Amy Morton is hooded during the School of Nursing investiture ceremony. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Graduation 2008: Nursing School’s class ready for health system’s challenges
Keith McKernan is hooded by Bonnie Pilon, D.S.N., R.N., left, and Linda Norman, Ph.D., M.S.N., at the VUSN investiture ceremony. (photo by Dana Johnson)
Lisa Smallwood, center, and her School of Nursing classmates at last week’s Commencement. (photo by Dana Johnson)
VUSN’s Taneka Vaden, left, Nadia Regis, Monique Jeanbaptiste and Alicia Tobler (in back) celebrate at commencement. (photo by Dana Johnson
Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., dean of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, told master's-prepared graduates during commencement ceremonies last week that they are “graduating when the need for sophisticated nurses in clinical and administrative areas has never been greater.”
Most of the School of Nursing students officially completed their advanced practice nursing education in August of last year and are already working in health care in a variety of different areas. Even so, more than 100 returned for the graduation and investiture of the academic hood ceremonies.
Quoting from Mark Twain, Conway-Welch challenged the graduates to “Explore, dream and discover” in their new roles in the complex health care system.
In his remarks to the graduates, families and friends, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs Harry Jacobson, M.D., congratulated the school for its forward-thinking and the graduates for choosing “an exhilarating career that is demanding, but is powerfully rewarding.”
Adult Nurse Practitioner graduate Courtney Baxter became interested in nursing as a music performance major in Missouri. She is proud that during her time at VUSN, she worked at the hospital as well as for the Middle Tennessee Medical Reserve Corps in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
“I feel really accomplished today and am ready for whatever comes,” said Baxter, who is pursuing positions in internal medicine.
The first group of online Health Systems Management students came from across the country to visit Vanderbilt's campus for the first time and participate in the graduation ceremony. Each of the graduates also met their classmates in person for the first time.
“We share a passion for nursing,” said Teresa Reske of West Springfield, Mass., about herself and her classmates.
“The program allowed us to bond and connect in every corner of our collective nursing experiences. We all took a risk by pursuing our education in this way and it was a risk worth taking.”
Family Nurse Practitioner Tiffany Latham lives in Nashville with her husband and young daughter and has already started working for the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (Veteran's Administration Hospital near Vanderbilt) working as a clinical nurse leader in cardiac and telemetry. She is prepared to apply her education, particularly in evidence-based practice guidelines, to enhance patient outcomes.
Latham entered the Vanderbilt program as a non-nurse, but believes her undergraduate degree in English, graduate degree in public policy and now graduate degree in nursing, combine to make her a well-rounded practitioner.
“Nursing teaches you how to care for patients in totality — health, disease management and family issues,” said Latham. “It's about looking at the whole picture of patient care.
In addition to the master's graduates, VUSN awarded four Doctor of Philosophy degrees to Terrah Foster, from Nashville, Elisabeth Howard, from Providence, R.I., Haley Hoy, from Huntsville, Ala., and Sharon Karp, from Franklin, Tenn.
A total of 277 graduates from VUSN earned degrees in the master's program — each with their own story of commitment, persistence and focus that helped them reach their goals.
The school awarded diplomas to: 45 students in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program; 36 in the Adult Nurse Practitioner Specialty; two in Clinical Management; 49 in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program; three in Family Nurse Practitioner/Acute Care Nurse Practitioner: Emergency Care Focus; 16 in Health Systems Management; 20 in the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program; five in the Nurse-Midwifery/Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty; five in the Nurse-Midwifery Program; four in Nursing Informatics; 26 in the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program; 40 in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Specialty; 16 in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program; and 10 in the Women's Health/Adult Nurse Practitioner Specialty.
Since 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.