Students get hands-on, fast-track experience to nursing careers at TCAT Murfreesboro campus

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Nursing students in Murfreesboro are fast-tracking their careers through a year-long program at Tennessee College of Applied Technology’s Murfreesboro campus.

News 2 sat down with an instructor to learn more about how the program is not only meeting a growing demand in the industry but helping single parents.

From learning how to place an IV to simulated births, TCAT practical nursing students are getting a hands-on experience of the medical field.

“This program is a year-long and it’s for students pursuing to be in the medical field,” said Valerie Clark, NP Instructor for practical nursing at TCAT.

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According to Clark, students can take the NCLEX and become a licensed practical nurse after a year.

“A lot of these students in here are parents and they are working full time, and they’re able to still get through this program and come out successful,” Clark said.

In fact, for many of the students, its their first time going to college.

“When I moved to Nashville, I saw that TCAT had an LPN program and it’s only a year. I said ‘I can give it a year’. A year to sacrifice for your goals,” said Alexis Sparkman-Williams, a TCAT practical nursing student.

Sparkman-Williams said the program also allows her to take care of her four-year-old daughter.

“I just want her to watch me and know that she can accomplish anything,” said Sparkman-Williams. “Every night we say our affirmations, and one of them is we can do hard things, and if you put your mind to it, you can do it.”

Through the program, students train with a simulated birth, where the mannequin even delivers a baby.

“We get to watch her [the mannequin] do the whole labor process, from her coming in, going into labor, having contractions, giving us her needs, and responding to our questions. And we actually get to deliver the baby,” Sparkman-Williams explained.

Sparkman-Williams said its hands-on experience like this will encourage her to eventually advance her career beyond an LPN. She told News 2 her dream is to become a midwife.

“With this being a fast track, they can get this done within a year and then they can go out there and provide for their family, and for some this is a stepping zone because they can do this in a year and then can go on and become an RN, nurse practitioner even a doctor,” Clark said.

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The nursing program is just one of 13 programs offered at TCAT Murfreesboro. Other programs range from cosmetology, HVAC and practical nursing. According to Clark, all of the programs lead to careers in high demand.

“They are not only getting the hands-on training and the extra lecture, but they are becoming the future for Murfreesboro and that’s exciting,” Clark said.

An estimated 82% of TCAT Murfreesboro students are employed in their field of study after graduation with zero student loan debt.

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