Elms College to Host White-coat Ceremony for DNP Students

CHICOPEE — Elms College School of Nursing will host a white-coat ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. to honor the college’s third class of DNP (doctor of nursing practice) students as they move from the classroom into clinical practice training. The 17 honorees started the program in fall 2016 and will begin their clinical practice in January. The ceremony will be held in Veritas Auditorium in Berchmans Hall.

“This ceremony formally acknowledges that our DNP students will begin their clinical rotations within regional healthcare facilities and practice settings, specific to their advanced nursing specialty track,” said Teresa Kuta Reske, director of Doctoral Studies and Program Development for the DNP program at Elms College.

The ceremony will include opening remarks from Kathleen Scoble, dean of the School of Nursing, as well as an oath, a blessing of the white coats, and the presentation of the coats to the students. The keynote speaker will be Lisa Erickson, director of advanced practitioners for Baystate Health System.

The DNP degree is a clinical-practice doctorate in an advanced specialty of nursing practice. In May 2019, Elms College’s DNP graduates will be eligible to take the advanced certification examination in one of the two specialty tracks: family nurse practitioner or adult-gerontology acute-care nurse practitioner. The college now also offers a doctor of nursing practice degree for qualified master’s-prepared nurses in a third track: health systems innovation and leadership.

“The Elms College DNP program addresses the growing need for advanced-practice nurses in adult and family care as the population ages and the demand for primary care continues to grow,” Scoble said. “Our first DNP-NP class has graduated and entered the practice field, and our second cohort will be graduating this spring. We are delighted to be marking the passage of our third cohort into their advanced-practice clinical training.”