May 16, 2002

(GARDNER) ­ Fifty-three Nursing graduates will be pinned on Tues., May 21 at 6 p.m., in the theatre at Mount Wachusett Community College.  This will be the twenty-ninth annual Pinning Ceremony, symbolizing a welcoming into the nursing profession.  This ceremony will mark the first graduating class that had the opportunity to complete the program entirely through evening courses.  Thirteen of the graduates completed the program in this way. Each graduate will be dressed in uniform and welcomed to the profession by having the nursing pin fastened to his/her lapel by a fellow nurse, whether family, friend, or faculty member.  The eight-starred pin is imprinted with the words “Service to Humanity and the World” with the nursing symbol in the middle.  The Pinning Ceremony is arranged by the Nursing Club.  Interim Nursing Director Jeanne Shea will direct the ceremony and Nursing faculty will assist. 

Many of the Nursing graduates will now go on to take the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).  Last year, one hundred percent of the thirty-seven 2001 Nursing graduates who took the exam passed.