What is Ulster BOCES?
Dorian Lennert-Shank

Ulster BOCES means different things to different people.

To Dorian Lennert-Shank, a former Ulster BOCES School of Practical Nursing (PN) student, Ulster BOCES means having the opportunity to learn a new trade and gain valuable nursing skills, which she now utilizes daily in her duties as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at Ellenville Regional Hospital.

A lifelong resident of Napanoch, Dorian graduated from Ellenville High School in 1975 and attended some undergraduate classes at Orange County Community College, before deciding to work first as a dental assistant and then for Channel Master Corporation in Ellenville. Eventually, Dorian was hired by VAW of America, Inc., where she was a purchasing assistant. Over the next ten years, she married and gave birth to her first daughter, Ashton, who was to become her bittersweet inspiration for pursuing a nursing career.

“What started it all in nursing for me was with my daughter’s birth in 1987,” recalls Dorian. “I had gotten very sick with a virus and she had contracted it. As a result, she was born with fetal hydrops and viral cardio myopathy. Since I was in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for four months with her, I just picked up on stuff that I was doing – like suctioning her vent, etc. The nurses and practitioners all said to me, ‘Dorian, you should really go for nursing, you have a knack with it.’ I always had an interest in medicine and thought it was fascinating. This made me give it some serious thought.”

Even though she had received much encouragement, the timing was yet not right. Dorian continued to care for her ailing daughter with the assistance of home health nurse Ellen Naney. “Ellen should get a lot of the credit for my decision because she really supported me in it. She helped me with my daughter at night with all her care. I learned so much from her.”

Dorian’s baby girl passed away when she was just 13 months old. “She will always be a source of inspiration to me,” reflects Dorian, who began to do volunteer work with handicapped children. As a result, Dorian became a member of the Committee of Special Education at Ellenville Central School District, and this past June she was appointed by the Committee to be a surrogate parent for the children who are in need of parental representation.

Dorian went on to have two more daughters, Arielle and Alex, both of whom are currently students in the Ellenville Central School District. Over the years, she kept busy as an at-home mom, while thoughts of baby Ashton and the nursing profession were never far from her mind.

In 1998, Dorian began working for her father in the family business, Johnny’s Super Service, located in Ellenville. The following year, she and her husband separated, leaving her to raise her two young girls as a single mom. She left the family business in 2004 to finally pursue nursing school.

“This guy I was dating said, ‘Dorian, you always wanted to be a nurse, just do it, just do it.’ He brought me supplies, magazines, and the LPN entrance exam,” recalls Dorian, who said she received so much encouragement and support from parents, family, and friends, that she “just totally quit my job. I didn’t work for 10 months so I could go to Ulster BOCES full-time.”

Dorian is very proud of how her children were always by her side. To promote togetherness, study time became family time. “My kids helped me. We’d have a little contest…we would do our homework together and see who would have the highest grades!”

At Ulster BOCES, Dorian felt all of her instructors were just “wonderful,” especially Nancy Smith. “They were all very encouraging with me, they were all very supportive. Each one had something different to add.” Dorian especially appreciated the hands-on aspect of learning at Ulster BOCES. “That’s how I learn the best,” says Dorian. “You get to see cause-and-effect—if you give a particular medicine, you get to see what it does. The program is tough; it’s like boot camp, but it has to be. Nursing is not easy if you’re going to be effective, but I loved the program. I would come in each day smiling! I’ve been through so much in my life that I really enjoyed this and I really feel that my daughter, Ashton, sat with me the whole entire time.”

With the skills she learned through the Ulster BOCES PN program, Dorian applied to the Ellenville Regional Hospital and was hired before she even graduated in June 2005. She now works as a licensed practical nurse in the hospital’s 10-bed swing unit and medical surgical unit. “I like seeing the patients improve,” comments Dorian, whose duties include administering breathing treatments, giving medications to patients, and conducting assessments, while an RN observes. “This hospital is a great place to work. They really try to teach you things and there are so many wonderful people who work here, including Kathy Smith, my nurse manager, and Helen Robinson (vice president and chief clinical officer). They are both wonderful. I really like everybody and I love coming to work. People who come here receive a lot of personal attention and that’s very important.”

Dorian’s long-range plans include possibly doing some private duty nursing as well as eventually returning to college to become a registered nurse (RN), but she is loyal to her community and the Ellenville Regional Hospital, where she hopes to work for years to come. “Community is really important to me. They supported my family for many years, so now it’s my turn to give back. I’m a people-person, and in my job I like to be effective and I like to feel rewarded at the end of the day. I have that here at the hospital,” claims Dorian. “So many of the people who once were customers at my family’s business get a kick out of seeing me here at the hospital. They will come in and say, ‘You were just taking care of my car!’ I think that type of familiarity and rapport is really beneficial in my job and it’s important for the patients to feel comfortable with their caregiver.”

Dorian wholeheartedly believes in the training she received from Ulster BOCES. “Ulster BOCES gave me a lot of hands-on experience,” says Dorian. “During the program, they would take us to different sites to see different things—such as hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers, schools, and doctors’ offices—where we did daily observations and got a feel for all the different areas in nursing.” Dorian’s oldest daughter also attends Ulster BOCES as a student in the Early Childhood Education program. “Ulster BOCES is a wonderful stepping stone. The instructors gave me a lot of confidence and helped me to believe in myself.”