Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing holds White Coat Ceremony

Maisie Nelson • November 15, 2021

The Union College Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing recently held its White Coat Ceremony, a rite of passage to emphasize the importance of compassionate patient care in starting clinical practice experiences.

“Today our world, our nation, our state, our communities, our families, our patients need more nurses to provide compassionate, skilled care. They need more Union College nursing graduates,” said Dr. Lisa Abner, Dean of the Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing.

Students for the 2022-2023 pre-licensure class came forward during the ceremony to be “cloaked” by Union College faculty Myrtle Mills, Lindsey Frazier, Amanda Hensley & Karen Wynn.

Trinity Blevins ‘18 was the keynote speaker and used his personal COVID-19 experiences in his message. “You are people’s lights in the darkness; you are sometimes the only face they will see before they are placed on a ventilator and sedation; you are their lifeline to their families.”

The event was made possible with a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to support the Gold-AACN White Coat/Oath Ceremony for Nursing.

“Since 1993, The White Coat Ceremony has been an early and essential touchpoint of humanism on the path of a physician,” said Dr. Richard I. Levin, President, and CEO of The Gold Foundation. “Today, as we are facing the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism, the White Coat Ceremony is all the more relevant in emphasizing the importance of the human connection in healthcare. We are grateful for the leadership of the Union College Edna Jenkins Mann School of Nursing in elevating the message, both during the ceremony and throughout the years of education, that empathy and respect are critical parts of optimal care.”

The Gold Foundation champions the human connection in healthcare. The foundation engages schools and their students, health systems, companies, and individual clinicians in the joy and meaning of humanistic healthcare so that patients and their families can be partners in collaborative, compassionate, and scientifically excellent care.

To view more photos from the White Coat Ceremony, please click here.

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