More than 120 Owens Community College students were recently bestowed honorary pins by the School of
Health Sciences signifying their graduation from the registered nursing program. The pinning ceremony is
part of a traditional nursing practice, which honors students prior to beginning their careers within
the health care community.
"The pin, through its symbolism, reminds nursing professionals of what it truly means to care for
others," explained Cynthia Hall, Owens’ chairman of Nursing.
Graduating nurses from Wood County include Amanda Anderson of Bowling Green, Kelly Chamberlain of
Perrysburg, Jeremy Clevenger of Northwood, Lorrel Clouse of Fostoria, Kathey Cramer of North Baltimore,
Laura Drouard of Rossford, Brittney Duran of Fostoria, Laura Fouty of Bloomdale, Michelle Grams of
Perrysburg, Tonia Groves of Fostoria, Denise Hoenshell of Fostoria, Dawn Hood of Rossford, Annette Kuhr
of Perrysburg, and Jessie Miller of Northwood.
Nurse pinning recipients also include Judy Pope of Bowling Green, Wendy Przeslawski of Wayne, Rebecca
Richards of Wayne, Darlene Stickles of Grand Rapids.
The nurse pinning ceremony originated in the 1860s at in London, England. Having been recently awarded
the Red Cross of St. George for her selfless service to the injured and dying in the Crimean War,
Florence Nightingale chose to extend the honor she received to her most outstanding graduate nurses by
awarding each of them a medal of excellence. The practice of awarding nurses a badge was soon after
adopted, and the first pin was awarded to the Class of 1880 at the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing
in New York City.
The RN program at Owens was established in 1969 as the first associate degree program of its kind in
Northwest Ohio. Since then, it has graduated more than 4,200 nurses.
Owens’ registered nursing program requires 73 credit hours of coursework, which includes nutrition,
nursing concepts, pharmacology, life span psychology, nursing skills, adult health issues, and anatomy
and physiology. Following graduation, students are eligible to take the NCLEX-RN licensure examination
to become a registered nurse.