Hello my fellow nurses!  My name is Torane Hull but please call me TW.  I firmly believe that no matter which review system or center you chose you should do so knowing who designed it and what makes them qualified to teach you.  Many of you have your family counting on you to earn income by working in the US and I want to do everything I can to help you. So let me take a few minutes of your time to share my background and teaching philosophy with you.

I am a US citizen, grew up in California. I was raised by two loving parents who highly valued education and family values.  My parents have instilled the belief in me that one of the best things that you can do in your life is choose a profession that help others.  I feel very blessed and lucky to have been raised by two truly amazing and loving people.  My mother has her PhD in Psychology and my father has a Master’s Degree in Religion.  They have founded several schools and programs designed for teenagers with learning problems (we say learning differences in the US) and emotional troubles.  They have founded and run a non-traditional boarding school for the last 12 years called Nawa Academy.  This was where I got my first training and experience teaching and using active learning.  Active learning is one of the most modern methods of education.  It encourages the learner to participate in their learning through a variety of ways, increasing their comprehension and memory retention.  Forget about sitting in a classroom listening to a boring lecture, daydreaming about something else.  This method has taught me how to design games to activate your cerebral cortex and get you involved!

SEC Reg No. CS200928649

TIN No. 280-620-537-000

I have been fascinated with the human body, rescue and medicine for as long as I can remember.  I learned and participated in many things outside of school when I was young.  I played the saxophone, took martial arts classes, played many different sports and was in the Boy Scouts.  At nine years old I was the youngest person in California to be certified in Vertical Rescue (saving people trapped on the side of a cliff).  I received certifications in Confined Space Rescue, Vertical Rescue I and II, Swift Water Rescue I and II, Wilderness Survival, Snow Survival, Avalanche Training, and Man Tracking. I became an instructor in many of these areas and taught them to search and rescue personnel, fire departments, police and SWAT teams as well as teenagers for over 10 years.  I took medical first response courses and got my First Responder and then my EMT (Emergency Medical Technician which is the same as a basic paramedic) when I was still a teenager. I used these skills as a volunteer fireman for 6 years, responding to medical emergencies, vehicle accidents, structure (buildings that were on fire) and wild land fires.  I was on Search and Rescue for 6 years responding to emergency calls of people lost, trapped in floods, rivers or on the side of a cliff. I also participated and helped lead teams for evidence recovery for the police, and body recoveries.  I served as one of the leaders and trainers on many searches and training scenarios. I also served as vice-president for our Search and Rescue team for two years.  These experiences taught me so much.  I have had to go into a raging river and check to see if the victims trapped in a car were alive.  I’ve been short hauled by helicopters (hung 20 meters below a helicopter by rope while it was flying), driven through wild land fires with flames 15 meters high on either side, and had numerous other adventures that have taught me the value of proper training and education.

I received a Bachelors Degree in Physics during a four year Pre-medical program at Creighton University, a top Catholic University in the US.  My emphasis was Medical Physics, which is all of the physics behind medical imagery (CT, PET scans, X-rays, etc.) and nuclear medicine.  We learned about calculating dosage rates of patients receiving radiation treatment for cancer and many other physics concepts used in medicine. After finishing my degree I worked for one year as a Medical Physicist calibrating radiographic and other image producing equipment.  I also worked as a laboratory supervisor in my country’s leading Osteoporosis research center.  I designed and carried out experiments, tested and analyzed results.  My largest project was determining whether smoking cigarettes led to increased bone density loss (Osteoporosis).  Incidentally, it does by a rather significant measure. I took my MCATs (Medical College Admission Test) and was prepared to go to medical school when I decided against it.

SEC Reg No. CS200928649

TIN No. 280-620-537-000

I stopped working in these jobs after a year, realizing I wanted more human interaction.  It was then that my path led me to teaching in a traveling boarding school.  I taught advanced subjects in math and science like physics and calculus as well as the rest of math and science courses down to 8th grade.  Many of my students had learning differences requiring me to learn the latest teaching techniques.  It was an amazing program in which I had the same group of kids for a year and we traveled around the world.  The school was fully accredited and we traveled to places like Cuba, Alaska, Costa Rica, and Bolivia.  We had amazing adventures hacking our way through the thick Amazon Rain Forest camping next to Anaconda and Crocodile infested lakes for days.  We took small 4-seater “Bush” planes out to the barren frozen tundra of Alaska staying with an Inuit tribe in -30 degree Celsius weather and learning their culture for over two weeks in the coldest month of the year.  We were also one of the few educational groups from America allowed to go to Cuba and see the vibrant and amazing culture there.  I loved the different cultures we were able to experience.  We made sure our trips went off the “tourist path” staying in family homes and truly immersing ourselves in the culture.

