Nursing Students Are Recognized During Pinning and Recognition Program

Undergraduate and Graduate Students Receive Pins and Medallions

 

MEDIA CONTACT: David Thompson, dlthompson@bowiestate.edu, 301-860-4311

(BOWIE, Md.) – A burgeoning job market awaits undergraduate and graduate BSU nursing students as they prepare for their pinning and recognition program this evening and graduation on Friday.

A Pinning Ceremony is symbolic of a “rite of passage” which signals the transition from student nurse to professional nurse. The bestowing of the medallion signals an individual’s transition from a Bachelor of Science Registered Nurse to a Master of Science prepared Registered Nurse ready to test for the specialty certification as a “Family Nurse Practitioner.”

“Our students spent countless hours in the classroom, labs, and in clinical settings and have earned their pins and medallions,” said Dr. Jacqueline Hill, chair of BSU’s Nursing Department. “Nursing students make terrific sacrifices to enter and advance in the profession. That’s why the pinning and recognition program is so important to all of us,” she said.

Eighty-one percent of Americans responding to a recent Gallup Poll indicated that nursing is the nation’s most trusted profession, and that’s for the 20^th consecutive year. Even so, the profession is being depleted with people reaching retirement age and others leaving nursing due to COVID burnout and concern for their family members’ health.  

“The nursing profession is in crisis because there aren’t enough people who want to continue being a health care provider or enter the profession,” said Dr. Hill. “It’s why this year’s pinning and medallion program is so significant, particularly for our nursing graduate students who were working through COVID, taking courses, and maintaining families. We had to provide them with additional support and understanding through the months when COVID 19 was filling hospital beds and they were treating people who were dying from the disease,” she said.

Darrick Cochran is looking forward to graduating with a master of science in nursing degree. “I have been a nurse for 20 years and thought I was prepared to handle graduate nursing school and work, and then COVID hit,” he said.  “I can’t thank the BSU nursing department faculty enough for the support and guidance they provided me and my classmates as we managed through the uncharted COVID waters and our graduate course work. The medallion will always remind me of how I had to persevere and stay focused to earn my masters in nursing.” After Friday’s commencement, undergraduate nursing students must still take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses. Masters’ degree graduates who want to become Nurse Practitioners must take the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) or American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) examination. 

“Prince George’s County and the entire nation need nurses and we believe our nursing program at Bowie State can be a pipeline to produce high quality professionals to serve the public in hospitals and other health care settings locally and nationally,” said Dr. Hill.

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.