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Mississippi College Leaders Salute Nursing Students at White Coat Ceremony


MC School of Nursing students are pictured at the White Coat ceremony on the Clinton campus.

Opportunities look bright for nursing graduates nationwide.  Job demands for nurses should rise 19 percent through 2022, reports show.

Some of America’s future clinical, neonatal, dialysis and critical care nurses are being trained at Mississippi College.

MC School of Nursing leaders saluted students taking a major step toward graduation at the Fall White Coat ceremony. The September 19 program honored the MC juniors beginning clinical assignments around the Magnolia State.

MC Nursing Dean Kimberly Sharp joined faculty, staff and family members during the 90-minute program at Anderson Hall. “We thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement,” Sharp told hundreds in the audience on the Clinton campus.

The first Mississippi College School of Nursing White Coat ceremony was held in Fall 2015.

At each special occasion, students stand and recite the MC School of Nursing creed. They promise to use their God-given skills to treat patients with compassion and respect, and uphold the profession’s standards. They recognize that every person is created in the image of God. The students seek to improve health care services no matter where they work.

The nursing profession appears to be the perfect career choice for Mississippi College junior Hannah Bedford of Brandon. It’s a calling that’s tugged on Hannah’s heart for several years before coming to the Baptist-affiliated university. “Since the fifth grade, I have wanted to help people,” the Brandon High graduate said.

The Mississippian may join the rewarding profession as a clinical nurse. Demands for their medical services keep rising as they serve patients from infants through senior citizens.

Many of the 71 students saluted at the White Coat ceremony on Tuesday evening come from metro Jackson communities. They include Liz Lofton, Samantha Richardson and Sarah Rogers, all of Clinton, Ashley Richard of Florence, Krista Richmond of Madison, and Jenny Lowrey of Utica.

The White Coat ceremony includes the Blessing of the Hands to consecrate all of the MC students as they pursue the ministry of nursing. This year, the senior MC nursing students presented the white coats to the beginning clinical students.

“It fosters the leadership/mentorship relationship they are developing” for their classmates, Sharp says.

Graduation day will be the next major event on the calendar for leaders and students at the School of Nursing in Cockroft Hall.

Sharp always forward to being a major participant on stage in commencement ceremonies. “Our prayer is that they will be the hands and feet of Christ, sharing His light in areas of professional practice the Lord calls them to.”