During the College of Southern Maryland’s (CSM) nursing recognition ceremony Jan. 17, as part of the college’s 20th Winter Commencement, 38 associate degree nursing candidates received their nursing pins.
“The nursing pin is a treasured symbol from your school,” CSM Nursing Professor Annette Ragland told the graduates and their families during the ceremony. “Let this pin be a constant reminder of your desire and commitment to serve others. It is a medal of honor and it is also a badge of courage.”
Ragland went on to tell the audience how the modern pinning ceremony dates to the 1860s, when Florence Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her tireless service to the injured during the Crimean War. According to Healthcare Marketplace, “to share the honor, [Nightingale] in turn presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates and by 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the U.S.”
“It was decades ago when the first pin was designed by the first RN class to ever graduate from the college in 1979,” continued Ragland, who added that the current pin was custom designed by the college’s nursing faculty and students to reflect the first graduating class of CSM in 2001. “This pin connects you with every nurse who has come before you.”
Guest speaker and retired CSM Nursing Professor Janice Bonham spoke emotionally and fondly of her time at CSM and welcomed her “fellow nurses” to their profession.
"Soon you will say, 'I am a registered nurse.' Five little words that mean so much." ~ CSM Nursing Recognition Ceremony Guest Speaker Janice Bonham tells today's graduates. pic.twitter.com/PYe4mGFrW0
— CSM Headline News (@CSMHeadlines) January 17, 2019
“Soon you will say, ‘I am a registered nurse.’” Bonham said. “Five little words that mean so much.”
Representing the nursing class as student speaker, Kitomila Turner recalled the hours, days, weeks and months of studying, testing, failing and succeeding. But she received thunderous laughs and applause when she reminded her fellow classmates that the most important lesson they all learned over the last two years was, “Wash Your Hands!”
“When anyone asks me where I went to school,” she boasted, “I will proudly say, ‘the College of Southern Maryland.’”
Rachel Turner, 21, of Waldorf, was awarded the CSM Health Sciences Division Achievement in Nursing Award, presented to the graduate who demonstrates academic achievement, clinical competence, community service and leadership potential. The day was especially sweet for Turner, who learned two days before ceremony that she would begin her career Feb. 25 as a registered nurse at Washington Hospital Center in the stroke unit.
Marilaan van der Merwe, 25, of Leonardtown, was awarded the CSM Health Sciences Division Academic Achievement, given to the graduate with the highest grade point average in the class. van der Merwe – a South African citizen who came to the United States in 2012 as an au pair – entered CSM’s Nursing Program in spring 2017. During the evenings’ cap and gown ceremony, van der Merwe walked across the stage at the top of her class with the words “Not All Angels Have Wings – Some Have Stethoscopes” embossed on her graduation cap.
The following are the names of the CSM students who graduated with associate degrees in nursing Jan. 17.
Calvert County
Lauren Belskie
Elizabeth Duncan
Angie Haddock
Savannah Keifline
Kaitlyn Lane
Lisa Malecki
Lindsay McKenzie
Kimberleigh Nicholas
Kathryn Oresik
Jenna Ware
Karlee Young
Charles County
Lindsey Bowersox
Jade Boyer
Lisa Dzialoski
Chanda McIver
Amanda Hill
Molly Harman
The family of CSM Nursing Graduate Molly Diane Harman, of Mt. Victoria, couldn't be prouder of her accomplishments during today's nurse pinning ceremony. pic.twitter.com/CtGzDitPPC
— CSM Headline News (@CSMHeadlines) January 17, 2019
Taylor Namm
Claudia Reber
Jacqueline Taylor
Kitomila Turner
Rachel Turner
St. Mary’s County
Jacqueline Austin
Lenita Balsbough
Jocelyn Carter
Dara DeCola
Allison Deese
Stephen Dickinson
Jennifer Nagy
Frances O’Hara
Stephanie Pankiewicz
Rebecca Schramm
Zachary Teston
Ashley Thompson
Marilaan Van Der Merwe
Katrina Wagaman
Meghan Williams
Prince William County
Patrick Allen
To view photographs of CSM’s Nurse Pinning and Recognition Ceremony, visit https://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/19jannur.
Congratulations to the students from Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s, and St.Mary’s County. You are now a Registered Nurse. Best wishes. I love the decorated caps. They tell a story.