Scroll Ceremony formally introduces nursing students to profession

The Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) College of Nursing welcomed its newest students to the nursing profession with a Scroll Ceremony in January, held in both Bryan and Round Rock.

The ceremony marks a new tradition for the college and is designed to acknowledge the respect, honor and dignity ascribed to a career in nursing. The college honored 82 students at the two events.

Students were greeted by Sharon Wilkerson, Ph.D., RN, CNE, dean of the TAMHSC-College of Nursing. Susan Yarbrough, Ph.D., RN, associate dean for academic affairs, served as keynote speaker.

“Over the last century, nursing has evolved into a very complex profession,” Dr. Yarbrough said. “Nurses are faced with split-second life and death decisions on a daily basis and are constantly challenged to make ethical decisions in providing care.”

Students were presented with a scroll inscribed with the Code of Ethics for Nurses from the American Nurses Association (ANA) and acknowledged their acceptance of the code with their signature. By signing their name, students pledged to uphold the high ethical standards written in the code and serve the nursing profession with professionalism.

“The beginning of a professional nursing education is a pivotal time in a nurse’s career, and we are excited to mark this time with a formal ceremony of this nature,” Dr. Wilkerson said. “The code of ethics presented at the ceremony will provide guidance for our students throughout this program and for the entirety of their nursing career.”

You can see more photos from the events on the college’s Flickr account.