Accelerated BSN Students Begin Nursing Journey with White Coat Ceremony
| University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) nursing students on an accelerated path to their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees participated in a White Coat Ceremony on Aug. 19, at the UAMS Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education in Springdale.
The ceremony symbolized the students’ commitment to the profession of nursing and represented a rite of passage as the students in UAMS’ new 15-month BSN program enter their clinical experiences caring for patients.
The program, the first of its kind in the state of Arkansas, is designed to quickly transition those outside the profession into nursing. It is open to applicants with a bachelor’s or higher degree in any field and requires prerequisite grounding in health sciences such as anatomy, physiology, chemistry and microbiology. This first class of students will graduate in August 2023.
Patricia Cowan, Ph.D., RN, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing, welcomed the 17 students and their family and friends.
Patricia Cowan, Ph.D., RN, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing, welcomes the 17 students in the accelerated BSN program and their family and friends to the College of Nursing White Coat Ceremony in Northwest Arkansas.
“There is a critical need for nurses in Arkansas and the entire country. Most persons will receive health care from a nurse many times throughout their lives,” Cowan said. “These students are entering into an honorable and centuries old profession of health care at a time when they are needed more than ever.”
Michael Manley, RN, MNSc, chief of staff for the UAMS chancellor and a 1990 UAMS College of Nursing graduate, was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.
Manley congratulated the students for getting into the new program and spoke of the exciting opportunities that await them as they embark on a career in nursing.
Michael Manley, RN, MNSc, chief of staff for the UAMS chancellor and a 1990 UAMS College of Nursing graduate, gave the keynote address at the ceremony.
“If you told me when I graduated from the UAMS College of Nursing in 1990 that I would be standing here before you as the chief of staff for the UAMS chancellor, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Manley said. “You are entering into a life-long journey, and I encourage you to keep your mind open to all the possibilities that are now before you.”
Lauren Haggard-Duff, Ph.D., RN, CNE, the accelerated BSN program director, then led the UAMS BSN Class of 2023 in reciting the Nightingale Pledge. Following the pledge, the 17 students donned their white coats in front of a room full of excited and proud family and friends.
Lauren Haggard-Duff, Ph.D., RN, CNE, the accelerated BSN program director, prepares to lead the UAMS BSN Class of 2023 in reciting the Nightingale Pledge.
“These students have worked hard to achieve their success thus far in the accelerated BSN program,” Haggard-Duff said, “and we look forward to watching them walk across a different stage in front of family and friends next year, upon their graduation.”
UAMS College of Nursing faculty members Megan Owen, APRN, and Lisa Fields, APRN, then assisted the following students in putting on their coats.
- Breana Allen
- Allison Borde
- Rosa Cruz
- Lindsey Downey
- McKenzie Gibbs
- Ashley Harper
- Daria Hays
- Abigail Jackson
- Hannah Kouchehbagh
- Skylar Love
- Brooke Lowry
- Kayla McSpadden
- Vanessa Muniz
- Ronald Pacheco
- Jamie Perry
- Brett Roffine
- Kayla Smith
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- Lauren Haggard-Duff, Ph.D., RN, CNE, the accelerated BSN program director, prepares to lead the UAMS BSN Class of 2023 in reciting the Nightingale Pledge.
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- Michael Manley, RN, MNSc, chief of staff for the UAMS chancellor and a 1990 UAMS College of Nursing graduate, gave the keynote address at the ceremony.
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- Patricia Cowan, Ph.D., RN, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing, welcomes the 17 students and their family and friends at the College of Nursing White Coat Ceremony in Northwest Arkansas.
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- UAMS College of Nursing students in the accelerated BSN program recite the Nightingale Pledge at the White Coat ceremony in Northwest Arkansas.