TTUHSC Amarillo congratulates first BSN graduating class with ceremonial lamp lighting

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Nursing in Amarillo honored its first class of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates with a traditional Lamp Lighting Ceremony on Thursday evening.

During the ceremony, the 20 students of the first graduating class were each presented a lamp in honor of Florence Nightingale, who is known as the "lady with the lamp" and is considered the mother and pioneer of nursing because of her courageousness and devotion to the profession. Her work laid the foundation for modern nursing.

"This is Texas Tech's inaugural group of traditional BSN students, so we are very proud to be helping the community to help solve the nursing shortage. ... We are especially thankful for the community's support as we launch the traditional BSN program here," said Valerie Kiper, DNP, R.N., regional dean of the School of Nursing in Amarillo.

During the event, Michael Evans, dean of TTUHSC School of Nursing, congratulated the students via a video, reminding them of the momentous occasion and their bright futures. In addition, Glenda Harris, assistant chief nursing officer of BSA, presented the BSA "Bright Star" Award to graduate Taylor Keith. She stated she plans to stay in Amarillo after graduation and discussed her role as one of the first members of the nursing school's BSN graduating class.

"At first, I didn't even consider staying here," Keith said. "I thought I was going to move back to Lubbock, but seeing the population here and seeing how vulnerable it is here — especially because my end goal is to be a sexual assault nurse and seeing how prevalent it is here in the area — I knew I had to stay and serve the people here."

"This is something that everyone will look back on the very first lamp lighting, the very first class, and that is huge," said Keith, a Level 4 BSN student at TTUHSC. "I myself didn't realize how momentous this was, but it is — for us, the school, and the area. ... This is tremendous for the area. At the time (before the School of Nursing was established), it was just WT and AC. Tech was here, but not for the traditional nursing school program. Just being a part of it is an honor, and it's going to expand and get more nurses to the area as well."

The first graduating class of TTUHSC School of Nursing began the program in January of 2022. The traditional BSN program at TTUHSC offers state-of-the-art nursing education for students who are not yet registered nurses (RN). Upon completion of lower-division prerequisite coursework, students complete approximately 60 semester credit hours of upper-division coursework at TTUHSC across four semesters. New cohorts of 20 students begin the program every four months.

According to TTUHSC, the expansion of the traditional BSN program in 2022 added a physical presence for the School of Nursing on the Amarillo campus. The additional program has brought more opportunities to transform health care, starting with these 20 students in the inaugural class. The goal is to soon see more nurses remain in the Texas Panhandle after getting their educations in Amarillo.

“Even before the pandemic, the Texas Panhandle struggled to meet the demands for nursing in Amarillo as well as the vast surrounding rural communities. ... After years of working with our community partners, this is the first step in really making a positive impact in the nursing shortage in our area,” Kiper said in a news release.

During the ceremonial lighting of lamps, each student pledged to serve humanity, practice their profession and maintain the honor of their profession, before blowing out their candles, cementing their commitment to serve others.

Following the ceremony, the students presented one final unexpected gift, where they announced their purchase and proud representation to wear blue and white cords representing ALS in honor of Dr. Kiper and her impactful contributions to the students' education while overcoming the disease.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Lamp lighting celebrates TTUHSC Amarillo's first BSN graduating class