Students following various paths into nursing careers
by Gala Trimble, Reporter

   Evelyn Ball left the restaurant business to enter nursing school. Like many of her classmates in the South Campus department of nursing, she entered the program for personal reasons.
   Ball said she became interested in a medical profession when she worked in the dietary department at Walls Hospital in Cleburne, Texas. She said she loved going to work, talking with patients to discern their dietary requirements and history and working with professionals with a shared goal: improved health for their patients.
   Ball selected TCC’s program because she had heard medical professionals talk about the quality of the program graduates.
   “This is a great program with a great reputation among local medical professionals,” she said.
   The former restaurant owner enjoys helping people, and since her children are now fairly self-sufficient and her husband supports this career move, the time seemed right to return to school to become a nurse.
   Kimberly Tautges has always been interested in medicine.
   “I became intensely interested in the medical aspects of my pregnancy,” she said.
   Although Tautges already had a B.A. in religion and English from Baylor University, she wanted more and said she is looking forward to midwifery as both a career and a calling.
   Foundation student Virginia Heath was drawn to nursing by two very personal situations. When her brother was diagnosed with cancer, she took responsibility for getting him to all of his medical appointments.
   She said she appreciated the care he received and developed an interest in becoming a medical professional.
   Heath now has a child with spina bifida and said she has learned even more about herself and her need to help others. After graduation, she will pursue a master’s degree in midwifery at the University of North Texas.
   “I was surprised because I thought it would be easier. The skills have been more challenging to learn than I expected. But I’m also having more fun than I expected,” she said.
   Ball has firmly set career goals.
   “I guess you could say I am adrenalin-driven. My goal is to become a Careflite nurse,” she said.
  Ball said working in hospital emergency rooms will better prepare her to obtain the paramedic certification that is required for work with CareFlite.
  One of Ball’s rewards has been the effect her return to college has on her four daughters, ages 12, 14, 16 and 18. All have picked up additional responsibilities to help the household run smoothly.
   According to Ball, the two older girls now understand the difference between high school and college homework and are looking ahead to SATs and their own college choices. Her youngest daughter expresses her pride in being seen in public with her uniformed mom, Ball said.
   These students say nursing program entrance requirements are tough, but fair. Applicants should have completed all of the basics, such as English, math, chemistry, microbiology, anatomy and their humanities classwork. Most applicants have 25 to 30 hours behind them by the time they take the Nursing Aptitude Test.
   The first semester course load seemed really heavy because there are labs in addition to theory classes and hospital time, Tautges said. She had volunteered in a hospital as a teenager but says the stress level is higher caring for patients and being out of her comfort zone on a daily basis.
   For student Ball, the hospital time and class work make her school life fast-paced and challenging.
   “The hardest part for me has been developing my abilities for critical thinking as well as the memorization and application of medical information,” she said.
  Heath wants aspiring nurses to know that while admission is tough, it does not require a 4.0 in sciences, but it does require an ability to think critically and to apply what one learns appropriately and quickly.
   The greatest challenge for students seems to be time management, especially if they have young children. Assistance from parents, grandparents and older children often bridges the gap between parenthood and student activities for these future nurses. Participation in the National Student Nurse Association and Texas Nursing Students Association provides academic and professional support for students.
   These students say they take pride in being a part of TCC’s nursing program. They believe they receive extra encouragement from medical professionals who provide their clinical training at local hospitals because they are students at TCC.
  “Dreams can come true. If you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, it will pay off,” Ball said.
   The Nursing department is part of the health and technology division on South Campus. For questions on the program not answered in the catalog or at www.tccd.edu, students can call Alyce Brinkley at 817-515-4549 or e-mail her at alice.brinkley@tccd.net.