Jonathan Garcia
jgarcia@foghornnews.com
Del Mar College’s Nurse Education Department recently had not one, but three reasons to celebrate.
The program on Aug. 17 unveiled a new scholarship as well as a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission, and celebrated its 50 anniversary.
The DMC Foundation unveiled the Retired Lt. Col. Maria del Carmen Solis Nursing Scholarship worth $6,000. Solis, who served during World War II and the Korean conflict and was the first American military nurse assigned to Madrid, Spain, donated this scholarship, with Janet Macias being the first recipient. Macias is a registered nursing major level 2 student who plans to graduate in summer 2018, and this scholarship helps take the financial weight off her shoulders.
“This will help with everything, it finishes paying off the rest of the tuition,” Macias said, “We have to buy scrubs throughout the semesters, NCLEX books, extra study material and it helps with everything. … It’s an amazing feeling.
The college also was awarded a generous grant that will benefit the Nursing Education Department in the future.
“The college received $264,402 from the Texas Workforce Commission’s Jobs and Education for Texans Grant Program to expand our Nurse Education Department,” said Shannon Ydoyaga, dean of health sciences and professional education.
The department plans to use the grant for new technology such as mannequins with programmable symptoms as well as new laboratories that focus on many different scenarios in assimilated environments, Ydoyaga said.
“When they go and meet with a patient and help treat them, they’re well prepared,” Ydoyaga said. “These assimilated environments are truly the nursing training centers of the future.”
The event on West Campus also marked the 50 years since the Nurse Education Department was started in 1967 by Mrs. Willie Lauritz. Several former and current Del Mar nursing students attended to celebrate the milestone. The DMC Center for Economic Development hosted a pinning ceremony where 27 registered nurses were pinned and recited the Florence Nightingale Pledge graduating for the summer.
Since 1967, the department has successfully graduated more than 4,000 students through the nursing program. “It’s a team effort and it’s our faculty that contribute,” said Evangeline De Leon, a registered nurse and chairwoman of the Nursing Education Department. “This is what helps us help our students achieve their dreams.”
