Motlow College will host a pinning ceremony on May 10 for nursing students who have successfully completed the nursing program’s graduation requirements, said Amy Huff, director of nursing and allied health at the college. The pinning ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. in Nisbett Center on Motlow's Moore County campus.
“The ritual of pinning a nurse is a long standing tradition held at the conclusion of a nursing student’s education,” Huff said. “The pin is designed to signify the school the nurse attended and is pinned onto the student’s uniform by a friend, relative, or mentor.”
The pinning ceremony itself also is steeped in tradition, according to Huff. In honor of the woman known as the founder of modern nursing, the students dress in traditional white nursing uniforms, recite the "Florence Nightingale Pledge" and participate in the symbolic lighting of each student's lamp. Nightingale is known as the ˜lady with the lamp” because she saved thousands of lives while walking the halls of a battlefield hospital with a lamp to check on the soldiers. As a tribute to her dedication, the lamp icon, pledge, and lighting of the lamp are typically part of the pinning ceremony.
Melissa Russell Pineda, an assistant professor of nursing at Motlow, will speak to the graduates and their guests. Pineda received a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in nursing from Middle Tennessee State University and joined Motlow’s nursing faculty in 2006.
Four individual nursing student awards will be presented during the ceremony. These are the Outstanding Academic Award, Outstanding Contribution to the Class, Outstanding Clinical Award LPN and Outstanding Clinical Award Generic.
On May 11, students who have met all program requirements will graduate during commencement with an associate of applied science degree in nursing and will be eligible to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam to become registered nurses.
Following are the Motlow College nursing students who are candidates for graduation:
Bedford County
Lindsay M. Bell, Michael Burtram, Jordan Elizabeth Cobb, Angela Faith Scheffler and Sarah Beth Toombs.
Cannon County
Alisha H. Hale, Misty Gail Orr and Kathy L. Preston.
Coffee County
Jessica S. Anderson, Krissti Nicole Huskey, Lorrie A. Nugent, Jessica Pratt, Courtney Elizabeth Sain, Leah Whitney Sharpton and McKenzie B. Skeets.
Davidson County
Viengkham Senephansiri and Carleen Deanna Young.
Franklin County
McKenzie B. Skeets.
Lincoln County
Heather M. McAlister, Mary Amanda Endsley and Samantha J. Sells.
Moore County
Leota M. Jolly.
Overton County
Courtney Faye Cantrell.
Rutherford County
Jennifer Wood Anderson, Tiffany Rose Bain, Amanda Nicole Beyal, Gina Joanne Chadwick, Jennifer Sutterfield Cortez, Christopher Campbell Dedmon, Sheila Marie Drew, Lydia Saunyama Dumbujena, James Kenneth Florida, Mary E. Gochcoff;
Angela Mechelle Fann Haile, Shannon Holt, Beverly Jenkins-Crockett, Kerri Thompson Kahn, Janet Lynn Knorp, Crystal Marie Lee, Spice August Miller, Melissa Ann Nicholson, Joanna Morgan Ours, Leslie Marie Pressley;
Kathryn Joyce Rogers, Candice Ryan, Riva M. Shardo Cundall, Rebecca Elaine Shearon, Sarah Beth Skaggs, Heather Lee Slipher, Jessica Leigh Strawn, Sherrie Lynn Thomas and Richard Wahl.
Warren County
Ashley Jane Argo, Jennifer Long Coakley, Elisha Locke, Laura Denise Miller, Dora Mae Ramsey and Jesse L. Roberts.
White County
Samantha Renee Bryant, Elizabeth Ann Cagle, April Hallums Poteet and Beth R. Trumbly.
Williamson County
Ashley Elizabeth White.