Why Do You Need to Know Texas History to Be a Nursing Student?

A nursing student who says she recently moved to Texas is going viral on TikTok after sharing a requirement she ran into while applying to nursing school that left her genuinely confused.
Jailene Janelle (@jailenejanelle) says she relocated to Houston with plans to become a nurse, but the application process quickly threw her a curveball.

“Why is Texas a cult,” she asks in an on-screen caption on her video, summing up her disbelief.

Janelle says that she believed she had completed all the necessary coursework and was preparing to apply when she was told she was missing two credits. What surprised her even more was learning that those credits had to come from Texas history.

Janelle says the requirement didn’t sit well with her, especially given what she sees as its lack of relevance to patient care.

“But what do I need to know about my Texan forefathers for?” she asks in the video. “Can someone explain to me why Texas is so important to me caring for a patient?”

She doubles down in the caption, making it clear her frustration isn’t about avoiding work, but about priorities. “What’s the point of me knowing Texas history??? I don’t understand,” she writes. “I just wanna save lives, man.”

As of this writing, Janelle’s video has racked up more than 462,000 views.

Taking Texas History Before Becoming a Nurse

Requiring Texas history is largely a condition that addresses meeting the broader college requirements the state sets for degrees, including nursing.

Most nursing programs in Texas are built on a standard core curriculum, which includes general education courses such as anatomy, physiology, psychology, and microbiology. Texas history, it seems, is one of those required boxes. But requiring history courses in general is less about the subject itself and more about the skills that come with it.

History courses help build critical thinking, research, and writing skills. Typically, you’re asked to weigh evidence, understand cause and effect, and explain complex situations clearly—the same skills that a nurse might need on a day-to-day basis.

There’s a practical angle, too. Texas has health care disparities, shaped in part by geography, so understanding why certain communities face barriers is a valuable skill for nurses to develop.

Of course, in response to Janelle’s initial question, none of this necessarily means that Texas history is more important than learning to do the things nurses do every day, such as reading labs or drawing blood. But it’s part of how the state defines a college-educated professional.

Residents Say Texas Is Full of Itself

Plenty of commenters leaned into the joke, teasing that Texas has never quite gotten over its own mythology.

“Texas used to be its own country, and they’ll never let anyone forget it,” one person joked.

“Because we’re a continent, not a state,” another chimed in.

“Bc… THE STARS AT NIGHT ARE BIG AND BRIGHT,” a third wrote, nodding to the lyrics from “Deep in the Heart of Texas.”

“We are Texans, we are not Americans,” someone else added.

“United States of Texas,” another commenter piled on.

Others, especially those who actually live in the state, said the over-the-top pride is very real and suggested Janelle should get on board.

“Many hotel chains here have Texas-shaped waffles for breakfast,” one user pointed out. “We take Texas very serious here.”

“You need to pledge allegiance to Texas TODAY, or we can’t have you lol,” another quipped.

“You moved here now you gotta have state pride, that’s it, that’s all,” someone else wrote.

“My nurse better know my Texas history,” a fourth commenter added.

Patch has reached out to Janelle via a direct message on TikTok. This story will be updated if she replies.

@jailenejanelle