Adrienne Joy Blair strikes a celebratory pose after receiving her degree as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner from the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Photo by Kats Barry
Graduation 2006: Nursing grads brace for new challenges
Jennifer Johnson receives her diploma from Dean Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D.
Photo by Kats Barry
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Lisa L. Lachenmyer waves as she walks to the VUSN degree awarding ceremony on the Branscomb Quadrangle.
Photo by Kats Barry
School of Nursing student Angela Stroth poses with her 2-year-old niece, Imogen Stroth.
Photo by Kats Barry
Gina Sanchez of the School of Nursing listens to Chancellor Gordon Gee's speech during the ceremony.
Photo by Dana Johnson
“Tomorrow is your future,” said Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, to master's-prepared graduates during commencement ceremonies last week.
VUSN students officially completed their advanced practice nursing education at Vanderbilt in August of last year, and most are already working in health care in a variety of different areas. Even so, nearly 100 graduates from the school returned to campus for graduation and investiture of the academic hood ceremonies.
“The health care delivery system is challenged by political issues, demographic issues and health professional issues,” said Conway-Welch. “And, you are the advanced practice level providers with the skills to meet those challenges.”
In his remarks to the audience of graduates, families and friends, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Harry Jacobson, M.D., said he is very pleased with the VUSN curriculum because, “it offers foresight and vision that matches the future of nursing.”
Clinical management graduates Lindsay Erickson and Sarah Cossette would agree. Both earned their bachelor's degrees from the U.S. Air Force Academy and have put what they have learned into practice into their current tours of duty in St. Louis and Mountain View, Idaho, respectively.
“I have much more knowledge out in the real world than I realized while taking classes at VUSN,” said Erickson. “Vanderbilt taught me to dig deeper and do better.”
Cossette is happy to have the perspective of having worked nine months and then coming back for graduation. “It's just so evident how much we learned and how much more we went beyond the basics,” she said.
In addition to the master's graduates, VUSN awarded its two newest Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
Laura Heim was honored for her dissertation on the “Survival Rate among Male Homeless Adolescents.” Hongxia Liu was honored for her dissertation “Coping and Health-related Quality of Life in Renal Transplant Patients.”
“You came to Vanderbilt with great promise,” Jacobson said to the group. “You have even greater promise as accomplished graduates of one of the nation's foremost education programs.”
A total of 257 graduates from VUSN earned degrees in the master's program — each one with their own story of family support, personal sacrifice, commitment and focus that helped them accomplish their goals.
The school awarded diplomas to: 43 students in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program; 43 in the Adult Nurse Practitioner Specialty; eight in Clinical Management; 51 in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program; four in Health Systems Management; 22 in the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program; 10 in the Nurse-Midwifery/Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty; two in the Nurse-Midwifery Program; 25 in the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program; 26 in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Specialty; 18 in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program; and five in the Women's Health/Adult Nurse Practitioner Specialty.
Because the master's program at the School of Nursing runs through the summer, the majority of graduates technically completed their academic requirements by late fall of last year.