Associate in Science in Nursing Graduates Honored in Pinning Ceremony

SFSC honored 47 Associate in Science degree in Nursing (ADN) students in a traditional pinning ceremony on Monday, Dec. 11 in the Alan J. Wildstein Center for the Performing Arts at SFSC on the Highlands Campus in Avon Park.

The graduates are: Rigenst Alfred, Jennifer Allen, Reham Alqabsi, Mikala Armioia, Selena Badillo, Paxton Brooks, Kaitlyn Burkhardt, Cheyenne Carpenter, Cynthia Cerna, Kevin Coleman, Ruben Coronado, Zobeida Cram, Nicole Deleandro, Jaime Dixon, Mesha Estivene, Sara Fears, Harielle Florestal Fleurjean, Jessica Franceschi-Coffey, Elizabeth Galindo, Briana Garcia, Olivia Guerndt, Maricruz Jaimes-Ramos, John Anmherey Jimenez, Stephanie Kirnes, Austin Knutson, Shekinah Maranan, Patricia McElroy, Yisselle Mier, Javier Miguel-Ramos, Katelyn New, Christine Nguyen, Peter Piotrowski, Peyton Roberts, Kacie Romero, Aron Ruiz, Maria Ruiz, Terrion Salmon, Raney Sebring, Amber Shoemaker, Myra Solis, Taylor Suggs, Emily Tomblin, Mary Torres, Crystal Valadez, Josephnia Valdez, Priscilla Villazana, and Rose Virgile.

Each year, Nursing graduates award the Golden D.U.C.K. to someone who has served as a mentor to the students in the program. The D.U.C.K. acronym represents the foundational elements of the mentoring arrangement: Developing, Understanding, Compassion, and Knowledge.

During the ceremony, graduates Katelyn New and Jessica Franceschi-Coffey presented the 2023 Golden D.U.C.K. Award to Cori Whitehouse, R.N., nurse development manager with AdventHealth Sebring. New and Franceschi-Coffiey said that Whitehouse “ensured that we had smooth transition processes in college, assisted in getting students connected with scholarships, helped many of us progress to roles in the hospital, and advocated for us countless times.” The graduates stated that Whitehouse exemplifies the quote that “Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.”

During the pinning ceremony, the graduates’ loved ones presented them with their individual nursing pins. The graduates, then, passed the flame of a lamp, one to another, before reciting the Nightingale Pledge.

Mary von Merveldt, director of nursing education, explained the origins of the Nursing pinning and the importance of the lamp lighting ceremony to the graduates: “The pinning we know today originated in the 1850s at the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London. Having been awarded the Red Cross of St. George for her selfless service to the injured and dying during the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale chose to extend this offer to her most outstanding graduating nurses by presenting each of them with a medal of excellence. The presentation of the lamp is a symbol of the caring devotion nurses administer to the sick and injured in the practice of nursing. After nurses were pinned, Nightingale would light a lamp and pass the flame to each nurse as they recited the pledge. The passing of the flame represents a formal welcoming of new nurses to the profession.”

Graduates of the ADN program become registered nurses by passing the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). SFSC Nursing graduates are usually fully employed in nursing within a few months of graduation.

SFSC offers an online Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a two-year generic Associate in Science in Nursing, a 13-month transition licensed practical nurse to registered nurse Associate in Science in Nursing, and an 11-month Practical Nursing (PN) career certificate. For more information about SFSC’s Nursing programs, contact Danielle Ochoa, Health Sciences advisor at 863-784-7027 or by email at healthsciences@southflorida.edu.