Pinning Ceremony Speech – December 2015 – Lauren J. Sprague
Good evening. We appreciate that you were all able to join us tonight. My name is Lauren Sprague and I am proud to be part of this December 2015 graduating class. First and foremost, on behalf of our entire class, we would like to say thank you. Thank you to all of our family, friends, and loved ones who have stood beside us on this journey. Nursing school has been no easy feat for us, and we know it hasn’t always been particularly easy for you to deal with us along the way! From the hours of studying, writing care plans, reading chapters and chapters and chapters of textbooks and of course diagnosing every family member with whatever terrible disease we most recently learned about. Thank you for being behind us every step of the way and helping us to realize our dream of earning our Bachelors of Science in Nursing.
Next, we would like to take moment to say thank you to all of the faculty and staff. Whether it was a class that we loved or loathed, each one of you has taught us valuable lessons throughout this journey. From handwashing to heart rhythms, from pharmacology to PICO, from mental status exams to maternal health, from developmental stages to nursing diagnoses, from organizational structures to the origins of community health nursing; you have challenged us to open our minds and stretch beyond our comfort zone. Beyond just standing in front of us in a classroom, you knew when we needed caring encouragement or even a little tough love to gain the knowledge and experience we needed to become amazing RNs.
This pinning ceremony is not the end, but simply the beginning of our lifelong call to service. Through the example of our faculty, and all of the nurses we have encountered along this journey, we are prepared to take our place in this incredible profession. Tonight we will receive more than just a pin, we are being welcomed into the nursing profession and challenged to dedicate our lives to serve those around us.
The role of the nurse is anything but easy to explain. According to the American Nurses Association, nursing is ‘the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, facilitation of healing, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations.’ But what does this look like? As nurses, our role is to welcome newborn babies into this world, and hold the hand of an individual as they take their final breath. Yes, we can make beds and give baths, but we are also there to listen to our patients, to hear their anxiety and fear when they can’t express in words how they are feeling. We are there to start IVs, monitor heart rhythms, and administer medications, but we are also there to support and comfort the patient and their family. As nurses we will educate patients how to manage diabetes, congestive heart failure, and many other diseases, and we will do so with unwavering patience and kindness. We will each take a different path, filling many different needs in the community. But whether we will be working in pediatrics or geriatrics, oncology or orthopedics, renal or research, or any of the many other roles that are available, we will do so with firm grounding of knowledge and a humble heart which is open to serve.
We have each taken a different path to arrive at this point, but we have come together, in and out of the classroom. We’ve experienced joy and triumph, pain and grief, but we have done it together. We have been there to support and encourage each other along the way. Throughout this journey we have gained the strength we need to face the future as we travel out into the world. Our journey at Marian has come to an end, but we are now ready to embark upon new adventures.
Tonight we were also able to physically have our hands blessed. We have been blessed through our entire nursing school journey with wisdom and knowledge that we will carry on to share in our new profession. Having the opportunity have our hands blessed also serves as a reminder of the spiritual side of nursing. We should always be true to our beliefs and will not soon forget the importance of the Franciscan Values that were a central aspect to our education at Marian. Through the work of our hands and our hearts, we will lift each patient up and provide the loving care that each individual deserves.
This pin symbolizes our future. We will wear this pin with honor as we follow in the footsteps of amazing individuals who have come before us, take pride in joining all those who are currently serving as nurses, and hopefully we will be able to serve as role models for those who will come after us.
I would be remiss in ending this without leaving you with some words of wisdom by someone other than myself. And since I am going into pediatrics, I thought I would regale you with a few quotes by Dr. Seuss:
“Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Oh, the things you can think up if only you try.”
“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
And finally:
“You’re off to great places! Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”
Congratulations Marian University Leighton School of Nursing December Class of 2015. We made it! We are ready to join our colleagues in nursing, share our gifts and talents, and do our part to make this world a little better place.
Our Journey in Nursing School
as told through Nursing
Diagnoses
By
Lauren Sprague
December class of 2015….We made it! Just in case you need a reminder, here is a
look back at our nursing school career.
It seemed only fitting to use everyone’s favorite, Nursing Diagnoses, to
complete this trip down memory lane. (No, they are NOT all NANDA approved and I
did NOT include evidence-based rationales!)
