Newman University recognized 18 candidates for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at the annual Nurses’ Pinning ceremony held Dec. 10.
The event is a tradition in the nursing discipline that dates back approximately 130 years in the United States. At Newman, the director of the School of Nursing and Allied Health places nursing pins on graduate candidates’ lapels as a symbol of their completion of the baccalaureate of science in nursing (BSN) program. The Newman pin is unique to the university, and was designed by the first graduating BSN class at what was then Kansas Newman College.
In a brief address during the ceremony, Director of the Newman School of Nursing and Allied Health Bernadette Fetterolf, Ph.D., pointed to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which outlined the many changes in store for the health care community. Fetterolf noted that the future will offer many opportunities for nurses, including playing a leading role in the implementation of the 2010 Affordable Healthcare Act, more collaboration with other disciplines, and removing barriers to broaden the scope of advanced practice nursing.
“All of you will have opportunity for leadership because leadership begins at the bedside,” she said. “Your challenge will be to take the knowledge and skills you have learned and integrate them into a caring and competent practice every day with everyone you come in contact with.”
The ceremony concluded with the naming of the Distinguished BSN Graduate Award. The award is given to a graduating nursing student who has a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average and demonstrates an exceptional commitment to the nursing profession and involvement in the Newman and greater Wichita communities. The Fall 2010 award was bestowed upon Raymond Tomshack.
The BSN candidates for Fall 2010 are:
Wichita
Jessica Horine
Mandy Kaster
Mary Mies
William Newborn
Amber Renteria
V. Mark Rogers
Maxine Shores
Sarah Travis
Amy Weippert
Thomas Wheeler
Andale
Regan Holt
Belle Plaine
Lorna McPeek-Henderson
Derby
Amy Beran
Garden Plain
Shawn Rau
Hutchinson
Alicia Koenigs
Kechi
Leroy Gay
Maize
Raymond Tomshack
Kathmandu, Nepal
Rujita Munankarmi
