{"id":3028,"date":"2018-06-03T23:45:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T23:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3028"},"modified":"2018-06-05T00:12:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-05T00:12:04","slug":"tstc-alumni-at-eastland-memorial-hospital-work-to-improve-local-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3028","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Alumnae at Eastland Memorial Hospital Work to Improve Local Health Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

(BRECKENRIDGE) — Northeast of the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Abilene is a hospital with a big heart. Eastland Memorial Hospital, the only hospital to serve the residents of Eastland County, is home to local heroes who answered the call to become health care providers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these professionals are graduates of Texas State Technical College\u2019s nursing program.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a rural community, and TSTC assists in providing a quality education and necessary service that is so important for this community,\u201d said TSTC alumna Brandi Riley, a registered nurse who is manager of <\/span>Outpatient\/Surgery Services and Education at EMH.<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently there are five TSTC graduates employed with EMH. Some students started their nursing careers at TSTC, while others studied online to further their education.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I graduated from TSTC with my LVN in 2010 from the Breckenridge campus, and I went back in 2016 to the associate degree in nursing LVN to RN bridge program at the Sweetwater campus,\u201d said Megan Drake, EMH\u2019s supervisor of Infection Control, Risk Management and Employee Health. \u201cI chose TSTC because it is so much more affordable compared to larger universities where you get the same degree.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a rising demand for LVNs and RNs, and the employment growth rate in Texas is higher than the national average.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe hire new RNs and LVNs and encourage students to do their clinicals with us to get their foot through the door,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWe are working on a partnership with the Breckenridge campus to get LVNs and RNs doing clinicals here and recruit some new faces.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For those at Eastland, the hospital is a community and an opportunity to hone new skills. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEastland is smaller, but<\/span> I feel that I get a broader range of skills rather than working in a larger hospital, where I\u2019d have to focus on one specific department,\u201d Drake said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the staff employed by Eastland have earned their RN degrees through TSTC\u2019s online program while working full time as an LVN. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was working for Eastland already as an LVN, and they helped to pay for me to go to TSTC to become an RN. And that\u2019s when I earned the position I\u2019m in now,\u201d Riley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

For others, like registered nurse Belinda Williams, TSTC is a family affair. Williams earned her associate degree in nursing, her daughter graduated from the Chemical Dependency Counseling program in Breckenridge, and her husband earned his commercial driver\u2019s license after completing TSTC\u2019s professional driver training in Sweetwater.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love that you go and learn what it is that you are pursuing career-wise, and it\u2019s cheaper than regular college. It\u2019s a great place to get an education, and it\u2019s a fun school that cares about its students,\u201d said Williams, RN case manager\/utilization review and quality manager at EMH.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the need for qualified nurses rises, Riley reminds potential students to think of why they chose to pursue a career in nursing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have a love for nursing. It\u2019s not about the income, but caring for patients and giving the best patient care possible,\u201d Riley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Registration for fall classes at TSTC is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(BRECKENRIDGE) — Northeast of the hustle and bustle of metropolitan Abilene is a hospital with a big heart. Eastland Memorial Hospital, the only hospital to serve the residents of Eastland County, is home to local heroes who answered the call to become health care providers. Some of these professionals are graduates of Texas State Technical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breckenridge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3028"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3039,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3028\/revisions\/3039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}