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Rosalinda Jugueta - Calong, an LPC graduate, recently visited her former alma mater and shared with us her journey as a Nurse from the Middle East to Europe and finally to the United States. “I really enjoy being a nurse, I love patient care”, she declares.

  She also recalls her stay in LPC vividly. She graduated Cum laude in 1977 with a Diploma in Nursing, along with LPC’s 2nd batch of graduates. “Inosente talaga ako nun” (I was really innocent back then)”; she says “di nila tinatanggap ang tuition fee ko. Nung nalaman ko cum laude pala ako” (They weren’t accepting my tuition fee, then I found out I was Cum Laude), she adds. She was also Miss Florence Nightingale, “I was the one carrying the lamp during the foundation day celebration”, she cheerfully recalls.

 
After graduation she volunteered in Quezon Memorial Hospital before going to Saudi Arabia. She worked in the Middle East for 5 years as a charge nurse and supervisor before going back to the Philippines to work in St. Luke’s Hospital.

 
“I was in the ICU- Coronary Care in St. Luke’s, but before I started they sent us to the Philippine Heart Center to be trained on critical care”, she says. “I was a pioneer critical care nurse there in St. Luke’s”, she adds.

 
After working in St. Luke’s, her nursing career took her abroad again. This time to Rome Italy in a hospital run by priests—Salvator Mundi Hospital. There she learned the language and survived. “Learning the language ang pinaka mahirap dun (hardest part) they send you to school to learn the language”, she explains.

 
But her journey didn’t stop there. She then applied for a Canadian immigrant visa, worked in Canada and stayed there for 3 years before becoming a Canadian citizen. “I also took a refresher course in Canada” she shares.

 
After her stint there she moved down to Texas in 1995 and has lived and worked there ever since. She now works in M. D. Anderson Cancer Center as a charge nurse for critical care adult and pediatric. “I’m also a clinical coach”, she adds.

So what is this LPC alumna busy with these days?

“I’m an inventor of the safe infusion system, the system will help reduce confusion and will help prevent mistakes; clinical errors and medication errors”, she shares. The system is in the process of getting a patent in the United States. “I’m also going to start educating my co-nurses. I have a CD compilation of problems me and other nurses have faced with the solutions”, she adds.

 Nurse Rose recently went back to LPC to visit her former alma- matter, where her nursing career that took her places really began. The seeds of her future were planted here, inside the four pillars of this institution hence she took the time to go back to LPC, look for familiar faces, and acknowledge that this is really where she came from. As a sign of gratitude, she promised to send nursing journals to the school library when she gets back to the States, hoping that others will do the same. Evidently along with passion for your work, and perseverance, looking back to where you came from is also important to one’s success.

 Just before ending the interview, the successful LPC alumna had this to say to nursing students in this school, “Don’t give up just continue working, if you have the passion in taking care of patients you can be a successful nurse”, she says “No matter what happens”.