Nursing Honor Society Induction Includes U of A Nursing Students

Photo by Heidi Stambuck

A nursing student looks up after reading the Sigma Theta Tau International pledge.

The Pi Theta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International inducted 84 new members at a ceremony Nov. 17, the majority of whom are University of Arkansas nursing students.

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing at the U of A hosted the event at a Fayetteville restaurant. Inductees included students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice and R.N. to B.S.N. programs as well as a few practicing nurses in the community.

Additional photos can be viewed at the Facebook page of the College of Education and Health Professions.

Guest speaker Charleen McNeill, assistant professor of nursing, asked the inductees to think about what they will do with the blank pages before them.

"What will your story be?" McNeill said. "The future is yours to create."

She said when she became a nurse, it was partly for pragmatic reasons, that she would be able to find a job wherever the family moved while her husband served in the military. She is also a veteran of the U.S. Army.

"I didn't realize the impact nursing would have on me," McNeill said. "I didn't understand the impact I would have on my patients and the impact they would have on me. Nursing is beautiful because there are so many paths you can take."

She emphasized the importance of conducting research to improve nursing practice. As a student, she remembered thinking that research was above her but faculty members helped her see she could do it.

"This induction recognizes your future potential," McNeill said. "It's not only about your accomplishments of yesterday but where you can go tomorrow."

Tom Kippenbrock, professor of nursing who served as emcee, described the history of Sigma Theta Tau International and its tenets. Six students at Indiana University established the organization in 1922, Kippenbrock explained. The organization has 500 chapters in 90 countries. At the U of A, membership is by invitation to nursing students who demonstrate excellence in scholarship and nurse leaders who exhibit exceptional achievements in nursing.

The inductees recited the Sigma Theta Tau International pledge as a group before crossing the stage for Tabatha Teal, clinical nursing instructor, to affix their pins. They also signed the chapter book and received a booklet of information. Other members of the chapter who assisted with the ceremony were Lauren Haggard-Duff, Audrey Weymiller, and Ginger Holloway. The program committee was made up of Teal, Anne Burnett, Cathy Hale, Peggy Lee and Holloway.

The inductees:

Julie Allen, Nicholas Antonelli, Caitlin Barnett, Millie Bates, Iris Berry, Pamela Block, Nicole Bolt, Tina Boris, Rebecca Boudreaux, Darcy Boultinghouse, Jessica Branum, Sarah Campbell, Cloe Cobb, Brenda Cupp, Jacklyn Curtis, Caroline Dillon, Jamie Dimick, Sara Doherty, Diana Dunbar, Stephanie Edmondson, Caroline Eudy, Anna Eye, Megan Ferguson, Gregory Forrester, Margaret Frame, Marietta Frazee, Amanda Fruen, Janet Gardner, Linzy Gaston,

Kelly Gilbert, Christina Gliedt, Ashley Griffith, Shayla Michelle Hadley, Katie Leigh Halsell, Whitney Hare, Caitlin Harkness, Wendy Hart, LaShanda Head, Deborah Henderson, Emily Imhoff, Talia Johnson, Bridget King, Kylie Kraner, Brooke Lea, Laura Lieberenz, Abby Martens, Macy McCammon, Katelyn McCarthy, Sarah McGittigan, LeAnn Metheny, Jonathan Miller, Katherine Moore, Alisa Myers, Jessica Newcomb, Alison Norman, Emily Pappas, John Casey Parks, Hannah Pate, Olivia Pennington,

Peyton Phelps, Kelly Picardi, Brittany Pierce, Pamela Ratliffe-Warner, Abigail Reggio, Erin Reynolds, Susan Rhodes, Theresa Rickert, Rochelle Samavati, Kendall Schoenekase, Murielle Sljivich, Bentley Snider, Kimberly Snyder, Amy Spinella, Elizabeth Stafford, Tabitha Steiner, Laura Stephens, JoBeth Thompson, Vivian Turner, Lindsey Tyndall, Rachel Waddell, Callie Ann Wagner, Kayla Wald, Paige Wells, Claire White and Natale Yates.

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing offers a Doctor of Nursing Practice online, a Master of Science in Nursing online and an R.N. to B.S.N. degree-completion program online as well as an on-campus Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The nursing school is located in the Epley Center for Health Professions, a facility that opened in 2012 with five high-fidelity simulation labs in which mannequins simulate patient conditions and offer scenarios for nursing students to address.