Gavilan Nursing Program:
Dedication is the Heart of its Success
Written By Kimberly Ewertz
A
medical situation occurs in the middle of the night,
requiring a trip to the Emergency Room. Upon arrival,
the key to receiving the correct treatment hinges on the
proper assessment of the patient’s condition; surprisingly this
responsibility falls not to the doctor, but the nurse.
“The assessment is crucial, and the nurse is the first person
right there, right there,” said Debbie Amaro, Allied Health Director
at Gavilan College.
In her role as Director, Amaro oversees not only Gavilan’s
Nursing Program, but also the Medical Assisting, Certified Nursing
Assistant, and Home Health Aid programs.
“When you assess a patient, you have to figure out what’s
wrong, and what to do about it,” Amaro said.
With a background including over 28 years of nursing
experience, and over ten years as a Gavilan instructor for the
second year LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) program, Amaro
can attest to the fact that Gavilan nursing graduates exit the
program instilled with a specific set of exceptional standards:
professionalism, accountability, autonomy, and most importantly,
patient safety.
Proof of that fact came earlier this year, when Amaro received
notification from the President of PracticalNursing.org, Bryce Hall,
that Gavilan’s LVN, Program ranked eleventh, out of the top thirty
LVN programs in the state of California.
“I think it’s our curriculum, it’s all the instructors’ commitment
to having their students do really well, and work hard to have
them understand how to be a nurse,” Amaro said.
Gavilan’s nursing program is a three-year program, consisting
of two years LVN training, and one-year RN, (Registered Nurse).
Linda Stubblefield, first year instructor of the LVN to RN program,
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believes the first year is very important.
“You have to be able to really assess when a patient’s in trouble,
and be able to get a referral, and get someone to look at them right
away,” Stubblefield said.
In order to acquire this crucial skill, first year LVN students
are introduced to clinical rotations as early as three weeks into
the program, working alongside nurses in the hospitals, helping
provide patient care.
“It reinforces them, and gives them a chance to do all these
skills on a real person,” Amaro said.
Jennifer Clark, 38, an Emergency Room nurse, and 2011
Gavilan RN graduate, agrees.
“They kind of get you in there, and get your feet wet, that’s
excellent,” Clark said.
Shannon Martinez, 36, a 2014 Gavilan RN graduate, and a
Critical Care Program/Step Down unit nurse at Valley Medical
Center, feels the program gave her the added advantage to be her
best.
“I feel like the amount of time I had in contact with people has
helped me in my career, because I’m comfortable with people now.
I can go into a patient’s room, and have confidence,” Martinez said,
adding that it was scary at first, but very “beneficial.”
After completion of the two-year LVN program, the nursing
student transitions to the RN program.
“We’ve created the program now, so the LVN students, as long as
they have a 2.5 GPA, they can go straight through into the RN class
at the end,” Amaro said.
This new system differs from past years, which required an LVN
graduate to apply to the RN program, with no assurance that they
would be accepted.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017
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