The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing honored its Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing December graduates during the school’s MSN and DNP Winter Awards Ceremony Friday, December 13. Hundreds of families, friends, and alumni were present to celebrate the accomplishments of the school’s undergraduate students. The graduating class included more than 140 students.
The MSN and DNP Winter Awards Ceremony was held at the Emory Student Center. The event featured dynamic class speakers and an awards presentation honoring students who demonstrated excellence in leadership, service, collaboration, innovation, and personal character. The student award winners are as follows:
- Post BSN Award of Excellence – Theresa Kiblinger
- Post MSN Award of Excellence – Courtney Spence Omary
- Excellence in Collaboration – Cotenna Clark
- Excellence in Social Responsibility – Alexandra Grace Thompson
- Excellence in Innovation – Sasha Cohen
- Excellence in Leadership – Hannah Reusch Spero
In collaboration with the Emory Nurses’ Alumni Association, the School of Nursing also paid tribute to two outstanding students with the distribution of the Silver Bowl Award, the highest student honor. Audrey Lyland received this year’s MSN Silver Bowl Award. Tova Safier received the DNP Silver Bowl Award.
Student-nominated awards were also given to faculty members on behalf of the Emory Student Nurses Association. These awards, known as the “Heart of the Students” awards, are given each year to staff and faculty members who go above and beyond in their teaching and mentoring. This year’s staff and faculty award winners are:
- MSN Heart of the Students Faculty Award – Dr. Phyllis Wright, Assistant Clinical Professor
- MSN Heart of the Students Staff Award – Arnita Howard, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Diversity Initiatives
- DNP Heart of the Students Faculty Award – Dr. Roy Simpson, Clinical Professor and Assistant Dean for Technology
- DNP Heart of the Students Staff Award – Alexis Drake, Associate Director Academic Administration
DNP class speaker, Kara de Souza, noted that one of the greatest aspects of working as a nurse is the responsibility of advocating for others.
“As nurses, we are responsible for many components of care, but we have a duty to consider the whole person behind the clinical issue,” said de Souza. “As Emory advanced practice nurses, we are prepared to take that one step further, as we have been educated and trained on the value of social responsibility.”
Much like de Souza, student speaker, Theresa Kiblinger, said the students are ready to put their learnings to practice.
“We are now tasked with the duty and privilege of putting that knowledge and those skills into practice to transform the future of healthcare,” Kiblinger said.