 |
|
|
|
“Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be a nurse,” she said. “When I was just a little girl my parents knew exactly what to buy me for Christmas – a doll and a nurses’ kit.” Pruitt has come a long way since playing nurse as a young girl in Mangum, Okla. to become director of nursing at SWTC. Since joining SWTC staff as an instructor in 1991 and then, in 1995 becoming nursing director, 262 nurses have graduated from her program. “To top that, because of her hard work and dedication, her graduates have more than a 90 percent pass rate on the national licensing examinations – simply outstanding,” said Dr. June Knight, SWTC’s superintendent. “But, if you know Elva as I do, less than a 100 percent pass rate is not good enough. Be assured, she is working toward improving this statistic.” That’s one of the reasons why she is being recognized as one of Oklahoma’s CareerTech Champions.
While Knight agrees that Pruitt is a champion at home, a champion at school, and most especially, a champion among her students, Pruitt is quick to share the praise. “I can’t take credit for all my accomplishments as a nurse during my (almost) 32-year career,” Pruitt said. “I have been blessed by working with some of the finest medical professionals in the country and most especially the staff at Southwest Technology Center.” But, achieving the nursing dream was not an easy road for Pruitt. When Pruitt was 15 years old and a high school sophomore, she started working as a nurse’s aide in the local hospital. “While in school, I worked part-time and in the summer full-time,” said the 58-year-old grandmother. “This was back in 1960, when people didn’t make a lot of money. I was paid $40 every two weeks before taxes. That’s not a lot of money to take home.”
Pruitt drove to Clinton, 45 miles one-way, to attend the licensed practical nursing program at Clinton Regional Hospital. “I remember my first instructors – they were extremely knowledgeable and supportive of my goal to become a nurse. I often look back on those days because without the help of those two nurses and the support of my husband, Harold, I could never had completed the program,” she said. “We were really strapped financially, but Harold and I knew what we needed to do – and we did it. Together we made a budget – and I mean a tight budget. If either of us wanted a soda pop, it had to be in the budget or we didn’t buy one,” she reflected. “To earn Christmas money that first year, I sold Fuller brushes door-to-door and did some private duty nursing.” After becoming an LPN, Pruitt worked 19 years at hospitals in Hobart and Mangum in various nursing positions. But, there was still a void in her dreams. She wanted to teach nursing. “At Elk View General Hospital in Hobart, I had the privilege of working with two RN instructors from Western Technology Center,” Pruitt said. “These two LPN instructors encouraged me to enroll in the two-year registered nurses’ program at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus and later to continue my education and to become a LPN instructor. “To this day when I have a problem or need a sounding board, I pick up the phone and call one of them.” Pruitt said at first she was scared to death about going back to school, but her son enrolled at the same time and they attended class together in 1985. While attending WOSC, she worked full-time and completed the program in 1989 as an honor student. But her quest for more education didn’t stop. In 1996, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma School of Nursing earning a bachelor of science degree in nursing. “Elva Pruitt is one of those dreamed-about educators,” said Knight. “She is not only an outstanding nurse, but a superb administrator.” Related Link |
||
| posted 5/15/2003 | Story:Don Johnson Director of Public Relations Southwest Technology Center Email: djohnson@swtc.org |
|
|
|
CareerTech
Champions are alumni of Oklahoma’s career and technology education
system’s programs or student organizations who have found success
in a career. And, they attribute much of that success to their CareerTech
programs or student organizations.
“Reaching
my life-long dream of becoming a nurse was not easy for me,” she
said. “After high school, I married and had two children. But my
dream of becoming a nurse never wavered.”