“As nurse graduates, you have chosen wisely with perfect timing,” said Tim Mislan, BSN, MS-NEC-BS, Missouri Baptist Medical Center vice president and chief nurse executive and a member of Goldfarb’s board of trustees. On Dec. 17, 140 nursing students received their diplomas at the Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing fall commencement event at Powell Hall. The graduating students received Bachelor of Science in Nursing or Master of Science in Nursing degrees before a crowd of their family and friends.
Tim Mislan, BSN, MS-NEC-BS, Missouri Baptist Medical Center vice president and chief nurse executive and a member of Goldfarb’s board of trustees, served as the event’s keynote speaker. Mislan recognized the graduates’ achievements and advancement within the nursing profession as a result of their hard work, and he emphasized the importance of the core values they learned at Goldfarb, including communication, teamwork, efficiency, attentiveness, compassion and dedication.
“As nurse graduates, you have chosen wisely with perfect timing,” said Mislan.
The perfect timing he referred to is two-fold. First, there’s a push for more hospitals to gain Magnet status, an award given by the American Nurses' Credentialing Center, an affiliate of the American Nurses Association, to hospitals that satisfy a set of criteria designed to measure the strength and quality of nursing.
The Magnet Recognition Program recognizes health care organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice. Hospitals preparing for Magnet status need nurses on staff who have the training and experience to help achieve that level of excellence in every facet of care. MBMC, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Boone Hospital Center, Memorial Hospital Belleville and St. Louis Children’s Hospital are Magnet-recognized hospitals within the BJC HealthCare system.
Second, according to a recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, the health care industry is looking to nurses to take on leadership roles in meeting the demands of the changing health care system, as nurses compose one of the largest segments in the U.S. workforce.
Mislan went on to read highlights from letters he received from patients who were treated at MBMC, as well as from their families, about the positive experiences they had with their nurses and how vital the nurses were to the care received and overall hospital experience. He asked the graduates to create those important, impactful and even small moments in patients’ lives and to help shape the nursing profession as they grow in their careers. He concluded by challenging the students to practice the Magnet standards every day and to fill the leadership roles noted in the IOM report.
The Goldfarb program educates BSN-prepared registered nurses to be providers and managers of care across the health and illness continuum. Students are taught by an experienced faculty of registered nurses and other licensed professionals with practical knowledge and applied skills in their field of expertise. Classes and skills training are held on the college campus, while clinical training is conducted at local hospitals and other approved facilities.
Goldfarb administrators have played a significant role in developing both the Magnet Recognition Program and the IOM's Future on Nursing report.
“We’re very proud of what our students have accomplished, and we’re confident that the education they received at Goldfarb will give them the basis they need to be successful in their career and in life,” said Gretchen Drinkard, PhD, RN, interim dean for Goldfarb.
Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing is currently accepting applications for their BSN and MSN programs. To learn more about Goldfarb, go to www.barnesjewishcollege.edu.
