First nurses pinned
While the licensed practical nursing students at Butler County Community College earned 48 credits over a period of a year to get their pins from the program, the biggest lessons the members of the first graduating class received this year were all about resiliency.
Anthony Reeves-Crouch, a graduating LPN, said Tuesday at the college’s pinning ceremony that the six members of the class had to learn to work together and support each other to get through certain scenarios. Group collaboration, he said, would be necessary in real world nursing careers.
“We have learned to support each other and roll with all the changes,” Reeves-Crouch said. “Not only in how to become nurses, but how to adapt to various settings.”
BC3 launched a practical nursing certificate program with selective admissions a year ago to address a regional shortage of employees in the high-priority occupation, according to a Tuesday news release from the college.
The first six students to complete the program received their pins in a ceremony Tuesday, which is a tradition that dates back to the origins of nursing in the 12th century.
The first students to earn a practical nursing certificate from the program are Allison Alwine, Maria Carle, Ariel Festa, Anthony Reeves-Crouch, Kaitlyn Steighner and Delanie Toy.
Dr. Patty Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health, said at the ceremony that the students undertook difficult challenges to get to the pinning ceremony, but again, the resilience taught by the program can be applied to any job.
“Always do what is best for the patient,” Annear said. “It’s not always going to be easy, there’s going to be times where you’re going to feel defeated. ... But I promise you, there will be many more times that you are going to feel rewarded.”
At the ceremony, Steighner read the history of the pin, Alwine and Festa led the practical nurse’s pledge and Carle and Toy lit candles for each nurse. Assistant dean of nursing Julia Carney pinned the graduates, and each nurse was recognized for their distinct contributions to the group over the past year.
Stacy Mathers, a BC3 alumna and corporate compliance officer for Concordia Lutheran Ministries, was the keynote speaker, and urged the graduates to remember why they wanted to become nurses when they are inevitably faced with challenges in the field.
“Continue your professional development; always look for opportunities to grow in your professional development,” Mathers said. “Every patient encounter, every clinical opportunity makes you a stronger, better nurse.”
The college’s second class enrolls 21 students from Armstrong, Beaver and Butler counties, who will begin Jan. 17.
In his address to attendees, Reeves-Crouch said he believes in himself and the graduating nurses.
“This program has been a long road for all of us,” he said. “I do know for certain that nothing will hold us down.”
