Nursing Pinning Ceremony to be held at Ivy Tech Community College

July 20, 2005      

BLOOMINGTON, IN – Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington will graduate 37 students in the Practical Nursing program during a pinning ceremony on Friday, July 22, 2005, in the Student Commons. The pinning ceremony program features Sonya Zeller, a former instructor at Ivy Tech-Bloomington, as guest speaker. Zeller was selected as guest speaker by the graduating class. She is Executive Director of Cancer Services with Bloomington Hospital.

With this graduating class, Ivy Tech has graduated 2,053 students who typically fill nursing and allied health positions in Monroe and surrounding counties. Affiliated clinical institutions include Bloomington Hospital, Hospitality House of Bloomington, Meadowood Retirement Community, Richland Bean Blossom Healthcare Center and The Residence at McCormick’s Creek.

The Practical Nursing program has witnessed several generations of families graduate from the program since its inception in 1966, and this will be the case once again this week. Following Friday’s ceremony, Dana Farmer will join her three sisters and her mother as graduates of Ivy Tech’s Practical Nursing program. Her mother, Martha Nail, completed the program in 1979. Her older sisters, Jennifer Nail, Shelley Myers and Krista Norris, graduated from the program in 1990, 1999 and 2001, respectively.

John Whikehart, Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington Chancellor, says this class is one of the larger classes to graduate from the Practical Nursing Program in current years. “We are proud of those students being recognized during the pinning ceremony. LPNs are an integral part of any health care team and many of our students fill important roles in nursing and allied health throughout the state.”

 The Practical Nursing Program at Ivy Tech Community College-Bloomington is a one-year course that leads to a technical certificate. This accredited program prepares the individual to take the state licensure exam to become a licensed practical nurse.