Concord University nursing program hosts first white coat ceremony

ATHENS, WV (WVNS) – On Thursday evening, May 2nd, 2024, Concord University hosted its first ever white coat ceremony.

Friends and family lined up outside Wilkes Family Chapel to see the first set of white coat members. It’s a big step for the nursing program, which first started in 2022.

Michele Holt is the Director of Nursing with Concord University. She said this event is big for both the university and the mountain state.

“We have such a nursing shortage in West Virginia and really throughout the country. We really wanted to contribute, get nurses on the ground, have nurses here in West Virginia, and hopefully stay in West Virginia when they’re done,” Holt said.

The event started with live music and speeches by guest speakers. We were then introduced to the students receiving their white coats.

One of those students is Jenna-Kay Nash. She grew up not too far from Concord University and is excited to be a part of it with her peers.

“Being so close to home has been convenient not only for me, but for my family so they can be here. I’ve always wanted and being in the medical field was, for me, first I wanted to be a PA but then I didn’t want to move away for school. When this opened up, I just thought it was the perfect chance for me to go back to school,” Nash said

The ceremony concluded with all 5 students receiving their white coats. They were then joined by professors and family for some photos.

It’s was a bittersweet moment for professors, who themselves were fighting back tears.

They achnowledge this is just the beginning of the students’ careers and the nursing program at Concord University.

“They’ve put in a lot of work. They’ve studied and proved themselves and they’ve been in the clinical setting already. Princeton, West Virginia and Athens, West Virginia we’re excited to have these nurses. Some of them stay local and combat the nursing shortage we have in our own community but also go far beyond the walls of our own community,” Amanda Nichols said, assistant professor for Concord University.

“So even though these are students that are well beyond the pediatric age, I still think of them as my…as my kids,” said Danita Farley, assistant professor for Concord University.

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