From left, Barbara A. Petersen, director of the Nurse-Midwifery Program celebrates pinning Nurse-Midwifery student Soheyl Asadsangabi, with Mavis Schorn and Margaret McGill, who are both assistant professors in the program.
photo by Heather Hall
VUSN students receive professional pins at event
Eighteen students from six different specialties in the School of Nursing received their professional nursing pin in recognition of completing the master's program last Friday.
The pinning ceremony is a way to formally recognize students at the time they finish their studies and begin careers in Advanced Practice Nursing as Nurse Practitioners and Nurse-Midwives. Students will then return to campus in May for Vanderbilt's official commencement ceremonies.
For most students, VUSN's nursing program begins and ends in August. However, the Nurse-Midwifery specialty starts in August and ends four semesters later, in December, so those graduates, as well as several students in some of the other specialties, are pinned upon completion of their program.
Linda Norman, senior associate dean for Academics, explained to the graduates the meaning behind their nursing pin.
“Pinning is a tradition in most schools, dating back to the 1880s. Each school's pin is unique and is worn as a statement that you have completed the program,” said Norman. The VUSN pin displays a profile of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
During the ceremony, some students were recognized with special awards for excellence. The Nurse-Midwifery specialty recognized Lori Lincoln, who said she is a different person for having come to Vanderbilt, before thanking her fellow classmates.
The Ph.D. in Nursing Science program recognized the most recent student to complete the program, Bette Moore. It was also announced that Moore will become a full-time faculty member in the School of Nursing.