Celebrating our winter graduates

On December 19, more than 200 NYU Meyers nursing students participated in our annual Valedictory Breakfast and Pinning Ceremony. Held at the New York Marriott Marquis, the College celebrated the September 2019 DNP and PhD graduates and January 2020 BS, MS, DNP and PhD candidates as they reached the next stage in their nursing careers.

Dean Eileen Marx-Sullivan presented Humanitarian Awards on behalf of the College to Prof. Mathy Mezey, EdD, RN, FAAN, and Kimberly S. Glassman, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. Mezey is the former director of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing and an NYU Meyers professor emerita. Glassman is a clinical professor at NYU Meyers.

 

     

In addition to keynote speaker Prof. Larry Slater, speeches were delivered by Brittany Taam (BS ’20), president of the Undergraduate Nursing Student Organization, and Madena Sharef (BS ’20), who was selected as the baccalaureate student speaker.

A highlight of the morning was the honored tradition of pinning. An important rite of passage for new nurses, pinning marks the moment when a nursing student becomes a full-fledged nurse.

 

 

Oftentimes, students choose a mentor or loved one to pin them. It is an opportunity for new nurses to thank and celebrate people in the audience who helped them fulfill their dream of becoming a nurse. The torch on the NYU Meyers pin recalls the oil lamp Florence Nightingale carried during her nightly nursing rounds.

All of the nurses in the audience then recited the Professional Nursing Pledge, adapted by NYU Meyers from the Florence Nightingale Pledge (1893). It begins: “In the full knowledge of responsibilities I am undertaking, I promise to care for my patients with all the knowledge, skills and understanding I possess, without regard to race, color, creed, politics or social status, sparing no effort to conserve meaningful life, to alleviate suffering, and to promote health.”

We are so proud of our winter graduates. Congratulations to them!

Photo credits: ©Kahn: Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau