NCTC dedicates nursing simulation center to Espinoza

The NCTC Graham campus held an open house and naming celebration Thursday, April 9 for the Licensed Vocational Nurse to Registered Nurse transition program and the new simulation lab at the Health Science Center.

“It is truly an honor to have you here as we celebrate not only a new program and a new center, but also the strength of our community and the people who dreamed and believed, the generosity of our donors and the living legacy of an extraordinary individual,” NCTC Graham Director Charise Bewley said.

After being implemented last year, the LVN to RN transition program has seen support and interest to establish the next generation of nurses. The Graham campus is in the middle of its first group of students within the transition program.

The local program was made possible through years of community support and requests, with many lining up to take the program at launch from the Graham area.

A simulation lab and debriefing room were constructed at the Graham campus to be used for the program with equipment currently used in hospitals.

The lab has cameras and a two-way mirror where an instructor observes the students, speaks with them and provides different situations for the mannequins where the students will have to react. Students are then taken to a debriefing room where they can watch how they performed and receive feedback from the instructor.

The lab officially received the name as the Enoc Espinoza LVN-ADN Simulation Center. Bewley said the plaque was a symbol of service, leadership and a life dedicated to others in the nursing profession.

“It is our deep honor to officially dedicate this simulation center to an individual who has devoted their life to serving others, leading with compassion, inspiring excellence and paving the way for future generations in nursing,” Bewley said.

The naming ceremony was a surprise to Espinoza, who said healthcare is very important, especially in the growing community of Graham.

“Hopefully for the future we can have community nurses that are born and taught here, we can have community partners and have everybody close to home. Really we’re taking care of each other so we want to have people here that want to do that for our community,” Espinoza said.

Young County Judge Win Graham said that quality healthcare is crucial to a community and quality nurses make up the backbone of that system.

“He is the exact type of person that is a role model to our young nurses, someone that they can look up to, someone who’s a giver and goes above and beyond,” Graham said. “I just think he is kind of a fitting torch that we can use as inspiration for the future of our healthcare in our community.”

NCTC Health Sciences Center Lead Instructor Dr. Samantha Purdy and NCTC Nursing Division Chair Emily Lewis spoke about the importance of the program. Lewis said Purdy has worked to create a successful program at the Graham campus.

“It’s such an honor to be able to teach our first group of RN students here in Graham. I love every single one of them,” Purdy said. “It was life changing to see our LVN students turn their lives around. I started as an LVN. Seeing them take it one step further, going from LVN to RN, is truly a very, very moving and meaningful career life goal.”

NCTC Chancellor Brent Wallace said Graham is an example of a community that cares and wants students to be successful.

“It is a rare thing to see a community, number one, want to pay a tax. That’s not traditional anymore. …I was talking to some of us that have been in different hospital settings, on different boards, etc., and it never fails that Graham shows up. Graham continues to be a community that no matter what the need is here, you provide it,” Wallace said.

NCTC announced during the ceremony that it will further its educational offering with its first Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in fall 2027.

“It will be a primarily online program because it just completes your more managerial pieces of the ADN. So the beauty of that is, in the next three to five years as we grow that program, Graham students that are ADN now will have the opportunity to complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing,” Wallace said.

NCTC Advisory Committee Member Ellen Morris said the Health Science Center in Graham will continue a legacy of service.

“This building is more than historic. It’s been many uses over the years, first as a youth center during World War II, an elementary grade campus, the Library of Graham and most recently, for 25-plus years, the campus for our LVN program. Now, it continues to be used for the training of RN nurses,” Morris said.