Prelicensure students encouraged to bring ‘personal pillars’ to nursing at Welcome to the Nursing Profession ceremony

More than 260 sophomore students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program from the Minneapolis and Rochester campuses and 78 first-year Master of Nursing (MN) students were welcomed into the nursing profession at a ceremony on Sept. 11 at Coffman Theater. Whitney Line, DNP, RN, PHN, clinical success director at B. Braun Medical, delivered the keynote, telling students they are not just entering a career, they are inheriting a profession.

“A career belongs to us. A profession first belongs to society. Professions exist because society entrusts them with something that’s valuable and gives them both authority and responsibility in return. In nursing, that trust is extraordinary,” said Line.

Line encouraged the room of prelicensure students, including MN students who carry undergraduate degrees from a range of disciplines, to stay true to what she calls their “personal pillars” — the strengths, values and interests they each bring to nursing.

“Maybe you love numbers or build things. Maybe you make art or tinker in technology. Maybe you throw an incredible dinner party. Those parts of you are not exterior to nursing. They become the lens through which you make your contribution to it,” said Line. “The mathematician might find a pattern in outcomes. The technologist might redesign how care is delivered. The artist might recognize that beauty, meaning and human experience are not separate from healing. And the person who knows how to bring people together around a table might create an environment where people feel safe, known and able to heal.”

Those pillars, Line said, are essential to addressing the challenges nursing is facing. 

“This is what the profession needs from you. The problems ahead will require nurses who notice different things, who ask different questions, who imagine totally different solutions,” she said.

Susan Gross Forneris, PhD, RN, CNE, CHSE-A, FAAN, professor and associate dean for Academic Programs, celebrated the students as they embark on their first clinical rotations.

“This ceremony marks your entry into nursing. But more than that, it affirms your commitment to build the scientific knowledge, clinical acumen and problem-solving abilities that will evolve across your entire career,” said Gross Forneris. “It also acknowledges your commitment to grow your heart, your passion, your purpose and your capacity to deliver holistic care that honors the patient, the family, the community and our shared planet.”

Gross Forneris highlighted nursing’s position as the most-trusted profession in the United States, particularly in connection to the School of Nursing’s history. Richard Olding Beard, who first proposed establishing the school, believed nurses had a unique role in helping society recognize the worth of every human life, conserve health, and advance justice.

“We invite you to carry forward that spirit. To embrace not only the science and skill of nursing, but the calling of heart-centered leadership. To reach toward your highest potential. Congratulations on your decision to become a nurse. We are honored, inspired and overjoyed to walk with you in this next chapter,” said Gross Forneris.

Tyler Pham, president of the Minnesota Nursing Student Board, and Christine Yao, BS, president of the Graduate Nursing Student Council, spoke as student leaders. 

All students received memberships to the National Student Nurses Association, which is dedicated to fostering the professional development of nursing students.