![\"TSTC](\"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/TSTC-Nursing-Career-Expo-72dpi.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been meeting about and organizing this expo for about a year now,\u201d said TSTC Statewide Nursing Division Director Jean Lashbrook. \u201cWe hope that our students see that they\u2019re in demand and that this motivates them to cross the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to the expo, students like Martinez received assistance from career services representatives in resume building and interview skills to prepare them for on-site interviews also hosted during the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents like this really give us (students) a leg up,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cI\u2019ve personally had a chance to ask questions, gain exposure to opportunities available and get practice in interviewing. This is invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shirley Byrd, TSTC\u2019s Registered Nursing program director said this expo was needed for the vocational and registered nursing students.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile TSTC already hosts a large career expo earlier in the year, it\u2019s difficult for our students who are at their clinical sites daily to make it back to campus,\u201d said Byrd. \u201cSo it was time to help our students out with their own event.\u201d<\/p>\n
TSTC Vocational Nursing student Maria Melendez, who will also be graduating in July said this expo has helped her expand her horizons.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to have a job lined up by the time I graduate,\u201d said Melendez. \u201cIt was great having the opportunity to speak with potential employers and learn about my choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melendez said her experience at TSTC has been memorable. From her instructors, the hands-on training and the new friends she has met, it has encouraged her to return to TSTC for the registered nursing program after she graduates.<\/p>\n
Heather Sauceda, TSTC Vocational Nursing program director, has recently seen her students achieve consecutive 100 percent national board exam pass rates and has seen a job placement rate that is close to 100 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only are nurses in demand, but our TSTC nursing students are in demand,\u201d said Sauceda. \u201cOur students are hired because of the training they receive in our program, from the hands-on in our simulation labs and the soft skills we teach, they are more than ready to work after they graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sauceda added, \u201cWe\u2019re working hard to fill a skills gap in the nursing field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lashbrook said they are working statewide to fill the gap by increasing enrollment in the nursing programs from 30 students to 40 students at TSTC\u2019s West Texas campus and will do the same at the Harlingen campus in the near future.<\/p>\n
For Martinez and Melendez it will still be a few weeks before they find out if they are offered nursing positions, but both agree that TSTC has given them the opportunity to pursue their passion: caring for others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(HARLINGEN) – Yvette Martinez is part of the first cohort from Texas State Technical College\u2019s Registered Nursing program that will be graduating in July and is preparing for her future by attending the Nursing Career Expo. The Nursing Career Expo, a first for TSTC and organized by the college\u2019s Talent Management and Career Services, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3149","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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3151,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3149\/revisions\/3151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}