Our journey
began completing prerequisites and applying to the nursing program. We were kept on track with the application
process before we had even learned what a nursing diagnosis was… but we would
soon know our diagnosis during this period was clearly:
·
Readiness
for enhanced immunization status related to (r/t) application to nursing school as evidenced by (AEB) having
titers drawn and receiving all required immunizations (don’t forget your flu
shot!).
Next, that moment
came when we had official been accepted to the Marian University Leighton
School of Nursing. Our diagnosis at this
point was:
·
Overwhelming
Joy r/t acceptance to nursing school AEB a broad smile, purchasing of a
stethoscope and wearing our new scrub uniform around the house.
On our very
first clinical day, we nervously showed up in our polo shirt and khaki pants. Two nursing diagnoses that we had throughout
that first semester are:
·
Anxiety
r/t our first clinical check off AEB pacing, nervous discussion and obsessive
washing of hands to practice for the clinical day.
And of
course:
·
Frustration
r/t trying to learn how to write a nursing diagnosis AEB throwing the Ackley
book across the room!
We then
received some good news which led to the resolution of the diagnosis:
·
Disturbed
body image r/t the khaki pants and polo shirt uniforms AEB burning of said
uniform when it was announced that we only had to wear scrubs now!
We
continued on our journey. Throughout
Fundamentals, Pathophysiology, Dosage Calculations, Pharmacology, Med-Surg 1, 2
AND 3, Peds, OB, Mental Health, Research, and finally Leadership and Community,
there were several reoccurring diagnoses:
·
Risk
for activity intolerance r/t studying during nursing school AEB hours and hours
and hours and hours and hours of reading textbooks.
·
Imbalanced
nutrition: more than body requirements r/t studying for exams AEB excessive
consumption of junk food, probably whatever was at the POD.
·
Acute
confusion (and eventually chronic confusion) r/t what in the world do we need
to learn now AEB a completely blank stare when an exam is passed out… am I in
the right class??
·
Powerlessness
r/t to waiting for exam grades to post AEB crying, pacing, and hitting refresh
on the computer 487 times in 5 minutes.
·
Risk
for aspiration r/t exam grades posting AEB almost choking when seeing that
passing grade!
You
might have noticed a theme of studying A LOT!
Besides the endless hours of studying, we also had the pleasure of
completing clinical rotations and Sim lab experiences (and loving every minute
of writing care plans!) A few diagnoses
for this period:
· Sleep deprivation and
excess fluid volume r/t balancing clinicals, care plans and studying AEB
massive consumption of caffeine and still being exhausted.
· Impaired spontaneous
ventilation r/t that very first blood draw or starting your first IV AEB holding
your breath and PRAYING that you hit that vein on the first stick.
· Nausea r/t caring for a
patient with c-diff AEB that smell NEVER leaving you
· Risk for impaired liver
function r/t…we probably shouldn’t talk about that one…
· Stress overload and Decisional
conflict r/t overwhelming care plans AEB finding absolutely ANYTHING else to do
before actually completing our paper work
· Ineffective Role
performance and Risk for compromised human dignity r/t Sim lab experiences AEB
dressing up in crazy costumes and feeling like an idiot when in the role of a
patient or family member
· Risk for shock and
situational low self-esteem r/t drawing the RN role in simulation AEB perfuse
sweating, fumbling around to orient yourself to the patient room, and feeling
like this simulation is lasting an eternity
· Impaired social
interaction r/t overload of nursing school AEB only being able to carry on
conversations by speaking in nursing diagnoses.
But we made
it! Through all of the ups and downs, we
have continued to push ourselves (or received a swift kick in the behind) to
reach our goal. As school began to wind
down, I couldn’t help but diagnosis many of us with:
·
Wandering
r/t the end of nursing school AEB having no idea what do to with ourselves when
we didn’t have 32 chapters to read, 14 assignments to complete and 5 exams to
study for.
And now we
here to celebrate our accomplishments.
We have done it! We have earned
our Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the Marian University Leighton School
of Nursing!
Our final
nursing diagnosis is:
·
Overwhelming
pride r/t completing nursing school AEB huge smiles, excessive hugging, and
tears of joy.
