Fifty-Eight Students Receive White Coat in Hunt School of Nursing Ceremony

The decision to become a nurse is not one to be taken lightly and one Andraya Luna and Rene Lujan take very seriously.

They’re part of the 58 Hunt School of Nursing students who officially began their nursing school careers with a White Coat Ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 10, on the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso campus.

Luna knew she wanted to go into the health care field since she was a student at Maxine L. Silva Health Magnet School across the street from TTUHSC El Paso.

The tragic death of her father due to COVID-19 in 2020 led her to a career in nursing.

“He was in the hospital for a month and a lot was unknown about COVID at that time,” Luna said. “Looking back at it now, seeing what the nurses went through is what inspired me. Seeing how they cared for my dad – and I could only see it over FaceTime – really drove me to want to become a nurse even more.”

Another reason the native El Pasoan wants to go into nursing is the opportunity to provide care to the underserved members of our community.

“It means everything to me to care for those less fortunate,” she said. “I feel it’s what we should strive for if we’re able to give back. I want to have an impact on people who need help and use my empathy in a positive way.”

The white coat ceremony is a traditional rite of passage welcoming students to health care education. TTUHSC El Paso is the only El Paso university that holds a white coat ceremony for nursing students. The coats and stethoscopes students received were provided thanks to generous donors and alumni.

The ceremony featured the reciting of the student oath, the presentation of white coats to each nursing student and a keynote address. The observance is meant to emphasize the combination of compassion and scientific excellence the new students will embrace as they pursue their nursing degrees.

Aside from a brief time in 2020, Rene Lujan, from Socorro, Texas, hasn’t set foot in a classroom since 1999. However, that isn’t giving the 61-year-old Army veteran and licensed professional counselor a case of nerves.

“Considering my age and situation, I don’t have time to do four, five years in school,” Lujan said. “I heard a lot of good things about the accelerated program from some friends who went through it. I'm excited to come back to school with all these young people.”

Lujan, who has worked in a psychiatric hospital for about 30 years, plans to use his nursing skills to help his fellow veterans, whom he calls “brothers.”

All but two of the new Hunt School of Nursing students are from the El Paso area. Currently, 87% of nursing students are El Paso natives, fulfilling TTUHSC El Paso’s mission to create more educational opportunities for Borderplex residents.

The Hunt School of Nursing offers R.N. to Bachelor of Science (B.S.N.) and Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) degree programs, and the only accelerated program in the region where students can earn a B.S.N. in just 16 months.

The school’s programs include online and in-person instruction, offering flexibility for working students. This means program graduates can join their nursing colleagues in the workforce sooner rather than later to help combat local health disparities and increase access to health care for residents.

The school features a cross-disciplinary curriculum, preparing students to work in clinical teams alongside physicians. Students are also prepared for leadership positions in hospitals and clinics.

According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, less than 6% of R.N.s in the nation are Hispanic. With a student body that is 84% Hispanic, Hunt School of Nursing graduates will add to the much-needed Hispanic nurses in the U.S. to help diversify the workforce and reduce cultural and language barriers in health care.

The state of Texas is projected to face a shortfall of nearly 16,000 registered nurses by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. West Texas is facing a shortage of over 3,000 nurses, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies.

Since opening in 2011, 1,252 nurses have graduated from the Hunt School of Nursing, with 90% staying in the region. As a result, the number of registered nurses in the county has increased by 45%.

Hunt School of Nursing students are well-prepared by the time they graduate because the school has partnerships with every hospital in the El Paso community. The hospital partnerships include clinical rotation opportunities and job placements post-graduation, helping fill the critical need for nurses.

About TTUHSC El Paso

TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It’s designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care leaders, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.

TTUHSC El Paso was established to focus on the unique health care and educational needs of our Borderplex community. In 2023, TTUHSC El Paso will celebrate its 10th anniversary as an independent university within the Texas Tech University System. In those 10 years, the university has graduated nearly 2,000 doctors, nurses and researchers, and will soon add dentists to its alumni.