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McCann Graduates 20 From 2014 LPN Program

McCann Technical School held its pinning ceremony for new licensed practical nurses on Thursday night. See more photos here.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Twenty brand-new licensed practical nurses are beginning their careers with some pretty heavy responsibility. They, and others like them, will influence the future of the nation's health care.

"Nurses have a huge opportunity to shape the future of our health-care delivery system," said Billie Lynn Allard, administrative director of outpatient services at Southern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, at the McCann Technical School's pinning ceremony on Thursday night.

The graduates of the school's LPN program will be joining more than 3 million health-care workers, she said. "You are poised to be significant players in the transformation of health care quality and vision."      

The graduates have already experienced the shifting patterns of the health care field when forced to abruptly change course in their clinical and classroom courses when North Adams Regional Hospital closed in March.

"That is really good preparation for a health career, because health care is rapid, is constantly changing, is asking you to be nimble and ready to change," Allard said. "So this experience has really prepared you for what is ahead."   

Allard, a registered nurse who had worked at NARH for 30 years, including as chief nursing officer, was Thursday's keynote speaker to the 2014 class. The students began the intensive program last January, and proved their ability to balance relationships, family and work responsibilities, said Principal Justin Katz.

"One of the neat things about participating in an intensive cohort-style program such as this is the relationships and networks that you build amongst each other," he said. "I'm sure you've spent more time with this class than with your family over the past year ...  

"Not only are you a part of this group, you're also a part of the alumni that graduated before you. It would be pretty much impossible to find a medical facility without McCann alumni as employees."

McCann had been educating LPNs for years before the program was closed in the mid-1980s. Allard recalled her conversations with then incoming Superintendent James Brosnan in urging the program be reinstituted. It resumed in 2006 but the closure of NARH, where it held classes, and a too-costly alternative to add on to the school nearly sunk the program. Berkshire Medical Center invited the program back on campus after acquiring the property, ensuring the LPN program would continue.

Allard encouraged the new nurses to continue to educate themselves both for their careers and for their patients.

"One thing I feel very strongly is critically important is that nurses should be full partners with physicians and other health-care professionals," she said. Where nurses might once have held back, now they need to speak up. "We are the ones that are at the dead center of patients and families, we are the ones that understand the care needs and we understand how important it is to be patient-centered and be looking and observing and assessing, and letting physicians know what our patients need."

Nurses consistently are named the most trusted professionals, Allard said. "We need to take advantage of that. We need to use our power and influence to help shape a future that will provide the best care and the best practices for our family and friends and for our patients."

She left the graduates with a "top 10" list to keep in mind, from "practice, practice, practice,' to teamwork and professionalism, to QTIP (quit taking it personally), to, No. 1, carving out time to take care of themselves.

"As nurses, we give and give and give," Allard said. "You need to fill up as well."

Mentors, friends and family members participated in pinning the graduates; School Committee Chairman Thomas Mahar shook hands to congratulate each one. Graduate Lola White led the class in the Nurse's Pledge.

Practical Nursing Coordinator Susan A. Watson presented the class awards:

Sandra Poudrier of Becket, Maria Caruso of North Adams and Tomeka Parslow of Pittsfield each earned a Clinical Excellence Award. The Fay Ellen Fosser Memorial Scholarship, in memory of the Clarksburg native and McCann graduate, was presented to Christilyn Moulton and Megan Vallieres, both of North Adams. Catherine Boucher of North Adams received the Highest Academic Achievement and Perfect Attendence awards; Jennifer Sumner of Windsor also earned a Perfect Attendance Award.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.