Richmond Community College Celebrates 42 Nursing Assistant Students at Pinning Ceremony

HAMLET – Richmond Community College held a pinning ceremony on Tuesday, December 12, for 42 students who completed the Nursing Assistant program. Pending passing the North Carolina Certified Nursing Assistant Written and Skills test, they can become CNAs.

Dr. Dale McInnis, president of RCC, welcomed everyone to the pinning ceremony held in the lobby of the Cole Auditorium.

“Today we celebrate the accomplishment of these students,” McInnis said. “We look forward to them entering the next phase of their lives and a new career.”

These students are now prepared to enter a career as a CNA or enroll in the nursing program at RCC. One of the requirements for admission into the Associate Degree Nursing program is successful completion of the Nursing Assistant course.

Completing the program was student Peyton Tucker, who spoke of her journey getting to this point in her life. A former dual-enrollment student at RCC, she graduated high school in 2016 and attended the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where she planned on attending nursing school. After one year, however, Tucker decided the large university classes weren’t for her.

“Although I was successful at this school, I found myself missing the small, kind and comfortable atmosphere of RCC,” Tucker said. “With my best interests in mind, I made the decision to come back to RCC to pursue nursing.”

Tucker said she was not enthusiastic about having to take the Nursing Assistant program, but she has since changed her mind about what it means to be a CNA.

“I became so close to my patients during the clinical portion of the program, and I am forever grateful for the circumstances that led me here today,” Tucker said during the pinning ceremony. “This class has changed my life.”

Also, speaking during the pinning ceremony was Shelia Adams, Nursing Assistant program coordinator.

“I recently had a student ask me, ‘What is nursing?’ My response was that nursing is an art. A skill acquired by study, experiences, observations, an occupation requiring knowledge and skill, the use of those skills and creativity,” Adams said.

Adams continued to say the hardest moments are the callings to do something greater and to do what nobody else will do, in a way that no one else can.

“Don’t call it a dream; call it a plan.,” Adams continued. “Either find a way to succeed or make a way to succeed. Today you have received your nursing assistant pin as a symbolic welcome into the field of the nursing profession.”

Janet Sims, Nursing Department chair at RCC, said the Nursing Assistant program is the foundation in nursing, and as such these students will fulfill vital roles in the medical community.

“We are proud of our students completing the course and look forward to working with them as a member of the healthcare team, and during their continued academic journey,” Sims said.

For more information on the Nursing Assistant program, call Adams at (910) 410-1891 or sradams@richmondcc.edu. Spring semester classes start Jan. 5, 2018. Inquire today how to get enrolled in spring classes.

Graduating from the Nursing Assistant program were the following students:

Anson County