Gannon University Nurses to Hold White Coat Ceremony
Posted: November 5, 2016
Gannon University's Villa Maria
School of Nursing is among the 50 schools of nursing across the
nation and the only one in Pennsylvania to be selected in 2016 to
host White Coat Ceremonies this fall.
The ceremonies, which are modeled on
the White Coat Ceremonies conducted by medical schools for more
than 20 years, symbolize the importance of providing compassionate
care among health professionals.
Gannon joins schools of nursing in
38 states and the District of Columbia that were selected to
inaugurate their own White Coat Ceremony through an initiative
launched in 2013 by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF) and the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) developed to
promote humanistic, patient-centered care among future generations
of registered nurses.
At 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 6,
approximately 80 Gannon University sophomore nursing students and
their families will gather in the Yehl Room to receive a ceremonial
pin and recite an oath in a symbolic entry into clinical
practice.
Nursing joins the growing number of
health professions that offer "cloaking" ceremonies, which
typically consist of the recitation of an oath, an address by an
eminent role model and a reception for students and invited guests.
Students also are given a specially designed pin that serves as a
visual reminder of their oath and commitment to providing
high-quality care. To date, 160 nursing schools in 46 states and
the District of Columbia have received financial support and
guidance to offer a White Coat Ceremony.
"Historically, nursing has a lot of
rituals. We'd gotten away from it, but renewed it last year to
stress the importance of clinical practice and the seriousness of
the profession," said Carol Amann, Ph.D., RN-BC, assistant
professor of nursing. Amann, who attended a similar ceremony as an
undergraduate nursing student at Villa Maria College, added, "It's
important for students to understand what an achievement it is to
begin clinical practice. I love to see their faces when they go out
to meet patients for the first time."
"White Coat Ceremonies highlight the
important role compassion plays in providing patient-centered care
and improving health outcomes," said Dr. Juliann Sebastian, Chair
of the AACN Board of Directors. "With healthcare becoming more
inter- professional and team-driven, nurses, physicians and other
providers must embed humanism in their practice as a way to elevate
the patient care experience."
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation: As a growing, international not-for-profit organization we
have a critical mission: to optimize the experience and outcomes of
health care for both patients and practitioners by promoting care
that is as humane as it is technologically sophisticated. The
Arnold P. Gold Foundation works with physicians in training and in
practice, as well as other members of the healthcare team, to
instill a culture of respect, dignity and compassion for patients
and professionals. When skilled practitioners build caring,
trusting and collaborative relationships with patients, study after
study reveals more appropriate medical decisions, better patient
adherence with treatment plans, and less costly healthcare
outcomes. Learn more here.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the
national voice for university and four-year college education
programs in nursing. Representing more than 790 member schools of
nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN's
educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection,
publications, and other programs work to establish quality
standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education,
assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence
the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public
support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research,
and practice. Learn more here.
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF): As a growing,
international not-for-profit organization we have a critical
mission: to optimize the experience and outcomes of health care for
both patients and practitioners by promoting care that is as humane
as it is technologically sophisticated. The Arnold P. Gold
Foundation works with physicians in training and in practice, as
well as other members of the healthcare team, to instill a culture
of respect, dignity and compassion for patients and professionals.
When skilled practitioners build caring, trusting and collaborative
relationships with patients, study after study reveals more
appropriate medical decisions, better patient adherence with
treatment plans, and less costly healthcare outcomes. Learn more at
www.gold-foundation.org.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is the
national voice for university and four-year college education
programs in nursing. Representing more than 790 member schools of
nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN's
educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection,
publications, and other programs work to establish quality
standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education,
assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence
the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public
support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research,
and practice. Learn more at www.aacn.nche.edu.