HPU Nursing Hosts Its White Coat Ceremony

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing White Coat Ceremony held on Monday, Feb. 3, at HPU’s Aloha Tower Marketplace Sunset Ballroom, celebrated the entry of 59 students into the Nursing school. The ceremony, attended by the families and friends of the Nursing students and members of the HPU ‘ohana, calls particular attention to the students’ decision to pursue a profession that will build their scientific knowledge, clinical discernment, passion, and ability to provide unparalleled patient care.  

Chief Nurse Administrator Pamela Smith, Ed.D., Provost Jennifer Walsh, Ph.D., and College of Health and Society (CHS) Dean Halaevalu Vakalahi, Ph.D., representing the Nursing school, HPU, and CHS respectively, opened the program with greetings, and Professor Catharine Critz, Ph.D., shared the history of the ceremony. HPU alumna Sarah Kennedy-Smith, MBA, BSN, RN, the Director of Patient Safety & Quality Services for Kapi‘olani Medical Center, served as the guest speaker, while Victoria Duong represented the Student Nursing Association as its Director of Communications, delivering remarks.

The ceremony’s program included:

• Sandra Bourgette-Henry, DNP, serving as faculty lead of the Nursing students, reciting the White Coat Ceremony Oath;
• Pamela Smith, Ed.D., leading the donning of the white coats;
• Pamela Smith, Ed.D., and Hobie Feagai, Ed.D., presenting the students with their nursing pins, followed by the students signing the nursing ledger.

For more information on HPU Nursing and its programs, go to https://www.hpu.edu/chs/nursing/