2012 graduating nursing students honored at pinning ceremony

HUNTINGTON, Ind. Seventeen Huntington University graduating nursing students were honored today in a traditional pinning ceremony.

The Class of 2012 is the second graduating class from the Department of Nursing.

The history of the nursing pinning ceremony stems from the Crimean War when Florence Nightingale took 38 women to Turkey to nurse sick and wounded British soldiers. As she cared for her patients by the light of a lamp, Florence Nightingale became known as the "lady with the lamp." As a tribute to Florence's dedication, the lamp icon became symbolic of nursing. Today, the nursing pin is used to signify this same dedication: The end of formal education and the beginning of practice, a way of welcoming graduates into the nursing profession.

At the ceremony, students received the Huntington University Department of Nursing pin with the department emblem.

This year, Kortney Burton received the senior leadership award for the Class of 2012. She was nominated by her peers.

"The pinning ceremony has a distinctive meaning to graduating nursing students as it signifies the end of an intense and rigorous education leading them to the socialization into their chosen careers," said Dr. Margaret Winter, director of nursing.

Commencement exercises at Huntington University are scheduled for May 12.

The following students were honored during the ceremony today:

Elizabeth Aeschliman of Bluffton, Ind.
Kortney Burton of Huntington, Ind.
Tracee Bushnell of Lansing, Mich.
Carly Ellis of Roanoke, Ind.
Alisha Fisher of Bourbon, Ind.
Kara Heffelfinger North East, Md.
Joni Holsem of Grandville, Mich.
Kayley Kreps of Huntington, Ind.
Brita Kuiper of Bellevue, Mich.
Morgan Lantz of Archbold, Ohio
Alyssa Lehrman of Decatur, Ind.
Jessica Muoh of Nigeria
Ashley Murray of Grand Ledge, Mich.
Mitsuzi Stone of Jamaica
Lauren Sunderman of Huntington, Ind.
Jessica Turnow of Findlay, Ohio
Kindra Wright of Syracuse, Ind.