TRC nursing graduates celebrated in virtual ceremony

Amid comments of congratulations on Facebook, the Three Rivers College nursing program graduates had their pinning ceremony Friday afternoon.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant the ceremony couldn’t be in person, but the 39 graduates received their pins last week so they could wear them during the virtual program.

“The only real differences is that we didn’t have students present to physically put the pin on, and they didn’t get to recite the nursing pledge as a group,” said Dr. Staci Foster, department chair of nursing and allied health.

Friday’s ceremony included graduates from both the Poplar Bluff and Sikeston campuses.

The registered nursing program takes two years to complete.

Foster said the ceremony celebrates and recognizes the work the students put in, and even though a face-to-face ceremony couldn’t happen, the students still deserved the recognition.

Foster and the rest of the department worked with the communications department and the Tinnin Performing Arts Center staff to record the virtual ceremony.

During the virtual ceremony, department staff read quotes from each graduate about why they chose nursing, their favorite memory from the program and their future plans.

Reasons cited by the students include the desire to help others, a natural calling to nursing and family encouragement.

Most of the graduates, Foster said, already have jobs in the industry and are working or about to start work.

By graduating the program, they’re eligible to sit for the registered nursing licensing test and can work as a graduate nurse for 90 days pending completion of that test.

They can also pursue further education.

“In our present circumstances, the need for your skills is greater than it has ever been in the past,” Dr. Wesley Payne, college president, told the graduates.

Foster said while she thinks the traditional pinning ceremony is important and plans to return to it, conducting a virtual ceremony has given the department the tools to do one should the need arise.

“We intend to have the traditional nursing pinning ceremony in the future, because it allows the students the ability to come together and celebrate as a group ... kind of give them a nice closure to the program,” Foster said. “We will take it back to a traditional face-to-face format in the future. However, we might look at adding a virtual component for those who couldn’t attend. So, it has opened that door for us.”