Feb 17, 2015

A routine day of clinicals quickly became an emergency for College of the Mainland graduate Mark White and his classmates.

During one of his clinical rotations, White and another student noticed a patient in distress.
 
“One patient started deteriorating. It looked like a stroke,” said White. “(Another student) and I called for help.”
 
Nurses arrived swiftly and assisted the patient, who was having a stroke.
 
“It’s one of the situations where time is of the essence,” said nursing professor Kathy Glynn. “The fact the students stepped up to the plate and knew what to do was awesome.”
 
That day White was hired as a nurse tech, a position that requires a semester of nursing school.
 
He worked that job at night 60 hours a week while attending school.
 
Graduating in June 2014, he again had no problem finding a job.
 
“At Mainland Medical I got hired the day I walked in,” said White.
 
He now works in the progressive care unit.
 
“I like that it’s my responsibility for patients getting better and feeling better,” said White.
 
He recently returned to COM to encourage nursing students that completing an education is possible with a family.
 
“I am a recent father with a newborn. I worked 60 hours a week night shift at UTMB (while going to school),” said White. “Whatever you’ve got going on, you can do it.”

The COM Associate Degree Nursing Program prepares students for life-saving careers through classes, labs and clinical rotations at state-of-the-art facilities. COM nursing graduates excel on the national council licensure exam, and COM Associate Degree Nursing Program students’ average pass rate is over 94 percent. For more information, visit www.com.edu/nursing.