Northwestern to pin nursing grads

Twenty-two Northwestern College nursing seniors will participate in a pinning ceremony Thursday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m. in Christ Chapel. The students will receive their Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree diplomas May 11.

Nursing graduates from the region include Orange City residents Teri Bos, Nicole Carlson, Erica Dochovski, Karina Nonnemacher, Jillian Mendez and Nicole Wede—as well as Kendra De Jong, Hospers; Kristi Harthoorn, Doon; Emily Hill, Sutherland; Chelsea Jones, Sioux City; and Wil Van’t Hof, Alvord.

Community members are invited to the pinning ceremony, which will also formally induct 27 sophomores into the B.S.N. program. The new nursing students will receive nursing lamps and certificates of commitment, indicating they intend to practice Christian nursing as defined by “The Code of Christian Nursing Ethics,” authored by Dr. Ruth Daumer, the department’s chairperson. The code is based on the nursing program’s philosophy of nursing as a healing ministry.

Northwestern’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and approved by the Iowa Board of Nursing. The department recently launched an RN to BSN online program for working nurses.

Among last spring’s 19 graduates, 100 percent passed their board exams on the first attempt. Several 2013 graduates already have jobs, including De Jong, who will be working at Sanford Health in Sheldon, and Harthoorn and Hill, who will be ICU nurses at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls.