Editors Notes: Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend both the College of Nursing convocation held on Friday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m. in the Music Auditorium on the Spokane Falls Community College campus, located at 3410 W. Fort Wright Dr., and the graduation ceremony, on Saturday, Dec. 14, starting at 10 a.m. in the WSU Beasley Coliseum in Pullman.
Dec. 13, 5:30-5:55 p.m.: Students, families and College of Nursing administrators available for interviews prior to convocation. The convocation will be held at the Music Auditorium on the Spokane Falls Community College campus, located at 3410 W. Fort Wright Dr. Please contact Susan Nielsen for assistance.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Intercollegiate College of Nursing/Washington State University College of Nursing will celebrate the 102 graduates from the Fall 2002 class Dec. 13 and 14 in Spokane and Pullman.
Opportunities abound for these nursing graduates as the growing nursing shortage continues to place nursing grads in high demand. Equipped with multiple professional offers and incentives, graduates are now sifting through nursing positions with a range of organizations including government, insurance, hospitals, home health care providers, and the military.
Nurses are at the core of quality and consistent patient care. As the largest single health care profession, employment for registered nurses will grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2008 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). As a high demand profession now and to the future, more students are considering nursing as a career.
“Our graduates are stepping into very high demand nursing careers right now,” said Dorothy Detlor, dean of the Intercollegiate College of Nursing/WSU College of Nursing. “The graduates are being recruited by several potential employers and have the option to work in traditional and challenging capacities, some choosing to be dispatched around the globe.”
The proud tradition of nursing is demonstrated during a convocation ceremony held in conjunction with graduation each semester. Three graduate speakers, reflecting on their experiences and education at the College of Nursing, will speak at the 6 p.m. convocation ceremony Friday, Dec. 13. During the ceremony students receive their nursing pins and have the opportunity to share their plans for their nursing careers with classmates, faculty and family members.
This semester marks the largest group of nursing students making the trip to commencement Saturday in Pullman, with nearly 90 percent of graduates attending 10 a.m. graduation ceremonies. The fall’s graduating class consists of 95 students receiving Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees and seven receiving Master in Nursing degrees from WSU College of Nursing campuses in Spokane, Yakima, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla and Vancouver.
Established in 1968, the Intercollegiate College of Nursing/WSU College of Nursing is the nation’s first, oldest and most comprehensive nursing education consortium. The College of Nursing offers baccalaureate, graduate and professional development course work to nursing students enrolled through its four consortium partners, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, Washington State University and Whitworth College. Each year the college educates more than 600 graduate and upper-division undergraduate students and prepares more entry-level nurses than any other state educational institution. For more information about the College of Nursing visit the Web site at nursing.wsu.edu.
