After roughly 40 hours of preparation -- and that was outside of their regular course work -- students like Topher Edmondson were very excited to be named the winners of the 18th Annual Critical Care Challenge held at St. Mary's Manor last month.
"It felt really good to beat two four-year schools, so that was really nice," the 26-year-old soon-to-be graduate of Henderson Community College's nursing program said.
Edmondson, of Henderson, will begin working at Methodist Hospital in its general medical/surgical unit after completing the nursing program at HCC.
And contests like the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Critical Care Challenge help the students get a sense of just how prepared they are for the working world.
The challenge pitted 10 HCC students against Ivy Tech, the University of Evansville and the University of Southern Indiana.
Each school's team had an instructor for the first round of 20 questions that were posed using an overhead projector. For the second set of 20 questions, the students participated by themselves.
"I'm very excited and proud of our school ... our team ... our program and Henderson," added Jesse Eckels, 23.
He said he was the only third-semester nursing student on the team and that he hopes to work at Deaconess Hospital when he completes the program.
The Henderson resident said he has pretty much always wanted to be a nurse.
"I really enjoy being able to help people and to care for people," Eckels said. "It's just a profession that it takes a special kind of person to be in."
Other team members were Jessica Walker, Missy Goff, Ashlee Bromn, Lindsay Lambrich, Larissa Layne, Cassie Linxwiler, Deanna Young and Lacy Jimenez.
