West Coast University celebrates National Nurses Week by honoring three students with most inspirational nursing story

Costa Mesa-based West Coast University has announced students Chantal Banon, Adrineh Avakian and Rita Mcmillan, as the winners of its “Inspirational Nursing Stories” contest. In celebration of National Nurses Week, which was May 6-12, 2009, West Coast University, which has campuses in Los Angeles, Anaheim and Ontario, gave current Registered Nursing (RN) or Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) students, as well as working RNs and LVNs, an opportunity to be honored by the school and receive a gift card for sharing a personal nursing experience.

Top honors and a $200 gift card was awarded to Chantal Banon, currently a student at West Coast University’s Orange County campus in Anaheim, who wrote an inspirational essay, “Why I Chose to Become a Nurse,” citing her daughter as her inspiration. Less than four months from graduating from West Coast University, Banon says “The best part is, now my daughter wants to be a nurse practitioner. I finally realize how my hard work has paid off because of the example I set for her. I feel like the richest woman in the world!”

The “People’s Choice” winner, selected based on the highest number of votes received from Facebook, was Adrineh Avakian, who was awarded a $100 gift card for her essay, “The Passion My Mother Inspired.” The 19-year-old student who is pursuing her BSN degree from West Coast University’s Los Angeles campus, lost her mother, a Registered Nurse, during her freshman year of high school, but says that she was left with “the desire and love of helping those in need. Now, I know there is nothing I would rather do then follow her footsteps and become as great of a nurse as my mother was.”

The Honorable Mention, an essay by Rita Mcmillan, entitled, “You Are My Sunshine,” was rewarded with a $100 gift card. A student at West Coast University’s Orange County campus in Anaheim, Mcmillan shared her personal experience with one particular patient, while working in a long-term facility, one of many stories that demonstrate the significant role nurses play in the lives of so many individuals.

All contest submissions, including the winning essay, are published on the West Coast University Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/wcunurses.

“These stories represent the best that nursing has to offer because they are real, making them truly inspirational,” commented Dan Holestine, Vice President of Marketing for West Coast University. “In conjunction with National Nurses week, we wanted to provide an opportunity for our students, graduates and those in the Nursing industry, to express the excitement, joy and challenges they face.”

This contest was open to Registered Nurses or Licensed Vocational Nurses working in nursing, or current RN or LVN students. Essays were judged based on quality of writing and how well it exemplified the best in nursing. Essays were limited to 500 words and could be submitted between Friday, May 1, 2009 and Tuesday, May 12, 2009. The winning essay, as chosen by ESM, received a $200 Target gift card. The Honorable Mention, also chosen by ESM, and a People’s Choice winner, determined by an online voting system at Facebook (https://tinyurl.com/wcunurses), were awarded $100 Target gift cards. All other qualifying entries were recognized with a $10 gift card to Amazon.com.

West Coast University is a leader in healthcare and nursing educational programs. It offers a dynamic and experienced faculty and staff, as well as academic curricula designed to challenge students and prepare them to become valuable members of the healthcare industry – for life. For more information on the campuses and program offerings, please visit www.westcoastuniversity.edu.