Graduating students will help ease Georgia’s nursing shortage
More than 55 nursing students are expected to receive their pins at the annual pinning ceremony being held by the Department of Nursing on Friday, May 12, at 7 p.m. in the Maxwell Theatre. The keynote speaker for the program will be Wanda Bell, a 2004 graduate of Augusta State University’s nursing program. Affectionately known as Ma Bell to nursing faculty and students at ASU, she had been a licensed practical nurse (LPN) for more than 25 years before receiving her nursing degree. She continues to mentor students although she has graduated and entered the nursing profession. “Because I love the profession, I feel like we need good nurses, and that’s one of the things I try to impart on the students at Augusta State,” Ms. Bell said previously in an interview. “I tell them, ‘don’t just enter the program because you want the paycheck, because you’re dealing with people’s lives.’ They should treat their patients like they would their own family.” And the graduates will help ease the state’s nursing shortage, which has been a top priority of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. “We are delighted to graduate such a large number of students,” says Charlotte Price, chair of the Department of Nursing. “Most have already been offered positions in this area, so they will definitely help meet the healthcare needs in the CSRA.” The pinning ceremony will end with the traditional recitation of the Nightingale Pledge—an oath vowing that they will dedicate themselves to the nursing profession. “Each time the Nightingale Pledge is recited by new entry-level practitioners, it reaffirms the timelessness of the core values of the nursing profession,” Dr. Price says. “It also encourages the more experienced registered nurses to continue to incorporate those core values into their everyday practice, no matter where that practice setting might be.” For more information, contact Dr. Price in the nursing department at 706-737-1725. Other News Stories: Commencement | Faculty and Staff Appreciation | Nursing | ROTC Commissioning | Campus Construction | Lyceum | Cullum | Sandarg Award | Physical Plant Award | ITS
May 2006 |
