Pictured: Kali Howe in 2015 was a senior nursing student and then president of the Student Nurses Association (SNA). In the picture, she was reviewing her speech prior to the annual Nightingale Ceremony, where she would explain why the "Nightingale Pledge" is so important.
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2016 Nightingale Ceremony
This year's ceremony will be held.
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
4-6 p.m.
Arts & Sciences Auditorium
About the Ceremony and the Nightingale Pledge
The UW Nursing Nightingale Ceremony.
welcomes new students into the profession of nursing prior to their clinical component of their program
includes the signing of the "Nightingale Pledge" posters [on easels in the background in the picture above], where students commit to uphold the ethics of the nursing profession. Those signed posters, with a picture of the new class of students, are then placed in glassed-in cabinets in the halls of the school of nursing for the duration of the students' tenure in the program--a daily reminder of the ethics they professed to uphold.
includes speakers, who help to explain why the pledge is so important
Last year's SNA President Kali Howe relayed the following message to the new students:
"You are no longer studying to earn a perfect grade, but instead to become a safe nurse. While grades are still greatly valued, the application of what you learn is what really matters, and safety is the number one priority. Cheating is no longer something that only affects you by not knowing a question on the final at the end of the semester, but can potentially have a ripple effect far down the line crossing over into your patient care."
This year's SNA President is Rachel Eberstein. She will be presenting a message at this year's ceremony.
Other speakers - last year's and this year's
Other speakers are also brought forth to solidify students' understanding of the importance of the pledge they are about to sign. Each year a recent alumni from either the Basic BSN or BRAND program is asked to come and speak about the pledge and how they have seen it play out in their new career. Read about last year's alumni speaker Dani Johnson's recommendations to the new students. And below her section, read about the alumnus who will be speaking at the 2016 ceremony, Peter Skorcz!
Danielle Johnson, BSN '13
.spoke to the 2015 classes of Basic BSN and BRAND students with these guidelines:
(1) Always advocate for your patients. Use all your resources to make the right things
happen for your patients.
(2) Take care of yourself mentally, physically, and spiritually. Whatever it is that
makes you a better you, do it! You will be a much better nurse short- and long-term.
(3) Take every opportunity as a chance to learn--not only as a student, but once you
graduate as well.
(4) Choose to love. Every time. We have no idea what someone is going through, or
what brought them to the place they are in.
Peter Skorcz, BSN '15
.will be the alumni speaker for the 2016 Nightingale Ceremony. When Skorcz was a student, his primary interest in nursing was older adult care. He was a UW Honors student, and his Honor's Project focused on improving long-term and older adult care by looking at the quality of education and the process of becoming a Certified Nurse Aide. His project came in handy, since he was hired as a registered nurse on the Memory Care Unit at the Laramie Spring Wind Assisted Living Center. Skorcz is presently on the board of officers for the UW Alumni Association Nursing Chapter.
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Page updated: 8/01/2016
