Christian Peterson
Reporter@riverbendnews.org
On Friday, Jan. 14, RIVEROAK Technical College (RTC) held a graduation for their Patient Care Technician students. The Patient Care Technician program is “designed to prepare students for employment as advanced cross trained certified nursing assistants and home health aides.” RTC states on their website the program, “offers a broad foundation of knowledge and skills, expanding the traditional role of the nursing assistant, for acute and long-term care settings along with home health; EKG performance and readings; phlebotomy and rehabilitation assisting.” In total, the program is full time enrollment and takes 600 hours.
There were 11 graduates, eight of which were also given awards. The 11 graduates were Fabiola Bradeen; Mackenzie Frye; Lacee Giddens; Brooklyn Graham; Brayden Harris; Ciaira Jones; Desarae Pope; Molly Throckmorton; Cydney Touchstone; Ash’Li Watkins and Stephanie Yates. Bradeen, Watkins and Yates were given the Academic Excellence Award. Frye, Throckmorton and Touchstone were given the Clinical Excellence Award. Frye was also given the Most Improved Award. Bradeen was also given the Crash Cart Award. “I am proud to introduce the graduating Patient Care Technician class of 2022. This group of students has worked diligently over the last six months in preparation of their certification exams and are living proof that hard work pays off,” RTC Patient Care Technician instructor Jenn Stratton said. “This class had a 100 percent pass rate on both their Phlebotomy and their Patient Care Technician certification exams and did extremely well on their EKG and CAN certification exams. This has been a very hardworking group and I am so proud of the healthcare professionals they have become. I cannot wait to see where they go from here and I hope each and every one of them have the bright and successful future they deserve.”