From Left, Susan Thurman, Inpatient Director for WellStar Paulding Hospital and Nursing Center; Becky King, BSN, RN at WellStar Paulding Hospital and Nursing Center; Quetina Pittman Howell, Associate Science of Nursing Program Director; and Mark Haney, President at WellStar Paulding Hospital and Nursing Center.
(Paulding, Ga. – Sept. 18, 2015)
Chattahoochee Technical College on Friday welcomed community members to get a first-hand look at the Paulding Campus’ new Associate of Science in Nursing program, which relocated from the Austell Campus.
“By relocating the program, we hope to serve more students in a larger facility,” Ron Webb, Dean of Health Sciences, said. “In addition, this program offers a new opportunity for students in Paulding, but is also a reasonable commute for those who began the program in Austell.”
He described the program as being “homegrown.”
“About 30 percent of our student population lives in the Paulding/Cobb County area, and those students want to work in the community as well, so coming to school at the Paulding Campus sort of puts them in line to work in the community that they’re currently living in,” Webb said.
As visitors toured the facility, which included mechanized mannequins programmed to display medical symptoms, state-of-the-art medical equipment, dedicated classrooms and observation areas, Program Director Quetina Pittman Howell said the caliber of the program can only be recognized first hand.
“The nursing program is here, we’re offering a great program to our students, and we’re seeing that through the simulations and the students in our classrooms …” Howell said.
Executive Vice President Trina Boteler said the relocation of the program should make an impact not only on students, but on the community as a whole.
“Our Practical Nursing program has always been popular, but we feel the new location will only increase the popularity while creating new opportunities for those in the community,” Boteler said.
Graduates of the Associate of Science in Nursing who complete the NCLEX examination may become Registered Nurses.