School of Nursing pins 31 students in ceremony at Campbellsville University
Original Source – May 9, 2014
“When a call comes in, do you want to speak to the doctor in charge or do you want to speak to the nurse who knows what’s really going on?” said Dr. Frank Cheatham, senior vice president for academic affairs.
This question was poised to the families of the 31 students who were being pinned in a ceremony from Campbellsville University’s School of Nursing May 1 at Ransdell Chapel.
Cheatham listed several traits of which it takes to be successful in the nursing field.
“You have to have great communication skills – you can’t be a nurse and not have great communication skills, you have to have emotional responsibility, you have to have empathy, you have to be flexible, you have to pay attention to details, you have to have good personal skills, you have to have physical endurance, you have to have quick response and you have to have respect for rules.
“Almost sounds like they’re super human beings. Well, they are,” he said. “Congratulations, graduates. It’s not been an easy road but you made it.”
Dr. Robert Wade, dean of the School of Nursing, said he had faith in each student.
“They have exceeded my expectations,” he said. “The faculty and I are very proud of them.”
Lauren Barr of Brandenburg, Ky. was the class speaker at the ceremony.
Barr said, on the first day of class, the faculty should have made the students stand up, turn to the person beside them, and say that each student take everyone to be their constant friend and faithful partner in the skills lab from that day forward.
“We have seen in the past three years friendships that have formed, memories made and nurses that will save lives,” she said.
“In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner (in skills lab) in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.
“I promise to love you unconditionally (as a friend), to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall be in nursing school,” she said.
Barr said the vows are usually heard at weddings, but she deemed them appropriate because for the past three years the students had lived out the vows with each other.
“I think we can all agree that nursing school is hard — probably harder than anything you have done before — and I know I couldn’t have done it without some of you,” she said.
She said they all had that person with whom they cried and stood up with to help get them to graduation. Through “sickness, trips to the emergency room, trips down the stairs, or falls off tables,” they had been there for each other.
“When I look back on my time here at CU, I’ll remember those memories because those are the ones that count! Yes, I’ll remember the dreadful HESI’s [health education tests], the long nights and early mornings of procrastinated homework, but I’ll remember the laughter, the fun times and all of your smiles.”
Even though they may not have realized it, Barr said, each student had an impact on someone’s life.
“Now it’s time to send you off. You’re off to be the nurse you have always dreamed about. So be the nurse that you know to be! Be the nurse people look up to! Be the nurse who goes the extra mile for their patient, who helps others in times of need, and who is always smiling because it’s the best medicine!
“In the words of Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, ‘I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them.’ And the words of Florence Nightingale, ‘How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.’”
She said, “I hope that you are always willing to face danger and never fear it. I have said from the beginning that you are called to be a nurse, and if you can be that saving grace for someone in need, be it. Fear is the only thing that can hold you back.”
Barr said to swing for the fences, because whether they are washing feet, traveling the world, working in an emergency room, or doing missionary work in Haiti and learning what “ou pa Bon” means, “always, always, always do your best, because you never know when that swing could send that ball over the fence.”
Barr thanked the students, the nursing instructors and the families. She then presented her own awards: the Quiet Award to Jessica Crouch, of Springfield, Ky.; the Most School Spirit award to Jackie Phillips of Bowling Green, Ky.; Best Dressed to Brittany Janes of Columbia, Ky.; the OCD Award to Ashley Sullivan of Eastview, Ky.; the Moocher Award to Derek Crabtree of Campbellsville, Ky.; Most Prepared to Kayla Crabtree of Campbellsville, Ky.; the Hunter Award to Kristie Polly of Sonora, Ky.; the Sweet Award to Laura Thomas of Cecelia, Ky.;, the Zombie Award to Mary Lobb of Campbellsville, Ky.; the Grandma Award to Michelle Tucker of Columbia, Ky.; and the Overcomer Award to Ashley Boreing of Russell Springs, Ky.
Dr. James Jones, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, said the blessing prayer before Wade read the names of each student. Angie Atwood, assistant professor of nursing, and Jennifer Richerson, secretary for the School of Nursing, passed the pins to each student, who had a family member or friend pin them. Jones performed a blessing of their hands afterward.
Special awards were given out to the following students: Laura Thomas of Cecelia, Ky., Servant Leadership Award; Claudia Clarke of Campbellsville, Ky., Award of Excellence; Natasha Brown of Jamestown, Ky., Clinical Excellence Award; Vanda White of Clarkson, Ky., Academic Award; and Wendy Pollitt of Somerset, Ky., Highest HESI Score.The Florence Nightingale Pledge was led by Linda Gribbins, instructor in nursing, followed by the lighting of the lamps, which symbolizes the care and devotion the nurse administers to the sick and injured in the practice of nursing, as well as the symbolizes the “rounds at night” made famous by Nightingale.
Students who graduated from Campbellsville University’s School of Nursing and were recognized at the pinning ceremony are: Rodney Bagby of Auburn, Ky.; Lauren Barr of Brandenburg, Ky.; Ashley Boreing of Russell Springs, Ky.; Natasha Brown of Jamestown, Ky.;
Claudia Clarke of Campbellsville, Ky.; Ashley Cole of Glasgow, Ky.; Derek Crabtree of Campbellsville, Ky.; Kayla Crabtree of Campbellsville, Ky.; Jessica Crouch, of Springfield, Ky.; Lauren Dunham of Somerset, Ky.; Angela Fields of Campbellsville, Ky.;
Jannifer Hadley of Columbia, Ky.; MaLisha Hatcher of Columbia, Ky.; Brittany Janes of Columbia, Ky.; Vanessa Kelly of Elizabethtown, Ky.; Tabitha Lawless of Jamestown, Ky.; Mary Lobb of Campbellsville, Ky.; Brittany Luttrell of Jamestown, Ky.;
Alexandrea Mullins of Bardstown, Ky.; Sharon Pardieu of Bardstown, Ky.; Jackie Phillips of Bowling Green, Ky.; Wendy Pollitt of Somerset, Ky.; Kristina Polly of Sonora, Ky.; Lindsey Ramage of Jamestown, Ky.; Keisha Robertson of Campbellsville, Ky.;
Tara Smith of Scottsville, Ky.; Ashley Sullivan of Eastview, Ky.; Laura Thomas of Cecelia, Ky.; Michelle Tucker of Columbia, Ky.; Travis Van Hook of Campbellsville, Ky.; and Vanda White of Clarkson, Ky.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.