Grad stories: Nursing students discuss next steps

Excelling as a nurse requires courage, resilience, attention to detail, strong communication skills and the resourcefulness to solve a variety of challenges. Auburn University at Montgomery nursing students develop those qualities through clinicals and apprenticeship opportunities, but many graduate with a new appreciation for two qualities that are sometimes overlooked: empathy and a willingness to listen to patients and their family members.

“I really feel like this career is the most fulfilling if you’re wanting to help people in their most vulnerable state,” said Elizabeth Blitch, who earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing as a member of AUM’s Spring 2025 graduating class. “It’s really where you can be there for those who might not have somebody and speak a word into those who don’t have anybody to talk to while they’re going through some of their worst days.”

As AUM College of Nursing & Health Sciences Dean Jean Leuner reminded participants in the college’s spring Pinning & Recognition Ceremony, “Nurses change lives.”

Blitch and many of her classmates are well on their way to doing that. She will begin her career as a nurse in Birmingham with Children’s of Alabama’s Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.

Fellow graduate Cedreuna Robinson will remain close to the AUM campus as a nurse in Baptist Medical Center South’s Clinical Decision Unit. She said AUM’s curriculum and faculty challenged her and helped her build the confidence necessary to succeed in the professional realm.

“We have done rigorous work,” she said. “We have done many assignments that have challenged our ways of thinking. They don’t have a 100 percent passing rate on the NCLEX [licensure exam] for no reason. You’re going to earn your degree here.”