Midland College Associate Degree Nursing graduates were pinned at a ceremony on Dec. 10 in the Allison Fine Arts Building Wagner & Brown Auditorium. The pinning ceremony is a tradition for nursing schools, marking the transition from nursing school to nursing practice. The nursing pin has a long and honorable history. The tradition of pinning began in 1860 when Florence Nightingale was awarded The Red Cross of St. George by Queen Victoria for her service in the Crimean War. Nightingale shared this honor with her nursing school students by giving each graduate a badge. By 1916 the pinning ceremony became an established tradition of nursing schools. Nursing graduates are: Mireya Barrera, Alexis Beltran, Melissa Contreras, Laken Ellison, Beatriz Enriquez-Marrufo, Erika Fuller, Margarita Galindo, Norma Garcia, Allison Hancock, Laura Ember Hurtt, Josselyn Kinsey, Lorena Lopez, Madeline Matthews, Bailee Maxwell, Jesus Montes, Kristen Munoz, Shelbi McDuffie, Audreyanna Rodriguez, Tiffany Sauceda, Perla Torres, Mariana Urias, Georgina Valles, and Yvonne Varela. The Wallace W. and Kathleen Irwin Nursing Scholarship Awardees are: Mireya Barrera, Beatriz Enriquez-Marrufo, and Margarita Galindo. These graduates are now prepared to take the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) for Registered Nurses and will provide healthcare to citizens throughout West Texas.
