Dyersburg State Community College graduates nurses

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Dyersburg State Community College nursing students William Carroll of Ripley and Tara Butler of Newbern participate in the lamp-lighting ceremony as a part of the nursing pinning held on Friday, Dec. 12 at the DSCC Jimmy Naifeh Center at Tipton County.
[Click to enlarge]

On Friday, Dec. 12, an overflow crowd of friends, family members and well-wishers attended the pinning ceremony for the first class of 25 nursing students to complete the extension of the DSCC nursing program at the DSCC Jimmy Naifeh Center at Tipton County.

"In the coming year, the majority of nurses in the country will be over the age of 50," said Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Jimmy Naifeh, who served as the ceremony's guest speaker. "This tells us there is a desperate need to train nurses to enter the work force. This program is one way to meet the needs of our residents."

Class President Terri Nichols of Atoka, DSCC President Dr. Karen Bowyer, Dean of Nursing Faye Sigman and other members of the DSCC nursing faculty also gave presentations at the ceremony.

Awards presented include the Scholastic award to Lisa Fehrs of Halls, the Clinical Award to Amy Crews of Dyersburg, and the Friendship Award to Claudia Kelley of Burlison. The Friend of Nursing Award was given to Speaker Naifeh.

The next day, DSCC also awarded pins to its first class of nursing students in the Licensed Practical Nurse to Register Nurse Fast Track program. There were 16 students in this program.

Awards presented include the Scholastic Award to Vicky Prater of Halls, the Clinical Award to Shari Sanders of Dyersburg and the Friendship Award to Racine Russell of Ripley. Nursing program secretary Jackie Cherry of Halls received the Friend of Nursing Award.

The Peggy N. Pendergrast Faculty Award was presented to Lisa Ward of Ripley. The award, named for the founding director of the DSCC nursing program, is given by the Division of Nursing to recognize a graduating student who is best described as "first among equals." The recipient is one who the faculty believes will make a contribution to the profession of nursing, has demonstrated the qualities essential for effective nursing practice through their course and clinical work and has shown a commitment of talents, abilities and self.

Students completing the traditional program include Tara Leigh Butler of Newbern; Danyelle Lynn Carnell of Drummonds; William Carrol and Lisa Michelle Ward of Ripley; Diana Carter and Theresa (Terri) Nichols of Atoka; Veronica Cooper of Mason; Amy Crews, Stephanie Medford Dishman, Kenneth Monteith, Holly Nichols and Amber Taylor of Dyersburg; Precious Dyson, Lisa Fayne-Burns, Rebecca Moody and Melanie Owen of Covington; Lisa Fehrs and Amber Sadler of Halls; Jennifer Harvey and Carol Ann Salmon of Munford; Lena Hefner and Claudia Kelley of Burlison; Amanda Hunt of Cordova; Jenae' Jordan of Millington; and Lora Lynn Tankersley of Atoka.

Members of the LRN to RN Fast Track program include Tori Billings, Olivia Kirby and Racine Russell of Ripley; Donna Childress of Hornbeak, Kimberly Clark and Shannon Frazier of Memphis; Tabitha Cook and Lashauna Sidell of Jackson; Crystal Daniels of Dyer; Patricia Fannon of Newbern; Theresa Hebert of Brighton; Tonya Medford and Shari Sanders of Dyersburg; Kelly Morphis of Union City; and Vicky Prater of Halls.

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Congratualations to all of the nurses graduating. My daughter finished her LPN course in Murfreesboro in August. I knew it was hard but until I saw what my daughter endured and went through to finish, she has even more so my utmost respect, I couldnt have done it myself. I always said anything worth having is worth fighting for and is never easy. I am so proud, she is now employed at Vanderbilt and getting ready for the fast track program. My sincere congrats to all the graduates, may you continue to strive and keep going, we need good nurses

-- Posted by titans2 on Tue, Dec 30, 2008, at 3:23 PM

I love nurses because they are "patient" people.

-- Posted by lloyd49 on Tue, Dec 30, 2008, at 4:33 PM

Congratulations to all graduating nurses. I know it was a long, hard road but you made it. Keep up the fantastic work and your career will be very rewarding and we will all be blessed to have some great nurses that we desperatley need. Again, congratulations, great job!

-- Posted by Drummergirl on Thu, Jan 1, 2009, at 11:57 PM

WAY TO GO......YOU STAYED THE COURSE TIL THE END....GOOD LUCK TO THE GRADS....

-- Posted by DMASE on Fri, Jan 2, 2009, at 12:29 PM