Convocation ceremony held for SKCTC nursing students

A convocation for freshmen enrolled in the Academic Career Mobility Nursing Program at Southeast Kentucky Community amp; Technical College was held recently in the auditorium at Harlan County High School.

First-year nursing students from the Cumberland and Pineville campuses participated in the event that promoted professionalism and ethics. Some 75 students participated.

The ceremony was directed by members of the nursing faculty and featured comments by Kathy Guyn, nursing program coordinator, Dr. Wheeler Conover, SKCTCs chief academic officer and Scott Blanton. The convocation address was presented by Misty Conaster-Adams, BSN, a 2000 graduate of Southeast.

Conaster-Adams spoke to members of the incoming class about the American Nursing Association and its code of ethics which she noted is an integral part of the foundation of the nursing profession.

Professor Guyn also addressed the assembly and noted: Nursing has a distinguished history of concern for the welfare of the sick, injured and weak and for social justice, she said. When you become a nurse you are expected to not only adhere to the ideals and moral norms of the profession but also to embrace them as a part of what it means to be a nurse.

The event reached a crescendo when each student came forward and received a lamp lapel pin which signified the legacy of nursing stalwart and pioneer Florence Nightingale. Guyn explained that Nightingale, an English nurse serving during the Crimean War, ventured to Turkey where she cared for wounded British soldiers. When other nurses were too tired, Nightingale would light an oil lamp and go about the hospital checking on the wounded and sick.

It is with that symbolism In mind that we present to each student their very own lamp pin so that their light might shine with the same dedication as those who have come before them, said Guyn.

Upon receiving their pin, a representative from the Cumberland and Pineville locations came forward to light a candle on behalf of their class; a symbol of their pledge and unity as one nursing program.

Academic Career Mobility Nursing Program faculty include Guyn, Blanton, Ellen Saylor, Glenna Bargo, Lana Brooks, Tina Engle, Jane Harper, Eva Dee Hughes, Terri Jackson, Verna Mason and Joy Pennington. Nursing adjunct faculty include: Paul Whited, Amy Frazier, Myrtle Mills, Matthew Hopkins, Harriet Cloud, Tammy Gregory and Kim Norton. Debra Roark is the senior administrative assistant for the program.