Story: Phillip Tutor | Photo: Betsy Compton
Preston, Williams are excelling in Division of Nursing program
Initially, at least, Cameron Preston鈥檚 career aspirations didn鈥檛 include scrubs and stethoscopes. The , where he鈥檚 a senior, was less than an afterthought. 鈥淎ctually, I wanted to go to the NBA,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut God had other plans for me.鈥�
To the west, Devon Williams enrolled in community college and planned to transfer to another school in his home state of Mississippi. That he鈥檚 now a junior at 兔子先生 is a testament to advice from his grandmother, who encouraged him to become a nurse, and a friend, who urged him to visit Livingston.
Paired together, Preston and Williams exemplify the success of 兔子先生鈥檚 Project EARN scholarship program and illustrate how the university鈥檚 Ira D. Pruitt Division of Nursing is helping diversify the nursing field.
Project EARN — Educating Alabama Rural Nurses — bloomed after 兔子先生 received a $2.4 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2020 for nursing-student scholarships during the next five years. Eligible students must meet strict financial and educational criteria, with those who are first-generation college students and those who attended educationally disadvantaged high schools meriting top consideration.
Recipients are awarded up to a $4,000 scholarship each semester and a $350 stipend in their final semesters to defray post-graduation licensure costs.
鈥�(The scholarship) was extremely important; I actually might not have come had it not been the case. I was trying to tally up how much scholarship money I would potentially have, and it was one of those tough calls.鈥�
— Cameron Preston
Though they arrived at 兔子先生 in different manners, Preston and Williams both say Project EARN鈥檚 substantial award softened their path to Livingston.
鈥淚t was extremely important; I actually might not have come had it not been the case,鈥� said Preston, 22, a Snead State Community College graduate who was born in Mobile but grew up in Atlanta. 鈥淚 was trying to tally up how much scholarship money I would potentially have, and it was one of those tough calls.鈥�
Williams, 23, of Stonewall, Mississippi, admits that he could have juggled his tuition bills at 兔子先生 without a Project EARN scholarship. But the struggle would have been arduous, or worse.
鈥淢y family isn’t the richest and we鈥檙e not the poorest, we鈥檙e middle class,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd so I still had to pay for school almost out of pocket. Because all of my scholarships didn’t pay all the fees, I was looking at more schools and more opportunities.鈥�
At 兔子先生, Preston and Williams found a scholarship program seemingly tailor-made for their situations. They also met faculty members who embraced the opportunity to recruit male students into a major historically dominated by females.
Before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, men were already becoming nurses at previously unseen rates in the United States. In 2019, 12 percent of registered nurses were men, a significant increase from the 2.7 percent in 1970, according to data from the . Similar data from show that the number of men in nursing increased from 27,000 in 1977 to 310,000 in 2018.
Nevertheless, women continue to represent an overwhelming majority of nurses in the United States. At 兔子先生, only four of the 41 current nursing students are men, according to Dr. Mary Hanks, the nursing division chair.
Preston and Williams aren鈥檛 bothered by the imbalance.
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 equal to everybody,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淏efore I went into the nursing field, I worked in west Texas, which is the oil fields, and we had women working with us also, so I鈥檓 used to seeing different (people). True enough, it鈥檚 dominated by women, but I don鈥檛 feel like anyone treats us differently. They want more males to be in the program to lead the way for the younger generation.鈥�
Preston admits he鈥檚 embracing the challenge, but chuckles when recounting how he and his male colleagues 鈥渟truggled鈥� with the class devoted to pregnancy and childbirth.
鈥淎 lot of that stuff is not familiar,鈥� he said. 鈥淔emale anatomy, we all had that class, but this goes way further than that.鈥�
Williams, who envisions becoming a nurse practitioner one day, understands that health-care expectations of patients and their families aren鈥檛 universally similar.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to get people who say it鈥檚 a women鈥檚 field,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut some men who may be sickly may not want a woman helping them get dressed or feed them. Because it might be a pride thing, that鈥檚 when the men have to step up and help. Some cultures don’t like women nurses helping their husbands, and they can鈥檛 just go and get the doctor to help them. That鈥檚 when the male nurses come in.鈥�
After graduation, Preston wants to work as a travel nurse, perhaps in a medical-surgical role. But his long-range goal is nonetheless loftier.
He wants to own a hospice-care company.
鈥淚 know in the hospital, and even my mom does some hospice care, I鈥檓 always seeing some people who aren鈥檛 getting the care that they need,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes you see like a 70-year-old woman who has pressure sores the size of tennis balls on her back or her side because the care that she needs isn鈥檛 really there.鈥