23 GRADUATE BLINN’S LVN PROGRAM
Twenty-three Blinn College Licensed Vocational Nursing graduates were welcomed into the profession during the program’s 54th pinning ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 3, at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center in Brenham.
Micaul Bass (Flatonia), Debra Bishop (Bellville), Amy Boeker (Brenham), Donnell Burns (Hempstead), Cesilia Bustos (Brenham), Sofia Economou (Brenham), Halie Elms (Navasota), Thomas Everett (Brenham), Julie Fischer (Brenham), Sasha Foster (Somerville), Jessica Hejl (Brenham), Juanita Herrera (Sealy), Janna Hubbard (Navasota), Zoe Jenkins (Chappell Hill), Apryl Johnson (Ledbetter), Rachel Krenek (College Station), Wendy Leonberg (Navasota), Nicole Morrison (Brenham), Lenita Nchamukong (Cypress), Carol Rapalo (Columbus), Audrei Rogers (Smithville), Lauren Tate (Kenney) and Maria Villanueva (Bellville) all received their nursing pins after successfully completing 19 courses in one of the most rigorous programs Blinn offers.
“We are very proud of our graduates,” said Michelle Marburger, director of the Blinn-Brenham Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) Program. “They have had a long and strenuous year as they prepared to become a nurse and we have enjoyed watching them learn and grow while working beside them.”
Approximately 99 percent of Blinn-Brenham LVN graduates in the past five years have passed the National Council Licensure Examination, including a 100 percent passing rate in 2015. The state-wide average is approximately 85 percent and the national average is approximately 82 percent.
The 12-month program’s first semester includes 10 courses, and students must pass all their classes to advance to the next semester. Should they fail, they must re-apply for the program the following year. To pass, students must score at least a 75 percent, and the program also features a strict attendance policy.
The program consists of classroom, laboratory and clinical experiences, some of which begin at 6:30 a.m. Hospitals and other health care facilities throughout the Brenham and La Grange communities are utilized for clinical rotations. Students are expected to spend 35-40 hours each week in scheduled, attendance-mandatory activities.
Graduates who pass their state board exams are qualified to work in home health, dialysis, hospitals, clinics and physicians’ offices. Story and photo courtesy of Blinn College.