It was during this time that I got my training in teaching through active learning.  After teaching for several years, I became an Assistant Dean and later the business manager.  I helped develop curriculum, was educated and taught teenage crisis intervention and managed over a two million dollar budget.  It was during this time that I was on the Fire Department and Search and Rescue.  While I was using pre-hospital medicine, I wanted to learn more.  So I went back to school.

SEC Reg No. CS200928649

TIN No. 280-620-537-000

I was lucky to be accepted into a program at another top Jesuit University in San Francisco called University of San Francisco.  Trying to get into these programs are very difficult.  Out of thousands of applicants only 30 of us were chosen.  I received a Master’s of Nursing (MSN) and a Master’s of Public Administration (MPA).  For those of you not familiar with an MPA it is similar to a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) but it trains you to operate a hospital, non-profit organization or government instead of private business.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and worked as an assistant to the dean as well as a tutoring in the clinical lab while completing the program.  I received top marks and was invited to join Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honors society.  I also created, designed and implemented a Mentorship program that paired incoming students with older students to help them orient to the rigorous program.  I was a member of the Nursing Student Council serving as vice President after declining the Presidency (I was working full time and working on my master’s thesis).  In my last year I was lucky enough to be the only new graduate accepted full time directly into one of the largest and busiest Emergency Departments in San Francisco.

I practiced there for three years learning so much and realizing I have so much more to learn.  I firmly believe that learning is a life long practice, and no matter how much experience and knowledge you gain there is always more to learn.  The Emergency Department I worked in works very differently than the ones that I have seen here.  Nurses and MDs work side by side together trying to provide the best patient care.  Nurses can run codes in the US and I am licensed and trained to do so with Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Cardiac Life Support.  I had numerous patients with heart attacks, strokes, GI bleeds, patients that were septic, drug and alcohol overdoses, psychiatric patients and numerous other types.  We were trained to start care before the MD arrived through the use of standing protocols and thus had to think about the treatment plan of the patient on our own. This is one of the areas I have emphasized in this curriculum to improve your critical thinking skills.

SEC Reg No. CS200928649

TIN No. 280-620-537-000

In the belief of always trying to improve my knowledge, I looked into furthering my education one more time and getting a Doctorate of Nursing Practice and my Nurse Practioner. You see after both Master’s degrees I would have only a year and a half more of training to receive my Doctorate.  For those of you unfamiliar with Nurse Practioners they are the combination of an MD and a nurse.  They can diagnose, write orders and prescribe medicine like a MD.

However, before I started that program I met my fiancé.  You see in the states we have only one set of Godparents who would raise us should anything happen to our parents.  My godmother is Filipina and after many years of trying my parents and I finally had the chance to visit her family here in Bohol.  My fiancé is her niece and we connected the first day we met.  Over the next year we continued our long distance relationship until I moved here in January of 2009.  We are raising two handsome boys and have a baby due New Year’s Day 2010.

I have fallen in love with the Philippines and we are looking to make our home here.  While I was looking for business ideas I wanted to do something to help Filipino nurses.  We go into nursing to help other people and comfort them when they need us most.  What better way for me to help in that process then continue the education of nurses and helping you be the best at your job?  That is why I am committed to seeing you succeed.  Education is the key to expanding your knowledge and making you the very best nurse.  I want that for you.  That is why we are trying to keep the cost of this review center down.  We are more interested in you learning than trying to take all your money.  My family always taught me to make the world a better place and right now I believe this is one of the ways I can do that.  I encourage you to take that step and join our program.  If you commit yourself to our study plans I guarantee that you will succeed!  You CAN pass the NCLEX!

SEC Reg No. CS200928649

TIN No. 280-620-537-000