Wayne Community College recognized 27 members of its Associate Degree Nursing class of 2017 in a formal pinning ceremony on May 8.
The annual service, which includes presentation of nursing pins and nurse’s creed scrolls by the faculty of the program, lighting of lamps (symbolic of Florence Nightingale going into the battlefield with a lantern) and recitation of the “Florence Nightingale Pledge,” denotes the end of the graduates’ academic journey and entry into professional life.
The pin used in the ceremony was designed and used by the first graduates of the program in 1973 and uniquely represents WCC’s nursing school. It symbolically welcomes the graduates into the nursing profession.
The graduates can begin work as registered nurses after they take and pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN).
This year’s graduates are
Angier
Zachary Keith Benson
Clayton
Katie Greer Harris
Dudley
Elizabeth Avila Baltazar,
Savannah Davis Conley,
Siria Mendoza, and
Lindsay Byrd Wheeler
Goldsboro
Krystal Mercedes Artis-Jones,
Bridget Colleen Cisneros, Goldsboro;
Keri Danielle Daly, Goldsboro
Christopher Easom,
Robert M. Franks,
Amanda Thompson Kelly,
Kevin B. Lee,
Denise Locust,
Ashley Martinez, and
Alexandra Rivera
Kenly
Emily R. Heeren
Kinston
Emily Maegan Malpass,
Paige Morning, and
Monikqua White
La Grange
Chelsey Lee Edmundson, and
Chassidy Brooke Lee
Mount Olive
Tiara King
Pikeville
Jamie Elizabeth Stephens
Princeton
Brianna Kathleen Gold, and
Oratai Painter
Smithfield
Courtney Gabrielle Jones
Three outstanding graduates were announced.
King was presented the Theoretical Excellence Award for high academic standards. She “managed to maintain the highest overall GPA in a difficult and demanding curriculum.” said Sue Beaman, chair of the college’s Nursing Department.
Malpass earned the Clinical Excellence Award for achieving high standards in the clinical component of the curriculum. In evaluating her, faculty and nursing staff noted that Malpass is professional and dependable but also “humble and eager to learn,” Beaman said.
Morning received the Outstanding Student Award for the individual who demonstrated high achievement in both the academic and clinical components of the program as well as participated in class and professional activities. She is “very dedicated” and “consistently performs above the standard,” Beaman said.
The winners received plaques and monetary awards provided by the Foundation of Wayne Community College.
Class officers were also acknowledged in the program. There were Kelly, president; Martinez, vice president; Harris, secretary; Artis-Jones, treasurer, Emily Smith and Conley, historians; Locust, WCC Student Government Association representative; and King, chaplain.
In addressing her classmates, Kelly noted that they would be going into many directions, from flight nurses to oncology nurses, doctor’s offices to emergency rooms, but regardless of their specialty, “It was our desire to help others in their time of need that pushed us to our common goal.”
Wayne Community College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program is a limited-admission, five-semester program that prepares students to practice as registered nurses. It is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc.
Wayne Community College is a public, learning-centered institution with an open-door admission policy located in Goldsboro, N.C. As it works to develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the college serves around 12,000 individuals annually as well as businesses, industry, and community organizations with high quality, affordable, accessible learning opportunities, including more than 70 college credit programs.
Wayne Community College’s mission is to meet the educational, training, and cultural needs of the communities it serves.