A beautiful autumn day at NOVA’s Loudoun Campus was the backdrop for a long-awaited celebration, the pinning ceremony for the college’s newest nursing graduates! On Friday, November 1, six students — Krystle Addy, Henry Benson, Ruth Addae Mensah, Britany Morales, Estephanie Sierra and Addisalem Wondimu — completed NOVA’s Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program. Congratulations are in order for these newly minted healthcare professionals, who have worked tirelessly for the past year to balance rigorous classroom instruction with clinical skills practice in a healthcare setting. These students-turned-nurses are the first to complete the new LPN program, which launched in October 2023.
In his opening remarks, VP of Strategy, Research and Workforce Innovation Steve Partridge cited the region’s acute shortage of healthcare workers as a major reason for standing up the program (which was made possible with funding secured by the NOVA Foundation from employer partners Goodwin Living, VHC Health, Vinson Hall Retirement Community and Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center).
The LPN is a critical addition to the college’s “stackable” credential offerings, referring to courses that lead to industry-recognized certifications and licenses that build on previous professional training. Prior to the launch of the LPN program, NOVA had offered both a certified nurse aide (CNA) preparation course through NOVA Workforce and the selective nursing (RN) associate degree, but there was no clear trajectory to the RN for CNAs who wished to advance their training. Adding an LPN program to NOVA Workforce, then, not only stood to bolster a diminishing pipeline of healthcare talent in the region but also sought to bridge the gap between NOVA’s CNA and RN programs.
LPN graduate Britany Morales also shared a few words, describing how she and her classmates — now colleagues — have become a family. She said, “We’ve learned to care for patients but also for each other.” In doing so, Morales continued, “We’ve built something here that is hard to find anywhere else: true friendship.”
Following Morales’ comments, NOVA’s Associate Director of Allied Health Katie Jennings introduced the graduates and shared the history of the pinning ceremony. Traditionally, another nurse affixes the pin to the new nurse’s uniform. But just as they are celebrated, traditions change and evolve, and Jennings mentioned how each graduate had chosen a family member to present their pin. In a moving display of support, daughters, sons, partners and parents pinned their loved one as a final acknowledgment of the work and dedication needed to get to that moment.
After the ceremony, employer partners presented the grads with bouquets of white roses. But the new LPNs, for whom everyone had gathered that day, concluded the event by celebrating their mentor, Director of Practical Nursing Amanda Wills. On behalf of the cohort, a beaming Morales presented a teary-eyed Wills with an inscribed plaque and photo. The moment — “the one we’ve been waiting for!” in Morales’ words — perfectly encapsulated the unending compassion of these remarkable students, who have pledged to devote their careers to the healing of others.
Congratulations to our newest Nighthawk nurses!