BEMIDJI, Minn. — The Bemidji State University Department of Nursing will officially induct its first group of 36 students into its new four-year baccalaureate program during a Saturday, Feb. 28, induction and scholarship ceremony.

The ceremony, which the department expects to draw approximately 200 people, will begin at 3 p.m. at Bemidji State’s American Indian Resource Center. The department will announce the winners of its six scholarships for the 2009-10 academic year, followed by a “white coat ceremony” in which the inductees will have their name tags affixed to their lab coats to mark their transition into the study of professional nursing.

“Students will be welcomed into the socialization process that transitions them from basic studies into professional nursing,” said Dr. Jeanine Gangeness, chair of the Department of Nursing. “Nurses have the honor and responsibility to care for individuals during all phases of their lives, and bringing aspects of health, nursing, environment and people into each moment of their future practice is fundamental to the profession.”

Parents and friends of the program’s inductees will then be able to tour the department’s newly-unveiled Clinical Resource Center in Memorial Hall.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jeanine Gangeness, chair of the Department of Nursing, at (218) 755-3870.

FOR YOUR CALENDAR
Feb. 28 – 3 p.m. – Bemidji State University Department of Nursing induction ceremony for first class of four-year nursing students. Location: American Indian Resource Center, BSU campus. Information: Department of Nursing, (218) 755-3870.