Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — Another step in their nursing journey was realized as seven students graduated during the Upward Mobility Education Assistance Award ceremony.

The special milestone event was held May 22 at the Country Club of Salisbury with students, family, hospital leadership members, mentors, supporters and other guests there for the presentation to the graduates.

Those recognized for their achievements each graduated from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. They, along with their residency department and facility, are Ashley Freeman, emergency department, Forsyth Medical Center; Emily Ramirez-Olguin, emergency department, Presbyterian Medical Center; Haley Josey, emergency department, Rowan and Thomasville Medical Center; Rita Granados, emergency department, Rowan and Thomasville Medical Center; Jessica Benton, cardiac unit, Rowan and Thomasville Medical Center; Tracey Barbee, adult acute care, Rowan and Thomasville Medical Center; and Virginia Erwin, adult acute care, Rowan and Thomasville Medical Center. Funding for each was provided by the Rowan Medical Center Foundation.

The presentation to the graduates was made by Gary Blabon, president and chief operating officer of Novant Health Rowan Regional Medical Center.

Erika Robinson, who serves as the manager of Internal Mobility, welcomed everyone and thanked the crowd for coming to celebrate the scholars. She provided an overview of the Upward Mobility Award, telling that the program is designed to support the internal team members over a two-year period.

“It is available for all of our team members that are pursuing a nursing degree,” said Robinson. “We support them through their nursing journey from the moment some of them enter the program or they may already be in the nursing program.” 

She shared that Josey, who graduated this year, came in as a safety attendant and became a CNA and then graduated in the nursing program. Previously, they have had scholars who started in the laundry room and another in the kitchen.

“It doesn’t matter, as long as they are pursuing their nursing degree,” said Robinson. 

She also noted that all of their expenses for the nursing program are covered 100 percent.

Robinson also said a big benefit of the program, from what they hear from the scholars, is the Administrative Day, which they are allowed to take off “to focus on their academic studies, but the most important thing is we pay them for that day” and they don’t have to choose between studying for a test or going to work and they don’t lose compensation for work.

“The Upward Mobility program is a testament,” said Amy Vestal, chief philanthropy officer, with the Rowan Medical Center Foundation, “to what we can achieve when we work together, when generosity meets ambition and dedication paves the way.”

Beginning the ceremony was Shemeka Shufford, director of emerging talent and workforce development, who said she was honored to be there and celebrate with the graduates.

“Your journey is amazing and everything that you’ve done to get to this point, you will see the reward on the other side,” said Shufford.  

She told the crowd that the Upward Mobility Education Assistance Fund had assisted 136 team members in working toward their goal of becoming a registered nurse, “and we are excited to welcome this new class to our amazing group of alumni. Today marks more than just the completion of your nursing education. It represents the countless hours of study, hands-on practice, sacrifice and unwavering determination that each of you brought to this journey.”

Shufford also thanked Novant leadership for their support, vision and investment and to those who have given to make the journey possible for the graduates.

Serving as the keynote speaker for the ceremony was David Beasley, chief nursing officer with the local hospital. 

During his presentation, he reflected on his own personal journey, encouraging the recent graduates in their journey.

Thanking the graduates for their hard work and dedication, he noted that nursing school is tough, sacrifices have to be made, you have to pull yourself up and get through those hard times, and then told them, “nurses are built different.” 

Beasley shared about the work ethic he learned from his parents, telling of their hard work and determination and how he learned to work hard from their example. He applied that to nursing, reminding, “we are built different.”

Sharing the heartaches and struggles he faced with the loss of his first wife and raising their two children, he told the graduates, “you do what you’ve got to do. We don’t make excuses. I learned that from mom early on. That’s what you ladies have done. You’ve gotten up, you’ve gotten at it and look where you are today,” he said.

Beasley then said he found nursing and said this career “really gave me this deeper path, it hunkered me down in my purpose, who I want to be in this world.”

He told them when they cry, to never think that the tears they have means the job is getting to them, but “it means you care, it means you have a love and passion for what you do. Never mix that up.”

