Norwich's School of Nursing holds annual White Coat Ceremony during Homecoming Week

By Marc Kolb & Zack Bennett

A national tradition which symbolizes complete, compassionate, and patient-centered care which the nursing profession has become synonymous for. Often times, the nurse is the frontline healthcare worker which patients interact with the most.

Image for School of Nursing pinning 2023

This year’s cohort was celebrated in Plumley Armory with friends, family, and President Mark Anarumo in attendance. Nurses have a great privilege and responsibility as they are with patients during some of the most important moments, from birth through the end of life. This tradition symbolizes the complete, compassionate, and patient-centered care for which the nursing profession has become synonymous for.

The White Coat Ceremony was originally reserved for physicians, but the program was expanded in 2014 to include more frontline health care professionals, such as nurses.

The original ceremony was held in 1993 and began the tradition, promoted by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Dr. Gold believed the Hippocratic Oath taken by new physicians – which is typically taken at the end of their medical school training – was taken too late in the educational process. The White Coat Ceremony instead is held midway through the practitioner’s academic career.

The donning of the iconic white coat, the classic outward image of the entire medical profession, acts as a constant reminder to keep health care patient centered.

Norwich University’s School of Nursing helps meet a critical demand for nurses with vision, innovation, and educational excellence. Its mission is to prepare students to be scholars and globally minded leaders in nursing through innovative and diverse experiential education and research.

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Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu

 

Media contact:

Marc Kolb
Interim Director of Communications
Director of Athletic Communications
E: mkolb@norwich.edu 
O: 802.485.2902 
Follow us on Twitter @norwichnews

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