Thirty-nine from both sides of the County take part in traditional ceremony
Thirty-nine student nurses took part in the traditional pinning ceremony on December 10, 2021 on the Prescott Campus of Yavapai Community College. They represented both the spring and fall 2021 cohort and the Verde Valley and Prescott quad cities.
Nursing Professor Dr. Barbara Durham welcomed the graduates and described the unprecedented nature of their training, which has covered two or more years. She said that the challenges included practicing nursing skills on family members and even pets at home and vying for internet bandwidth with others in their households who also were studying or working from home.
Durham also said the warmth and fellowship that student nurses regularly experience was lost in pandemic-induced separation. “Not being able to hug each other when someone is stressed, anxious or suffering… the face masks that hide smiling faces… we were missing basic human connections.”
Yavapai Community College President Dr. Lisa Rhine expressed pride in the nursing graduates for their fortitude, diligence and sacrifice in uncertain times. “To say that it is a very difficult time to be a nurse is truly an understatement.”
Dr. Rhine also said that “because of your kind and loving hearts that attracted you to this calling in the first place, make sure that you take the time to care for yourself and your own health and wellbeing. It’s only when you are at your best that you can perform at the highest levels and give your best to others.”
Following are the fall 2021 nursing graduates:
Abigal Adams
Kelli Balensky
Jennifer Bergstad
Rebecca Broderick
Alyssa Bugarin
Nick Buller
Ronny Criswell
Klara Ford
Lanai Ford
Carl Jackson
Sarah Jackson
Shilee Jones
Laura Ludvick
Kacey Martinez
John Mattison
Angelique McKnight
Halleigh Milian
Anna Miller
Danielle Mitea
Chelsea Murphy
Anna Nardo
Corey Noeldner
Samantha Paine
Jinnapat Puangwipat
Kelly Pulanco
Emma Pundt
Aidan Raute
Alfredo Rodriguez
Amy Runo
Jennifer Santoyo
Aubrey Shaw
Brittney Sherman
Sarah Stickel
Alma Toribio Salgado
Dalis Townsend
Collina Young
Participating in the fall cohort pinning ceremony were these spring 2021 nursing graduates:
Maria Contereas
Nissa Labhart
Macer Svec
SOURCE: New release by Yavapai Community College, by JJ. McCormack, 15 December 2021. Click on the following link to view news release in full. https://www.yc.edu/v6/news/2021/12/nursing.html