The nursing department held their 10th annual White Coat Ceremony at the Bicknell Family Center for Performing Arts on Friday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. Family, friends, and professors gathered to celebrate the achievements of the nursing class and cheer them on as they walked across the stage.
Barb McClaskey, PhD, APRN, RNC, and professor shared that this ceremony has evolved over time. McClaskey said that throughout history this ceremony has changed as the field does and tradition that is embedded.
“At one time, student nurses received their nursing cap to recognize the transition to the clinical setting. As the hospital setting and rules changed, caps were not worn, and a white coat ceremony indicated that transition,” McClaskey said.
She expanded on what this annual event means to the students and represents to all the faculty in the department. Unlike the name of the event states, PSU students receive a black coat instead of white.
“Now, our students wear black lab coats in clinical, therefore, during our ceremony the faculty help the students put on their black lab jackets to reflect that they believe these students are ready to go into the clinical setting and share their wisdom, skill, and compassion to improve the lives of others,” McClaskey said.
She noted that she believes that this occasion impacts and moves the faculty members as they put the jackets on their students.
“It indicates to the students what the faculty perceives students as our newest professional colleagues,” McClaskey said.
This annual event began in 2016 at PSU with the help of its initial sponsors the Arnold P. Gold Foundation and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. This foundation led to this year’s ceremony where the department recognized 96 students that they believe are ready to go into the clinical setting. McClaskey shared that this ceremony allows students to find confidence in their professional identities.
“The faculty indicate they trust that students are ready to use their knowledge, skill, and compassion to care for patients in the hospital setting,” McClaskey said. “That demonstration of trust and mutual respect helps students build their self-confidence in the knowledge, wisdom, and sense of professionalism they have begun to develop.”
McClaskey shared that the gap begins to bridge between classroom style learning and the daily nursing workforce through this ceremony.
“The ceremony symbolizes that the assessment techniques, care skills, and the understanding of health and illness they have begun to develop has prepared these students to help provide high-quality, humanistic nursing care in the health care setting,” McClaskey stated.
McClaskey explained that there are values that she hopes the students not only walk across the stage with but also preserve and maintain through the duration of their careers in the nursing field.
“The faculty of the nursing program expect students to always strive to provide ethical care of the highest quality, to always demonstrate accountability, respect, and professional compassion for their patients, and to be the best possible representatives of the nursing profession.”
