MORRISTOWN - Walters State Community College will hold its first December Nursing Pinning Ceremony at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the “Z” Buda Assembly Hall and Gymnasium, which is located inside the Dr. Jack E. Campbell College Center on the Morristown Campus.

The class of 44 students began their nursing studies in January 2007 as the first class to enroll mid-year. Among the graduates are the first nurses to complete the entire program at the Walters State Sevier County Campus.

      The expansion of the nursing program to Sevier County, like the recent one to the Greene County Center for Higher Education, was based on anticipated nursing shortages.

      “A recent study done by the nursing discipline in cooperation with the Tennessee Center for Nursing predicted that Sevier County would have a greater need in the future for nurses. We have also received requests from many constituents in Sevier County who were anticipating the need that the area’s new hospital will bring,” said Marty Rucker, dean of health programs at Walters State.

      Rucker was quick to point out that, while this is the first class to complete studies on the Sevier County Campus, many Sevier County students have graduated from the program over three decades.

      “We have students from throughout our service area. For students in Sevier County, having classes available there will make the program much more convenient,” she added.

      A class completing its studies and entering the workforce in December is also a strategic move.

      “Our advisory council requested that we consider having a class complete studies in the middle of the year. Many health care provided needed a pool of applicants to pull from in the winter as well as the summer,” Rucker said.

      The curriculum is the same for students regardless of whether they start in fall or spring semesters.

      “The only difference is that students who start in January have two summers while students. Many take the opportunity to use those summers working in health care. The different start times also benefit students who have family emergencies or unforeseen circumstances that require time off during the academic year. Instead of waiting until the next year, students only need to wait a semester to re-enter the program,” Rucker said.  

      Faculty and students will celebrate the accomplishments of the area’s newest nurses with a traditional pinning ceremony. Many of the items used in the ceremony are symbols of nursing that date back to Florence Nightingale. Female students wear the traditional nursing cap and each nurse lights a lamp during a candlelit ceremony. The nurses then recite the Nightingale Pledge, in which they promise to practice their profession faithfully and maintain the standard of their profession.

      Graduates will sit for the NCLEX-RN, the national nursing licensure exam, in the spring.