The College of Southern Maryland inducted 15 students into its associate nursing degree honor society at a ceremony at CSM’s La Plata Campus. Calling them “15 of our finest students,” Clinical Simulation Coordinator Linda Goodman served as the mistress of ceremonies as each of the second-year students was called forward to receive a pin and an honor cord that they will also wear when they graduate this spring.
Amanda Mason of Lexington Park, one of the inductees and incoming president of Alpha Omega, which is CSM’s chapter of the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN) Alpha Delta Nu Honor Society, spoke at the event about the history of CSM’s chapter.
Mason described the service project the 15 inductees designed and carried out as part of their activities leading up to the induction. For the project, the students put together a comprehensive presentation on CSM’s nursing program, which they gave to hundreds of biomedical students at both La Plata and Thomas Stone high schools.
“We broke down the process for them, from start to finish, from applying to the college all the way to sitting for the NCLEX,” Mason said in her speech, referring to the nurse’s licensing exam. “We demonstrated a nasogastric tube insertion and discussed the reasons why a patient might require one.” At the end of the presentation, the nursing students answered questions from the high school audience.
“Our hearts were in it, and it showed,” Mason said of the project.
The path to induction in the honor society involves nursing students becoming provisional members at the beginning of their third semester of study. They must maintain a cumulative 3.0 grade point average, earn a “B” or higher in all courses required for the nursing program with no previous nursing course failures, and reflect sound moral and ethical values with professionalism and integrity of the highest caliber.
The newest members of CSM’s Alpha Omega Chapter of the OADN Alpha Delta Nu Honor Society in addition to Mason are Megan Attick, Maria Davenport, Michaela Friason, Hannah Heathman, Rachel Kagle, Naomi Logue, Ashleigh Maloney, Holly Miller, Rebecca Mueller, Erin Park, Eileen Parry, Dylan Pauley, Sana Qureshi and Dana Stewart.
CSM faculty advisers for the Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Delta Nu are Nursing Professors Janice Bonham, Lynn Kennedy and Dr. Karen Russell.
The honor society was established to promote scholarship and academic excellence in the profession of nursing. “The objective of the OADN Alpha Delta Nu Nursing Honor Society shall be to recognize the academic excellence of students in the study of Associate Degree Nursing,” according to the honor society’s website. “The society shall encourage the pursuit of advance degrees in the profession of nursing as well as continuing education as a life-long professional responsibility. Additionally, the society shall participate in the recruitment of qualified individuals into the profession of nursing.”
For more information on CSM’s nursing program, visit www.csmd.edu/nursing. To view photos from the event, visit http://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/17jannurinduction.