Mildred Elley Recognizes Practical Nursing Program GraduatesBy Sabrina Damms, iBerkshires Staff
05:18PM / Sunday, December 17, 2023 | |
 The pin identifies the graduates as nurses and shows proof of their education, however they still have to pass the test.
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 | | Although lightly attended, emotions still ran high as family members became teary eyed as they watched the future nurses being pinned and capped. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For the first time since the pandemic, Mildred Elley held an in-person Pinning Celebration at the Italian American Club on Thursday for the graduates of the Practical Nursing Program.
The school graduated 27 from the 18 month Practical Nursing Program, however, only three were able to attend the celebration.
Department of Nursing Chair Dr. Patricia Newman explained the history of the pinning ceremony, a tradition dating back to the Crusades of the 12th century when the Knights Hospitallers tended to and cared for the injured and suffering Crusaders.
"When new monks were brought into the Knights order they decided to continue helping sick soldiers and held a ceremony where each monk was given a Maltese Cross," Newman said.
The modern day ceremony dates back to the mid 19th century when Queen Victoria awarded Florence Nightingale the Royal Red Cross for her service as a military nurse after the Crimean War.
Nightingale went on to present pins to her hardest working nursing graduates.
In the 1960s, the United States changed it "so all nursing graduates would receive a pin during a special ceremony," Newman said.
The pin identifies the graduates as nurses and shows proof of their education, however they still have to pass the test, Newman said.
Newman said the history and pinning ceremony literally and symbolically demonstrates the cross that nurses have to bear
"It is a cross to bear to show a nurse's dedication to their patients by staying back and caring for those patients long after others have given up hope and gone home," Newman said.
These remarks were echoed by guest speaker Kimball Farms Nursing Home Administrator William Kittler.
Newman said Kittler has let the school utilize his facility so students could practice and hone their skills, collaborate with Kimball Farms staff, and has been working with Mildred Elley to aid in finding students jobs.
He said nurses create unique relationships with the patients and their families which is crucial to making residents happy and comfortable in an institutional setting like a nursing home.
"Person-centered care is at the center of what really makes a family and a resident happy, to know their values, what's important to them, their kids names, and to know the routine, and to make that institution of a nursing home is as good as it can be because that's their new home," Kittler said.
"And my experience is that LPNs do that better than anyone in the nursing home. I've nominated over my 10 years at the nursing care center, probably 40 profile and care awards, and in the nursing department 90 percent of the winners are LPNs."
This graduating class decided to become nurses during a pandemic which is something no graduating class has done for a long time, Kittler said.
"calm seas do not pay for skilled sailors," Kitteler quoted.
"...You guys actually participated in the pandemic. You guys are battle tested because nobody else has ever gone through that. The graduating class before you have not had that experience. So, you guys have already had rough seas."
The Mildred Elley experience has been a journey filled in learning, hard work, collaboration, and getting real working experience, a nursing graduate said.
"Mildred Elley taught me everything about nursing. I got my full education to become an LPN from Mildred Elley, so I'm very, very thankful for that," graduate Sabine Grout Bartlett said.
"It was a hard 18 months, but certainly worthwhile and for every step of the way."
Graduate Ana Lee Buttlieri said that her background as a Certified Nursing Assistant made the program easier for her but she mostly stayed to herself before attending Mildred Elley.
"I've been like very closed off quiet and Mildred Elley has opened that," Buttlieri said.
These remarks were echoed by nursing graduate Suneve Thompson who said she was thankful for her journey at Mildred Elley which had a lot of highs and lows but provided her the skills and confidence to work towards her goals.
Thompson hopes to eventually continue her education career by getting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and start a limited liability company that helps seniors.
She also hopes to one day mentor single moms that wish to start their own journey of becoming a nurse.
"I'm a single mom, and it was tough and so I didn't really have a lot of people there to like to pep talk me and push me through. A lot of it was me and my immediate family," Thompson said.
Thompson said Mildred Elley has helped put her on the path of obtaining her goal by "putting me in the thick of things so that I could really know what it was like to be out there in the field. If they didn't do that for me then I don't think I would feel ready."
This year's Clinical Excellence award went to Sabine Grout Bartlett.
Graduates:
Cynthia Adams
McKaylynn Arnold,
Princess Avery
Sabine Bartlett
Kailey Benoit
Kimberly Bernardo
Kimberly Briggs
Ana Buttlieri
Nicholas Chapman
Taylor Demur
Theresa Fife
Kaitlyn Fisher
Hope Fontaine
Mohamet Gueve
Judith Jones
Venessa King
Katelynn Le Beau
Aukeya Lloyd
Courtney McMorrow
Joshua Moro
Ana Rodriguez-Pereira
Craig Sawyer
Jessica Spring
Suneve Thompson
Elise Todd
Kaleigh Tower
Brendaliz Vega
Rebekah Wheeler
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