White Coat Ceremony held for nurse practitioners

Students: ‘This white coat is a symbol of the promise’

By California State University, Bakersfield

November 27^th, 2019

In less than two years’ time, students in the 2019 cohort of the nursing department’s master’s program will officially become family nurse practitioners. Their instructors, though, want them to think now about what it will mean for them to be great in that role.

The White Coat Ceremony, held on Nov. 21, wasn’t just a time for the students to don those eponymous coats. It was also an important chance to reflect on the journey ahead, as they finished their first semester of core classes on campus and prepare to move on with clinicals for the remainder of the program.

White Coat Ceremony held for nurse practitioners

“As you are going to the clinical site next semester, as you are providing care to the patients in the community, think what kind of nurse practitioner you want to be,” Dr. Heidi He, director of the Graduate Nursing program at CSU Bakersfield, told her students. “Remember this white coat is a symbol of the promise you have made of what kind of nurse practitioner you want to be.”

The evening started with CSUB President Lynnette Zelezny addressing the students to thank them for pursuing a career in the medical field, where there is a great need for dedicated professionals.

“Let me say how proud I am of the career that you’ve chosen,” Dr. Zelezny said. “I know that your profession is one in which you will see many challenges, but you will also have such great joy. I congratulate you for that choice.”

Dean Kathleen Madden of the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering echoed Zelezny’s sentiments of pride. In the FNP program, she said, she sees the future of medicine. In the face of a shortage of primary care physicians, these students will fill a special role.

“The FNPs are out there now as our front-line medical care providers,” Madden said. “I think that role is just going to be growing in the years to come, and it’s going to become increasingly critical. You guys are stepping into an area where there’s a really strong need, where I see a lot of great potential in the future for medicine.”

Students then lined up to receive their white coats in groups of four, each one helped into it by either Dr. Zelezny, Dr. Madden, Dr. He or Nursing Chair Deborah Boschini. Afterward, students took turns writing one word that describes what it means to be a good nurse practitioner: advocate, healer, integrity, dedication, trust and attentive were among those words.

Student Summer Sheffield chose the word “humility.”

“I feel like you have to always acknowledge when you lack knowledge,” Sheffield said. “As a nurse practitioner, you should always have humility because there will be times when you are wrong, and you should acknowledge it and learn from your mistakes.”

Frances Rabanal chose the word “passionate,” explaining that it is a critical trait one must have in the profession to keep from becoming jaded. The ceremony was an important part in her education, she said.

“It motivates me to finish,” she said. “It’s just kind of a reminder to me that I want to do this.”

For Gurpreet Jawanda, CSUB was his first choice when applying to master’s programs. He had received offers from other schools but held out hope he would be accepted here. Now that he is in the program and one step closer to becoming a nurse practitioner, he feels lucky for the education he is receiving.

“They teach us we have to ask the right questions and know where to find answers,” he said. “You have to ask the right questions, not only of your patients but of yourself.”

Since the students are all registered nurses already, clinicals won’t exactly be new to them, but the experience will be the first time they will be in a health setting as a provider. Now, they will be making diagnoses, writing prescriptions and formulating treatment plans, Dr. He said.

“We want them to present this program well, we want them to present this university well,” she said, “so that’s the reason we want to have this ceremony to mark the beginning of their new professional career as a nurse practitioner.”

This is the fourth cohort for the master’s program, which has become extremely competitive since it started in 2014. More than 60 people apply for the program each year, Dr. He said, and only 19 were accepted this year.

“I want them to be proud, and I want them to really self-reflect as they go into clinical practice what it takes to be a good nurse practitioner. I want them to start their career with a good start.”