Teaching and Learning - Heath Education

BECOMING A LIFESAVER

For Arielle Bunton, college was not just a place of classrooms and textbooks—it was the launchpad for her future.

During her first year as a Red Hawk, she had planned to enter the cosmetology program, as she had held a long-time interest in dermatology. She even took up shadowing opportunities within the Hickory community to gain special training in dermatologic practice.

To supplement her shadowing, Arielle enrolled in CVCC’s CNA program to become a certified nursing assistant and increase her work-ready skills. It was a learning curve, as she had a fear of blood and had never envisioned herself as a direct member of a medical team. However, as her time and training rolled on, Arielle discovered an aspect of medical care that she had yet to explore—surgical technology.

The Surgical Technology program at CVCC is located in the ValleySim Hospital. Students learn through classroom instruction, simulation labs, and partner facilities during clinical rounds. Professional surgical technologists assist the operating team with patient preparation, instrument preparation, organ procurement, and additional surgical needs.

The Surgical Technology program also works strategically with students and college partners to find the best clinical sites that will help students find full-time jobs. For Arielle, training and her education went hand-in-hand, and she showed promising talents early in the program. “Arielle was a wonderful student,” said instructors. “She was a natural, displaying excitement for learning and excelling in the clinical setting. I’m super proud of her accomplishments.”

Likewise, Arielle recalled her time in the CVCC Surgical Technology program as one of encouragement and influence. “I give 100% credit of my current role to my instructors” she says. “They always push students to be their best, but also have a way of teaching without making others feel like they are inexperienced or don’t know what they’re doing.”

The last clinical Arielle participated in was at Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, NC. She was excited about the prospect, and when she walked into the hospital, she found that staff and team members were also excited to meet her. Arielle’s instructor had gone out of their way to talk with the Frye team about Arielle’s specific talents, and because of this relationship, Frye went out of their way to make Arielle feel at home.

“You want a job on the heart team?” they asked. She felt like her next big step fell right in her lap. She spent the remainder of her college career at this clinical site, and once she graduated, she kept the job with the open heart team.

Surgical practice, at any level, requires dexterity and a great bit of self-confidence.

As Arielle gained new skills in Frye’s cardiac ward, preparing organs for transplants and surgery, she decided to branch out and explore other areas of procurement. Within a few years, Arielle applied for and landed her next full-time job. She currently works as an organ preservationist at LifeShare Carolinas in Charlotte, NC.

In her role at LifeShare, she recovers donor tissue, skin, and bones through cutting and dissection. She gets to travel far and wide, assisting in retrieving viable organs from donors across the Southeastern United States. The LifeShare team also takes part in transplant and preservation research through a partnership with the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Today, Arielle is an organ preservationist at LifeShare Carolinas in Charlotte, NC. As a preservationist, Arielle assists the surgical team with retrieving viable organs from donors across the Southeastern United States. LifeShare also partners with the Wake Forest Institue for Regenerative Medicine, and as such, Arielle’s team takes part in transplant research and explores preservation techniques.

Her position includes the coordination and management of the organ donation process. This is more than just communication between ORs—she joins the team on-site, scrubbing in to take biopsies of donor tissue and help ensure compatibility between donors and recipients. Most frequently, Arielle works with teams who harvest kidneys from brain dead or deceased donors.

The job requires more than scrubbing in. One of her largest responsibilities is to be on-call for picking up organs from deceased donors. This means she gets to travel for work—flying to medical facilities where donor organs are ready for harvesting and procurement. Once she lands at the hospital or facility, she must go into the room and assist the surgeons who receive the donations, whether those be a heart, kidneys, or other vital organs.

Organ procurement is a humbling yet thrilling position. It takes a special sort of strength to acknowledge a deceased donor, respect their generosity, and look forward to the ways their donation can save another’s life. Sometimes, the medical team takes extra precautions to transfer the braindead donors from one state to the care center. Other times, the preservationist team works with the surgical team to harvest the organs onsite and package them for the flight back to the OR.

Arielle’s dedication extends beyond her local community. She recently embarked on a surgical mission trip to Africa, providing treatment in Tanzania and Malawi. The team spent three weeks collaborating with local hospital staff, enhancing medical standards and patient care capacity.

This journey—from cosmetology plans to organ preservationist—showcases the transformative power of education, mentorship, and a willingness to explore uncharted territories. Surgical technology is not for the faint of heart, but CVCC is proud to watch Arielle succeed in her endeavors.