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Students recite the Nightingale Pledge during the UAMS College of Nursing’s white coat ceremony. Image by Bryan Clifton

White Coat Ceremony Marks Next Step in College of Nursing Students’ Education

Oct. 8, 2026 | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing held a white coat ceremony Oct. 2 at the First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock, welcoming more than 150 students to the clinical phase of their education.

The ceremony honored students from the College of Nursing’s undergraduate and graduate programs. Sarah Rhoads, Ph.D., DNP, dean of the College of Nursing, said the annual event is a momentous occasion for the students, for their family and friends, and for the college.

Rhoads shared a recent experience that occurred while she was attending the ribbon-cutting for the new UAMS Health hospital in Bryant. She said a physician approached her to praise the skill and accomplishments of nurses who graduate from UAMS.

“That just makes me so proud,” she said. “Each of you is an ambassador for the UAMS College of Nursing through your interactions while you’re in the program and as you proceed in your career.”

Rhoads urged the students to provide patient- and family-centered care, study to deepen their professional understanding, and build in time for self-care.

Elizabeth Riley, DNP, APRN, executive director of undergraduate programs in the College of Nursing, spoke about the importance of white coat ceremonies, which emphasize compassionate, collaborative, and scientifically excellent care.

“Here at the College of Nursing, it marks a meaningful transition from the skills of the simulation lab to the work of providing real patient care,” she said.

Kiersten Williams, president of the College of Nursing’s Student Nurses Association, led a recitation of the Nightingale Pledge, another signal of the transition to clinical practice. The pledge affirms the students’ dedication to maintaining professional standards and promoting the health and happiness of their patients.

After the students donned their white coats, Albrey Love, DNP, APRN, spoke to them about the impact that nurses have in the lives of patients and their families.

Love, the College of Nursing’s executive director of graduate programs, recounted the day she had to say goodbye to her father, who died in 2021 after contracting COVID-19 and experiencing a stroke.

“I don’t remember many details of that day, but there’s one person I’ll never forget — his nurse,” she said.

Although the nurse was only with him for a day before he was placed on a ventilator, she had taken the time to learn about his career and his family. She even knew which way he preferred to part his hair, Love said.

“Nursing will ask a lot of you,” she told the students. “There will always be another patient, another task, another chart. But I hope you’re never so busy that you forget to notice the person in front of you, the teammates beside you, and your own needs, as well.”