Before Savannah Bingham showed up at GateWay, she worked a number of different jobs in retail, the restaurant industry, and law offices. Ultimately, she found herself working in the non-profit sector where she worked with a local organization that provided healthcare to communities across Arizona. It was there that she fell in love with nursing and knew she wanted to follow her passion.
After evaluating her options for nursing school, her choice was clear. “GateWay has a great reputation for nursing, excellent pass and NCLEX pass rates. The fact that GatewWay also offered a night program meant that I could keep working at the job I already had,” Bingham said.
While nursing school is a challenging enough endeavor on its own, add in a global pandemic and the challenges seemed to never end. Even through it all, her experience at GateWay helped her get through it.
“Nursing school is hard, but my professors and classmates made it so much easier to navigate! Even before nursing school, while I was completing prerequisites for the program, services like tutors and the ability to check out anatomical models to practice made learning easy,” she said.
After graduating with her Nursing Degree this past May, she accepted a job at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix. Her new job allows her to work across the cardiac, neuro, and transplant units, and she couldn’t be more excited. “I never imagined (this job) for myself, but so far I am loving the work.”
Now, after completing nursing school, landing an amazing job, and doing it all while in the midst of the COVID pandemic, she has advice for current students.
“Don't take the failure personally, or doubt your ability as a nurse because of it; just learn from the missed questions or skills and move on. You've got this!”
One thing is certain, Bingham certainly does.
To learn more about the Healthcare program at GateWay Community College, visit https://www.gatewaycc.edu/programs.