Nursing Students Ring in New Tradition with White Coat Ceremony

For many students entering a medical profession, the white coat ceremony is a symbol of their entry into their future careers.

For other students, a blessing of the hands serves as the spiritual companion to the initiation to their profession.

Last week at Rockhurst University, juniors and second-degree students from Research College of Nursing took part in a new ceremony that joined the two realms. Nancy DeBasio, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, president of Research College of Nursing, said the college’s first-ever white coat and blessing of the hands ceremony Sept. 23 was made possible by a grant from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, an organization that works to spread the message of “humanism in health care” which partnered with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing to sponsor white coat ceremonies at 60 schools across the country in 2015 for the second year.

“I applied for this opportunity with the Arnold P. Gold Foundation because I knew that this would be a great event to celebrate our 110th anniversary,” DeBasio said, referring to the number of years Research College of Nursing has provided continuous nursing education.

During the ceremony, students were cloaked by their respective program directors; their hands blessed by Rockhurst University President, the Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J.; and were presented with a commemorative pin in front of family, friends and faculty.

Students at Research had their hands blessed before, but usually in the classroom as a small group or later as part of the sophomore welcome activities. DeBasio said hosting one ceremony for second-degree students and juniors meant not only do students get to share the experience with their families, but also with each other.

“It was a great ceremony, having these two groups of students together, both of whom are preparing to begin their clinical rotations,” she said.

In addition to celebrating those students together on the cusp of the next phase of their education, DeBasio said receiving their white coats and having their hands blessed at the same time symbolizes both the health care education-centered mission of Research College of Nursing and the core value of cura personalis from Rockhurst, which has long been the institution’s partner. And in the ceremony joining those two traditions, DeBasio said she hopes to have started a new tradition.