MCCN celebrated a wonderful Commencement weekend on May 8 and 9 at Grove City Church of the Nazarene.
Festivities began with the traditional Pinning and Recognition Ceremony for graduates on Friday, May 8. The tradition of presenting pins to nursing graduates dates back to 1860, when Florence Nightingale wanted graduates of the first professional nursing program in London to stand out and be respected, so she designed a pin for graduates to wear on their uniforms. By 1916, awarding pins became a common practice for all nursing graduates in North America and the United Kingdom. Today each nursing institution awards their own uniquely designed pin, which is awarded by faculty to new graduates, symbolizing entry into the field of nursing.
On Saturday, May 9, MCCN held its annual Commencement, The 253 graduates – which included 164 people receiving Bachelor Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees, 42 graduates of the RN to BSN program and 47 people receiving Master of Science (MS) degrees – enjoyed listening to Melanie Dreher, PhD, RN, chair of the board of trustees for Trinity Health, parent organization of Mount Carmel Health System, as the Commencement speaker. Currently serving in a number of healthcare governance roles, Dreher also is a member of the Chicago Board of Health, a director of Wellmark/Blue Cross Blue Shield and a trustee of Loyola University. Dreher has had a distinguished career in research and academic leadership, producing several books, reports and published articles. Her four decades of leadership in nursing education include Deanships at the University of Miami, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the University of Iowa and most recently Rush University College of Nursing, where she is now Dean Emerita. She also is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and recently was named among the “40 Smartest People in Healthcare” in Becker’s Hospital Report.
You can check out photos from Pinning here and Commencement here.