Congrats, grads! The Elizabethton Star

A pinning ceremony for 52 graduates of the Practical Nursing Program at the Tennessee Technology Center at Elizabethton was held Tuesday, April 20, in the Monarch Auditorium of Bristol Regional Medical Center (BRMC) before a capacity crowd of family and friends.

Annie McQueen of Carter County received an award for having the highest grade point average, 99, in the graduating class. McQueen and Wendy Lee, also of Carter County, and Robert Harman and Sandra Williams, both of Washington County, received Perfect Attendance Awards.

Scott Collier of Kingsport, licensed practical nurse at BRMC, keynote speaker, encouraged graduates to always be professional in serving patients and to seek advice and counsel from superiors when in doubt on health care issues. Collier, a 2008 graduate of TTC-Elizabethton practical nursing program, is the first LPN to be appointed to the board of directors of the Tennessee Center for Nursing, the research arm of the Tennessee Board of Nursing.

Ron Owens, chaplain, and Larry Crawford, volunteer chaplain, both at Indian Path Medical Center, and Steve Playl, chaplain at BRMC, prayerfully blessed the hands of each nursing graduate during the ceremony. Toby Ritenour, graduate from Carter County, gave the benediction.

Eddie Pless, assistant director of TTC-Elizabethton, expressed appreciation to the families for supporting the graduates the past 12 months while they completed the study of nursing. Classroom and clinical training at TTC-Elizabethton prepare graduates for the Tennessee Board of Nursing exam to become a Licensed Practical Nurse. The current licensure pass rate for graduates of the nursing program at TTC-Elizabethton is 93 percent.


Elizabethton Star