St. Luke’s School of Nursing is proud to celebrate 140 years of preparing women and men — including Yessica Rivero, a Bolivian immigrant who works at St. Luke’s Carbon Campus — for the world’s most trusted profession.

Because of St. Luke’s School of Nursing and other career enhancement opportunities, St. Luke’s University Health Network maintains an impressive nurse vacancy rate.

Rivero works as a patient care assistant while also taking advantage of the Network’s benefit that enables employees to attend St. Luke’s School of Nursing tuition-free. The Palmerton resident is halfway through her studies to become a registered nurse.

“Education is the key to making a change in our society,” Rivero said. “At St. Luke’s School of Nursing, they develop your greatest abilities so you can turn those dreams into reality. They train you to think critically, enabling you to provide patient care excellence.”

Founded in 1884, St. Luke’s School of Nursing is the nation’s oldest continuously operating nursing school. In December, 68 women and men comprised the 167th St. Luke’s School of Nursing graduating class. Their completion of 20 months of rigorous education in this program brought the number of School of Nursing graduates to 5,364.

According to Lisa Storck, senior associate dean of the school, 65% of these graduates will launch their careers at St. Luke’s.

Brian McCloskey of New Jersey, who graduated in December, achieved his longtime goal of becoming a registered nurse, something he has desired since he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in middle school.

“I was very excited to graduate and use my education and bedside experience to take care of patients in the St. Luke’s ICU,” says the 31-year-old student, one of the few males in the 167th graduating class.

McCloskey started at St. Luke’s as a patient care assistant in 2016 and became a licensed practical nurse in 2020. His mother works in the quality department for St. Luke’s.

Sue Willis, RN, celebrated a half-century working at St. Luke’s, calling it, “a gift that keeps on giving.” Willis followed her mother at the school and the hospital and preceded her sister there, too. In 1980, Willis met her future husband, Johnnie Willis, MD, who was then a first-year resident in an OB-GYN.

The School of Nursing offers day and evening/weekend tracks requiring 900 hours of clinical experience.

Each student may attend tuition-free in exchange for 16 hours of work weekly at a St. Luke’s hospital, and a commitment to remain in the Network for at least two years following graduation.

Many St. Luke’s nurses enjoy career-long positions, during which they can learn new skills, change jobs and/or qualify to move into management ranks. Sometimes, a nurse’s employment can span several decades.

The School of Nursing training and other opportunities — professional development, internships, flexible work schedules and fellowships — help attract and retain these vital professionals in the Network, which employs 4,200 nurses in clinical, educational and administrative positions. This enables the Network to maintain an impressive nurse vacancy rate of just 11% compared to 14% statewide in Pennsylvania.

Anna Bitar, 21, the youngest nursing student, also graduated in December. Her family’s first nurse, she was inspired to go to nursing school after being a hospital patient herself and realizing nurses’ lasting impact on patients.

“You may forget a nurse’s name, but never their face or how they treated you during their most vulnerable time,” says the Bethlehem resident, a first-generation American born to Syrian parents.

Following graduation, Bitar continued to work and learn in the neurology unit, where she had her start as a patient care assistant with a dream but no prior health care experience.

“I love challenges, and becoming a nurse has been the ultimate challenge for me, but it has paid off with its many rewards and many more to come.”

According to Ashley Swope, RN, the Network’s chief nursing officer, “Combining the popular and thorough School of Nursing training, and other recruitment and retention programs, we have created a winning, multipronged staffing strategy for nursing.

“Review the Network’s many accolades for patient-care quality, and it’s pretty obvious that the St. Luke’s strategy is working.”