Juniors and accelerated bachelors of science in nursing students in the College of Nursing will be cloaked with a white coat by health care leaders in the university’s first white coat ceremony.
The event will take place at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, in the Carolyn P. Brown Memorial University Center auditorium.
The ceremony is a pilot program between the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. A hundred schools have been selected to receive funding support for the ceremonies, which are designed to instill a commitment to providing compassionate care among future health professionals.
Though white coat ceremonies have been an important rite of passage at medical schools for more than twenty years, this new collaboration between APGF and AACN marks the first time a coordinated effort has been developed to offer similar events at schools of nursing.
The ceremony features the recitation of an oath, receipt of a commemorative pin, an address by an eminent role model, and a reception for students and invited guests. Students also will receive a specially designed pin that will serve as a visual reminder of their oath and commitment to providing high quality care.
Funded by APGF Trustee Elaine Adler and her husband Mike, co-founders of the Adler Aphasia Center, the program was developed to promote humanistic, patient-centered care among incoming nursing students this fall.
For more information, visit the program website.