Beaufort County Community College honored 15 Practical Nursing (PN) graduates at a heartfelt pinning ceremony on July 10, celebrating their dedication, teamwork, and personal growth. The ceremony featured the lighting of lanterns, the recitation of the Practical Nursing Pledge, and the symbolic pinning of each graduate by a friend or family member.
The Class of 2025 includes Kaelee Alleman, Haleigh Barker, Suzy Carbone, Ja’Shawna Clemmons-Jones, Tyra Galloway, Teja Holley, America Lamadrid Cano, Rispah Mwangi, Asha Paschal, Ke’Niya Peterson, Destiny Russell, Gabby Singleton, LaRita Tysor, Jamie Wilder, and Rita Williams.
This year’s class benefited from a new collaborative model that paired PN students with associate degree nursing (ADN) students for 90 percent of their coursework. Dr. Kent Dickerson, dean of nursing and allied health, credited this approach with reducing the program’s attrition rate from 70 percent to 40 percent.
“There were times that you really didn’t like it, and yet you persevered. You kept going,” Dickerson told graduates. “We are the only college in the state that has this model, and you’re a success because of that model.”
He also reminded students that while technical training is important, personal growth often happens beyond the classroom. “The overt curriculum is what most people hear about: skills check-offs, medication math, clinical judgment,” said Dickerson. “But the covert curriculum is what you learned from life happening around you. That’s what really shapes you.”
Students in the PN program must complete a rigorous curriculum that includes concept mapping, clinicals at local health care facilities, and the development of nursing narratives. They train to provide safe, individualized care while working as part of an interdisciplinary team using evidence-based practices and health care informatics.
During the ceremony, Beaufort County Association of Nursing Students (BCANS) historian McKenna Taylor recognized BCANS members from the graduating class, including Suzy Carbone, Ja’Shawna Clemmons-Jones (who served as the PN representative), America Lamadrid Cano, Ke’Niya Peterson, Gabby Singleton, LaRita Tysor, and Rita Williams. Taylor also presented America Lamadrid Cano with the Academic Excellence Award.
Graduates will sit for the NCLEX-PN licensing exam later this summer. The Class of 2024 earned a 100 percent pass rate, and the ADN Class of 2025, which tested earlier this year, achieved a 95 percent pass rate.
Beaufort CCC’s Practical Nursing and Associate Degree Nursing programs are competitive and require applicants to pass either the TEAS or HESI exam. The college now accepts TEAS scores up to three years old.
Through the Beaufort Promise Scholarship, the college covers tuition and fees for qualifying residents of Beaufort, Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington counties. Students may also apply for additional aid to help with textbooks. North Carolina residents from households earning less than $80,000 may be eligible for the Next NC Scholarship, regardless of county, after completing the FAFSA.
For more information about the Practical Nursing program, contact Nicole Smith-Poulin, allied health admissions coordinator, at 252-940-6431 or [email protected].