Second-year nursing program student Megan Caroll was selected as one of three $1000 scholarship recipients as part of the Houston Chronicle’s 13th annual Salute to Nurses, a program recognizing nurses and health care organizations during National Nurses Appreciation Week. In her formal nomination, LSC-Tomball Nursing director Catherine Gray noted that the entire college nursing faculty nominated Megan as an outstanding nursing student because of her organized preparation, her confident care in clinical rotations, and her evident desire to always be learning more. "Megan shows a positive outlook, is eager to learn and is ready to lend a hand to anyone in need. An extremely professional student, she is a role model for nursing students and shows the potential to be a future leader in the nursing profession," Gray said.
After high school, Megan enrolled in the Coast Guard where she noted the absence of a permanent medical officer at her small boat station in Maine. She was assigned to EMT training so that she could serve that role. Upon leaving the Coast Guard, she became certified as an EMT in Arizona, but eventually “got tired of handing off my patients to nurses in the ER. I wanted to be doing their job.” Megan enrolled in the LSC-Tomball nursing program “because I heard it was the best,” she said, and she has been incredibly pleased with her decision. “The instructors inspire you to follow them through their example.”
When Megan receives her certification, she will work full-time while pursuing a bachelor’s degree through an online program. When asked what keeps her engaged as a nursing student, she said, “What I love is the compassion nurses have to have and how smart they have to be. Even to get through this program, you really have to be motivated.”