Section: El Paso Community
Clinical Nurse Transition Program Sets Nurses ahead
William Beaumont Army Medical Center hosted a graduating ceremony for Class 15-152 of the Brig. Gen. Anna Mae Hays Clinical Nurses Transition Program Dec. 8.

The six-month-long program allows new nurses to gain experience as a surgical-medical nurse while working alongside experienced nurses, who mentor the new nurses in hands-on procedures.

"The CNTP is a program for new nurses who have already graduated from a nursing program to get a good foundation before working on their own," said 2nd Lt. Lizamara C. Bedolla, a graduate of CNTP. "It's like a residency program for doctors."

Throughout the program, nurses learned advanced nursing topics such as pain management, ethical decisions, physiology-type techniques and critical-thinking skills.

"It advances their professional development and helps them understand 'I need to keep educating myself if I want to stay current in practice,'" said Dr. Thomas H. Miller, CNTP director. "They're all brand new 2nd lieutenants that have finished nursing school."
Obama visits: President gets whirlwind tour of El Paso, border
A crowd of Soldiers, their families, civilians and the press gathered at Biggs Army Airfield Tuesday under the watchful eye of the Secret Service to see President Barack Obama arrive in El Paso.



The purpose of the president's visit was to outline his plan for immigration reform in a speech made at Chamizal National Memorial on the banks of the Rio Grande on the border of the United States and Mexico.



Despite the relatively pragmatic use of Fort Bliss' flight facilities, Team Bliss was enthusiastic to see Obama again during his second visit within a year. Among those who got to meet the president were Staff Sgt. Canaan Wiseman, 5th Armored Brigade, and Capt. Ryan Harmon, C Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, who were there on the tarmac to meet the president when Air Force One landed.