“Continue to lean on each other,” he encouraged them and support one another. 

At the beginning of his talk, he had everyone pull out their phones and text someone and let them know how important they are to them.

“We don’t stop and thank people enough, we don’t stop and tell people we love them,” Beasley said.

He shared how he was grounded and supported by his second wife and has stood by him and he encouraged them to have someone that stands by them,

The climb is tough but he said we come through, we are built different. You will stumble, but we rise after every fall, he said, and he encourages them to lift others up as they rise.

Beasley concluded with the challenge to “continue on this journey of learning” and told them they would be making an impression on others the rest of their lives. “Go out there and make your life extraordinary.”

One of the graduates, Haley Josey, shared some reflections during the ceremony.

Josey said it was an honor to share her journey and told of her growth and transformation.

Serving as a police officer for 10 years and protecting and helping others, she said she “developed a deep sense of empathy and strong desire to help others. But over time, my heart began to pull me in a new direction, the call to nursing.”

The transition from serving in law enforcement to nursing was not easy, Josey said, “stepping into the unknown and starting over.”

She worked multiple jobs and tried to keep up with nursing school; however, with lots of emotion she said she eventually failed out of the program, which was one of the hardest times in her life.

But she said had great support from her family and friends, mentors and managers and found the strength to try again. 

“That’s where the true transformation begins,” she said, as they helped her balance school and work and stood by her and encouraged her.

She expressed thanks to many who have been that support, including her husband who took care of them and fed them and worked multiple jobs without complaining.

She thanked her instructors and peers, who showed her “what the heart of nursing truly is,” guiding her, she said, with patience and compassion, “reminding me that this profession is about more than just skills. It’s about people. People who are scared, they’re in pain or simply in need of a kind presence.”

And while nursing school tested her, it shaped her and taught her resilience and empathy.

Thanks was also expressed on behalf of all the graduates to all who helped them, to the nurses who mentored them, to Robinson who showed her care and made this possible and to the leadership for their powerful example of genuine care.

As Robinson was introducing Josey, she said that her transition from safety attendant, which is what she did when she first started at the hospital, and then to CNA and then a graduate “is truly what this program epitomizes, taking our team members where they are and helping them achieve their dream.”

An alumni Dominique Caudill, who is now an assistant nurse manager, also shared about her journey in the program. She told of how she became a mom while in the program, but she didn’t quit and was very determined and dedicated.

She returned to class just four days after her baby was born, so as not to lose momentum, she said. 

“I knew I had something to prove, not just to myself but to the tiny human I had just brought into this world. I wanted her to see that even when life gets hard, we press on, we rise,” Caudill said.

She congratulated all of the graduates and told them that standing there before the group and speaking represented more than just a graduation ceremony.

“For me,” she said, “it’s a symbol of endurance, faith, sacrifice and unwavering support from the people and organization that stands beside remarkable nurses including myself through every step.”

She too, expressed thanks to those who supported her along the way including her parents, who sacrificed; to Erika, who gave encouragement and guidance; and to the donors whose investment helped “shape a nurse and mother and now a manager.”

Vestal concluded the event and said what a remarkable day it had been and she could feel the love, passion and support in the room.

Robinson also said it had been an amazing day and she was like a proud mama as her “babies are graduating.”

Having been with Novant Health for four years, starting when this program began, she said she has been the only one “to have hands on it and to watch it grow from five scholars to helping 136 team members and to be able to share this moment with them.”

Having spent two years with them, she said they feel like family and “so this day is just a proud mama celebrating her graduates.”

This day, Robinson notes “is always overwhelming and it culminates what I get to do.”

Beasley said he is thankful to be a part of the group and expressed thanks for those that take the time to support others.

“This Upward Mobility is more than just a career change, they’re changing lives here for the betterment of their families and their futures forever. As I reflect back on it, I am prideful, I am thankful and I am just so impressed by these young ladies and where they’re heading in their lives,” he said.