Rose Noel
A calling in pediatric nursing
In high school Rose Noel wanted to be a pediatrician, but she now has her heart
set on becoming a pediatric nurse so she can more involved in the daily direct
care of patients.
“I really would like to work in a NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) and do
whatever I can to make my patients more comfortable,” says the senior nursing major
from Powder Springs. “Not only is that what you normally expect from nursing care,
but it’s playing games, doing puppets, all while carrying out doctor’s orders,
to make a patient feel at ease.”
Rose has performed her clinical rotations in the nursing program at nearby West
Georgia Health, where she has learned hands-on care in its nursing home as well
as the intensive care unit, the emergency department, pediatric care units and
the medical-surgical floor. She also had the chance to have clinical rotations
at Egleston and Scottish Rite children’s hospitals in Atlanta.
“The clinical instructors there were great, the children were great, and it affirmed
even more why I want to do this,” she says.
Rose transferred from a large public university and said she appreciates LaGrange
College’s small classes and “family feel.”
“Depending on your learning style, a larger campus may not be a good fit for you
when you have 150 to 300 students in some of your classes,” says Rose, who is originally
from Haiti and moved to the United States in fourth grade. “You hear a lecture
for about an hour and a half, and then you leave. At LaGrange College, the classes
give you a chance to get to know each other and ask questions.”
Rose says LaGrange College’s Nursing Department is like a family because the students
and professors spend so much time together.
“We have the same people in classes together for two to four hours at a time three
times a week,” she says. “We see each other then in clinical again, and you all
become each other’s support group, each other’s study buddies. Professors have
an open-door policy, and you can talk to them about whatever is overwhelming you
and whatever questions you have. They care about you and provide resources for
you if it’s out of their hands.”
Rose says she chose LaGrange College not only because it offered the Bachelor
of Science in Nursing degree, but because of its students’ success on the National
Council Licensure Examination, the licensing test for nurses.
For the fourth year in a row, every member of the LaGrange College graduating
nursing class has had a 100 percent pass rate on the exam on his or her first try.
According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the average passing
rate is about 91.55 percent for students in baccalaureate programs.
“Because of that, I knew this was the perfect place,” Rose says. “I knew I would
be well-prepared.”