineyard for two years, which meant being away from her husband Michael and border collie Runner at their home in Plymouth. "I can't say enough about how good this whole experience has been," she said. "It was a wonderful class and a great year. The only thing that would have made it more perfect is if I could have had my family over here with me."
Next year, Ms. Herlihy will be teaching in Harwich and sleeping in her own bed again. With its goals accomplished, Mr. Chisholm said the Martha's Vineyard practical nurse program will not be operated. "I think the two years of the program, which graduated 18 LPNs for the Island, gets us to the place where we need to be for now," he said. "We'll reevaluate it for the future. We had planned that this would be the last year for awhile, based on the fact we're traveler-free at Windemere, and making very good use of LPNs at the hospital."
In addition to classes and clinical rotations on Martha's Vineyard, the nursing students went off-Island for clinical rotations once a week for 12 weeks. During its first year, the practical nurse program held classes in a room in Windemere and also used a lab classroom at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School.
Due to renovations in the wing at Windemere, the practical nurse program was moved this year to a basement room in the Bank of Martha's Vineyard, a division of Sovereign Bank, in the triangle area in Edgartown. Mr. Chisholm said bank officer Paul Watts was instrumental in making the room available for the program, with the cooperation of bank manager Joan Shemit.
"That was an important part of the program, having the space," Mr. Chisholm said. "It just demonstrates what a community effort it was to make it happen. It's been a real plus for the Island, all around. As Mr. Pekor commented, there have been so many different ways this program helped Islanders to grow and helped their career development, with the end result being that Islanders are taking care of Islanders."
