Nursing students about to achieve their dreams

Vanessa Marez looks over her papers while in her nursing class at the New Mexico State University campus at Grants on Thursday. The class will be the first ever nursing student class to graduate from the campus this May. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Four young women who wanted to become nurses are about to achieve their dreams as they complete their final semester at New Mexico State University-Grants.

The first-ever nursing program came to the local campus two years ago and was warmly received by the community.

It is a bachelor of science in nursing program, which includes two years of prerequisites and two years of nursing core courses — including theory and clinical visits to hospitals — which allows the students to begin practicing their knowledge and skills learned in the classroom.

The program uses distance learning, where students are in a classroom in Grants and are able to see and hear instructors on the main campus of NMSU in Las Cruces.

The Grants program is part of the main campus nursing program.

Kathy McKenzie, RN, BSN, is the assistant director of nursing on the Grants campus and was hired two years ago to begin the program.

“These young women have been dedicated and motivated so much, that they have set the standard for other classes to follow,” she said. “These students have been here so much, whether their children were sick, or they were sick, they have made every class except three total absences in two years.”

“There is a lot of information, lots of responsibility in this program,” Jennifer Wengart, a nursing student from Bluewater said.

“When we did a clinical in ICU, there were people with complex illnesses and we needed to understand all the different illness and different medications,” she said.

Wengart said learning all the different medications and what they do has been a challenge.

“I am surprised about the workload,” Vanessa Marez, of Milan, said. “It is hard to balance being with your children and doing homework.”

Marez said she received a scholarship to attend NMSU-Grants nursing program from Cibola General Hospital and has a two-year commitment to work there following graduation and receiving her license.

“I didn’t think nursing school would be this hard. I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it really is,” she said.

Katrina Peck, also of Milan, said she has not decided what she will do following graduation and receiving her license.

“One thing I liked is when we went to the hospitals for our clinical training, sometimes we would get some good nurses who shared their stories and experiences with us,” she said.

Peck said she didn’t expect to have as much theory in classes, and found that nurses use their thought processes more.

“I always thought nurses just went and used their skills,” she said.

“I didn’t realize nurses now are thinking, using their thought processes, analyzing and critiquing what needs to be done (with patients),” she said.

Vail Woodward, of Bluewater, said it has been difficult to balance classes and clinical work.

“Before, I just went to class, memorized the information for the test and then it was gone.

“Here you have to know it throughout the program and for the rest of your career,” she said.

She also said the nursing program is difficult and presented a lot more information than was expected.

She also is working at the hospital for two years because of a scholarship from Cibola General.

McKenzie said a pinning, where the nurses received their nursing pin from the college, will take place sometime during graduation week. Graduation is May 8.

Following the end of the semester, NMSU, in Las Cruces, will forward completed paperwork to the state, which then allows the students to take their nursing exam to receive their licenses, McKenzie said.

“These students have really put a lot of themselves into the program,” she said.

“They are all very self-motivated and dedicated to this program.

“Because this is the first class, there were some times they were not able to get answers to questions immediately, so they found a way around that in order to get the answers,” she said. “Their preparation before they entered the program was extremely strong.”

To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 285-4560 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.