Nursing College Will Honor Students with New Ceremony

DANVILLE , IL (09/11/2015)(readMedia)-- Lakeview College of Nursing will be honoring all students from both campuses (Danville, IL and Charleston, IL) on Friday, September 18 from 2-4 p.m. at the Wyndham Hotel in Urbana, IL, located at 1001 W. Killarney St.

For the past decade, Lakeview has held a White Coat Ceremony as a demonstration of their commitment to compassionate and humanistic care and to mark the beginning of clinical practice. The College is planning to extend this celebration so that all students can recognize they are an important member of the healthcare team.

Lakeview's Dean of Nursing Chastity Osborn stated that she is looking forward to seeing each of the College's 319 students receive either their white coat or nursing-level pin. "It is with great enthusiasm that we unite our College to recognize all of our nursing students as we highlight the importance of making compassionate care the hallmark of their clinical practice," said Osborn.

Osborn recently secured a grant that will allow the College to expand the celebration to include the pinning of Level III and Level IV students. Osborn said this project was made possible with a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to support the Gold-AACN White Coat Ceremony for Nursing.

"Nursing education is rigorous and the grant gives us the opportunity to celebrate the achievement of all Lakeview College of Nursing's students" said Vicky Welge, director of student success. Welge is coordinating the activities of this new event.

This Gold-AACN White Coat Ceremony for Nursing closed event will include Lakeview students, faculty, and staff, will feature students reciting the White Coat Oath, Nightengale Nursing Pledge, and the lighting of Lakeview's symbolic flame. Lakeview's faculty will assist the donning of the white coat and the pinning of each student.

Mary (Mimi) S. Skinner, MSN, RN-BC, CNOR Clinical Educator, will be speaking at the event and will address the students on their role in the nursing profession. Skinner currently works as a clinical educator and resuscitation education initiative (REdI) program director at the VA Illiana Health Care System in Danville, IL.

*Media is welcome to cover the event and take photos/video as necessary. This event is not open to the general public.