To say Zephaniah Moore was excited after his first time shadowing a patient care tech at Nacogdoches Medical Center.
“[Zephaniah] was really ready to go back right away,” said Shawn Lucena, Director of Career and Technical Education at Nacogdoches High School.
The initiative that allows senior health science students at NHS to shadow Nacogdoches Medical Center staff is one of the closing pieces after four years in the high school program.
It’s also an indicator of both the success and growth of the health science pathway at NHS.
“It’s a special program,” Zephaniah said. “Every little thing you do you have to make sure you know it to advance. It’s something you have to take seriously.”
Karcsi Yonzon, another senior, is also appreciative of the opportunity. “This is a really great program if you’re considering nursing for your career,” he said. “You really learn what nurses do.”
Fifty-one health practicum students have completed three of their certifications this academic year – with one more to go on May 11 – setting a high-water mark for seniors in the program. One hundred percent of the students have passed the patient care tech and phlebotomy tech certifications; 96.2 percent have passed the EKG tech.
What does that mean? These students are ready to enter the workforce, if they choose, with all the certifications needed to begin filling positions in doctor’s offices and hospitals, said Lynette Stephenson, the health science teacher at NHS.
“All of them have completed three certifications with one more on the way,” said Stephenson, who’s completing her 14th year with NISD. “They can go to work in a hospital and in clinics.”
Which is precisely the case for Kaidan Patton. For the past couple of weeks, Kaidan has shadowed a staffer at Nacogdoches Medical Center… and that’s made her all the more convinced she’s chosen the right pathway.
“Everything she does has opened my eyes and has really clicked with me,” Kaidan said.
After graduation, Yonzon and Moore are headed to Stephen F. Austin State University to earn four-year nursing degrees.
“My family has a history of health problems,” said Zephaniah, who hopes to be a home health nurse. “I know what that’s like to have a nurse come to the home and visit.”
To get into the health practicum class at NHS, students commit to the health science program as ninth graders. They’re required to take Principles of Health Science as freshmen, Medical Terminology as sophomores and Health Science Theory as juniors.
Patient care tech, one of the certifications the students have already earned, plays a crucial role in all the others, said Zephaniah. “You can’t really do anything else until you understand patient care.”