National Nurses Week: SoutheastHEALTH nursing program prepares students to enter the workforce

A local health care organization's nurse training program is drawing from a wide pool of candidates and then placing them in jobs at a high rate.

All of SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing and Health Sciences students were employed within six months of graduation in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017. The two-year college located at 2001 William St. in Cape Girardeau currently has a 86% graduation rate.

The school's mission is "to respond to the health care educational needs of the region by preparing qualified health care professionals."

The students

The students registered at the college of nursing come from a variety of backgrounds and have their own reasons why they enrolled.

Josh Boyer, who currently works in patient registration at Southeast Hospital's Emergency Department, made the decision to enroll later in his life to benefit his family financially. He said his interest in anatomy and physiology has benefited his education.

"I want to do something that provides opportunity and a better life for my family," Boyer said. "If I can take my knowledge of anatomy and physiology and turn it into helping people and making a better life for myself then that would be really awesome."

Boyer said the school's nights and weekend program has helped him balance his studies alongside his family and work life.

"The nights and weekends program is three-and-a-half years, so it takes a little longer than your normal associate degree, but that is the only way I can do it. I'm about half way through it now," he said.

Once he completes the program, Boyer plans to start working at Southeast Hospital. He said being around the nurses, doctors and patients at the hospital has provided him with a good understanding of terminology and how an emergency room works. He appreciates the small class sizes the college of nursing facilitates and classes feel more intimate and easier to have discussions with classmates and professors.

First-year student Mariah Adams received her Certified Nursing Assistant certificate when she was 18 before following a different career path in California. She made the decision to come back to Missouri to become a registered nurse through the college. Adams was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma after she made the move.

"My experience going through that and being a patient, made me realize that I really have an interest in this," she said. "I was at a crossroads in my life, and I am a single mom with a son, and I need to do something. I looked at all the programs here and the college of nursing was definitely the best one. As far as flexibility goes and everything, it is just great. Nursing is a really great and flexible career because any hospital is begging for nurses right now."

Adams said she experienced great bedside manner from a nurse named Renee as she was battling cancer. Her kindness helped Adams get through her personal struggles.

"I really just want to help people and let them know that someone who is helping them has also kind of been in their shoes, and it helps you be a better advocate for your patients," she said. "Being a patient myself and forming those connections with my nurses when I was a cancer patient is what really kind of pushed me forward into a career in nursing."

Adams is now in remission and is nearing the end of her first year in the nursing program.

Southeast Missouri State University biomedical graduate Jared Barker enrolled at the college of nursing after seeing his mother go through multiple different surgeries.

"My mom ended up having two hips replaced and two knees replaced, and the nurses who took care of her were game-changing for her," Barker said. "They supported her at times, and I don't think she would have recovered quite as well if it were not for the nurses. That was probably my tipping point, watching the care they gave and knowing that I was capable of that."

After graduating from SEMO with a biomedical degree and taking part in an internship in that field, Barker realized he wanted to be more hands-on with patients. Barker is set to finish his first year in the nursing program this month.

"It is an awesome program, but extremely difficult. Significantly more difficult than I thought it would be," he said. "Like I said, I have a four-year undergrad degree and that doesn't even begin to compare to this. On the positive side, the professors and teachers are incredible and they all want to watch you succeed. That is consistent throughout the program."