(Reynoldsville, PA) So numerous was BC3 @ Brockway’s record-setting Class of 2024 in registered nursing that a pinning ceremony honoring graduates had to be moved to a social hall, where a crowd estimated at 200 applauded the 24 students who completed the career program established to offset a regional shortage in the occupation.
BC3 added Nursing, R.N., to BC3 @ Brockway’s associate degree selections in 2018 in response to a need for registered nurses in north central Pennsylvania.
“The demand is incredible,” said Brittany Guadagno, nursing program director in BC3 @ Brockway’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
“We hear about the demand for nurses all the time,” said Dr. Jill Martin Rend, BC3 @ Brockway director. “From the hospitals to doctor’s offices and even from nurses.”
Registered nurse is high-priority occupation, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry, in the North Central and Northwest workforce development areas that include Clarion, Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties.
BC3 @ Brockway’s Class of 2024 in Nursing, R.N., represents Clarion, Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties, and brings to 72 the number of graduates since 2020 in the two-year program.
"You are ready for the future ahead of you.”
“Truly care for my patients”
Graduates received pins May 10 at the Bellamauro Social Banquet Hall, Reynoldsville, during a ceremony that marked their completion of the selective-admissions 70-credit program.
“You now have the opportunity to make a difference in patients’ lives,” Rend told graduates during the ceremony. “You have been well-trained, and you have put in lots of hours studying, at clinicals and preparing. “You are ready for the future ahead of you.”
All 24 graduates reported they had accepted positions or had received job offers.
“Rarely will you leave your shift thinking ‘Wow, I had the best day ever,’” said Nina Lindemuth, a BC3 @ Brockway nursing instructor, family nurse practitioner with Penn Highlands Healthcare, DuBois, and the ceremony’s keynote speaker.
“But hopefully, you will leave every shift thinking ‘Wow, thank goodness I was there to be the first to truly care for my patients physically, mentally and emotionally.’”
“I came out of (BC3 @ Brockway’s program) debt-free …”
“Have no debt and go into a good-paying job”
Penn Highlands Healthcare sponsored the tuition of 12 BC3 @ Brockway students in exchange for their signing an employment contract to work for the health care provider following graduation.
Nineteen of 37 graduates in the past two years have participated in Penn Highlands’ program, established with BC3 @ Brockway in 2022.
“It’s amazing that they can get a nursing degree, have no debt and go into a good-paying job,” Rend said. “These are some of the top jobs in the area.”
Graduate Kali Toven is an emergency medical technician who said she has a “love for taking care of patients and being there for them in a hard time.”
Toven said she was convinced to become a registered nurse while experiencing her own hard time, the death of her 10-month-old daughter, Harper, at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2018 after a three-month stay.
“Seeing how those nurses took care of her pushed me to really want to be a nurse more,” Toven said. “I wanted to give other people’s families the same care that I had received for my daughter.”
Toven is a graduate of Punxsutawney Area High School. The mother of two participated in Penn Highland’s program and has accepted a position in the health care provider’s intensive care unit in DuBois.
“I came out of (BC3 @ Brockway’s program) debt-free and am able to now focus on my family,” Toven said, “and what we want to do with our future.”
“The faculty was great”
Community colleges grant more than 75 percent of associate degrees in nursing in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges.
Students in BC3 @ Brockway’s career programs such as Nursing, R.N., can develop the skills needed to enter the workforce immediately upon graduation.
“We got a good, quality education,” said graduate Kaitlin Snyder, whose tuition was sponsored by Penn Highlands. “The faculty was great. Any time I reached out to any of the instructors, they were always there to help me. They were very supportive.”
Snyder has accepted a position in the maternity unit of Penn Highlands, DuBois.
“I’ve always had a passion for labor and delivery,” said Snyder, a graduate of DuBois Area Senior High. “That is what was calling me. I want to be a part of everybody’s special journey to delivery.”
Victoria McCarrol earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Hunter College, Manhattan. She was influenced to pursue a career in nursing as a result of COVID-19.
“I wanted to help,” said McCarrol, who lived in New York City during the pandemic. “I lost several people whom I knew. I thought I would go back to school and try to help people, to make a life change and come here.”
McCarrol is a graduate of Harriton High in Rosemont, a suburb of Philadelphia.
“We’re all from many different areas,” Toven said. “For all of us to come together at BC3 @ Brockway and then get to work close to home is great.”
BC3 @ Brockway’s previous record for graduates in Nursing, R.N., was 13 in 2023.
Graduates of BC3 @ Brockway’s Nursing, R.N., program in 2024 are Caitlin Ceprish; Brockport; Brandi Anderson and Abbey Nichols, Brockway; Rosina Nero, Byrendale; and Toni Butler, Brandi Cooper, Kaitlin Snyder, Meghan Thomas and Tea Williams, all from DuBois.
Chelsea Finley, Falls Creek; Victoria McCarrol, Kersey; Amber Hall, Leeper; Anna Kennemuth, Mayport; and Jessica Cochran, Hope Fox, Mary Runyon and Kali Toven, all from Punxsutawney.
Jailyn Brown, Reynoldsville; Danielle Cappiello, Ridgway; Tina Swineford, Sigel; Danielle Courteau, Melissa O’Donnell and Stephanie Yetzer, all from St. Marys; and Amber Green, West Decatur.
Prospective students can apply beginning Aug. 1 for consideration to be accepted in fall 2025 in BC3 @ Brockway’s Nursing, R.N., program.
