WTAMU 2023 Nursing students from Fritch and Borger honored
CANYON, Texas — More than 50 graduates from West Texas A&M University’s nursing program were honored at a pre-commencement observance.
The WT Department of Nursing’s annual pinning ceremony—held at 11 a.m. May 12 in Legacy Hall inside the Jack B. Kelley Student Center on WT’s Canyon campus—recognized 52 students graduated May 13.
Pinning ceremonies are an opportunity to recognize the students’ hard work and dedication in their clinicals and in classwork, marking the transition from student to nurse, said Dr. Holly Jeffreys, head of the nursing department and WT’s High Plains Christian Ministries Foundation Professor of Nursing Leadership.
“WT’s pin is one of the most striking, and it’s worn with pride by those who earn it,” Jeffreys said. “By presenting these pins, professional nurses warmly welcome graduates into the profession of nursing, and WT alumni welcome these graduates into the ever-growing family of WT nursing graduates.”
Jeffreys said that of the 52 graduates, 11 will return to work in their hometowns and the rest will work in towns across the Texas Panhandle. Additionally, many will return to WT to begin work on graduate degrees.
Students take the Nightingale Pledge, named for Florence Nightingale, known as the mother of modern nursing.
May 2023 graduates in the bachelor of science in nursing program who were pinned are (with hometowns):
Lisseth Alderete, Plainview; Rosa Alonso, Amarillo; Bernise Altamirano, Amarillo; Kyndall Andrews, New Braunfels; Candice Arguelles, Amarillo; Veronica Arguijo, Amarillo; Lily Bautista-Garcia, Palm Desert, California; Shyelynn Blevins, Plainview; Trang Bui, Vietnam; Annalyce Carrillo, Hereford; Haydee Cassidy, Amarillo; Amy Claybo, Canyon; Elizabeth Crawford, Amarillo; Emilee Cunningham, Amarillo; Karina De Leon, North Richland Hills; Jackson Emmett, Palm Desert, California; Reegan Felker, Fritch; Camryn Fellers, Borger; Deja Goodman, Hereford; Haylen Hall, Amarillo; Kaleigh Harrison, Granbury; Pedro Hernandez, Amarillo; Addison Hixson, Perryton; Jacqueline Jimenez, Carpinteria, California; Amya Johnson, Fort Worth; Anahi Marquez, Olney; Amanda Martinez, Amarillo; Dylan Maya, Canyon; Samuel Mayberry, Fritch; Elise McIntosh, Amarillo; Abe Montoya, Amarillo; Mahala Neumann, Amarillo; Vy Yen Nguyen, Dalat, Vietnam; Emily Nicklaus, Lubbock; Victory Omietimi, Lagos, Nigeria; Cho Oo, Amarillo; Jadyn Parsons, McLean; Joel Pena, Amarillo; Emily Peters, Amarillo; Lorena Rojo, Guymon, Oklahoma; Karina Romero, Amarillo; Tenley Rummel, Amarillo; Shaylee Scott, Amarillo; Katie Shubert, Maxwell; Mikaela Sims, Amarillo; Keleigh Stovall, Hereford; Alyne Tapia, Amarillo; Lesly Telles, Amarillo; Elizabeth Terry, Plainview; Allison Thomas, Lubbock; Christopher Thomas. Houston; and Lindsey Trent, Bushland.
Established in 1972 and graduating its first students in 1974, WT’s Department of Nursing in its College of Nursing and Health Sciences currently provides about 70 percent of nurses employed throughout the Texas Panhandle.
WT nursing graduates, over the past five years, have averaged a 97 percent score on the National Council Licensure Examination, required by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to test the competency of nursing school graduates in the United States and Canada. Nationally, the average is 85 percent; in Texas, it’s 87 percent.
Meeting regional needs, such as quality nursing, is a key component of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic, $125 million One West comprehensive fundraising campaign. To date, the campaign — which publicly launched in September 2021— has raised more than $125 million.