College of Health Professions students to take part in Scroll Ceremony

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
Office of Media Relations
October 2, 2015

More than 300 students in the College of Health Professions at Texas State University will take part in a Scroll Ceremony Saturday, October 3.

Richard Cheatham, former dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Texas State, will address the students. Following the address, Ruth B. Welborn, dean of the College of Health Professions will lead the students as they recite the oath.

The Scroll Ceremony is sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation (APGF) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Launched last year, the ground-breaking collaboration between APGF and AACN was developed to promote humanistic, patient-centered care among future generations of registered nurses. The St. David’s School of Nursing at Texas State was one of 60 schools of nursing selected to receive funding support for a White Coat Ceremony. Recognizing that nurses work as part of a team, the other seven departments in the College of Health Professions were invited to join the nursing students in their version of the White Coat Ceremony, termed a Scroll Ceremony.

Though White Coat Ceremonies have been conducted by medical schools for more than 20 years, the APGF-AACN initiative marks the first time a coordinated effort has been developed to offer similar events at schools of nursing. Erbin-Roesemann, director of the School of Nursing, and the nursing faculty will pin the nursing students with a specially designed pin provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.  The pin serves as a visual reminder of their oath and commitment to providing high quality care.

"A growing body of research shows that compassionate care is linked to superior patient outcomes, lower levels of provider burnout, and higher satisfaction among all members of the healthcare team," said Dr. Richard Levin, president and CEO of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

The College of Health Professions holds that superior patient outcomes are attainable through the collaborative work of all health professionals and challenges the clinical laboratory science, communication disorders, health administration, health information management, nursing, physical therapy, radiation therapy and respiratory care students to provide humanistic, compassionate care to their future patients.