Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Faculty, Administrators, Friends and Family and, of course, the graduating Class of 2008, my name is Leat and this is Liana, and we are honored to be speaking before you today. Liana and I have been friend’s way back since bio 11, and I am honored to be standing beside her today.
As I am about to graduate from a place I considered home for the past 3 years, I realized that I have learned so much more then the nursing curriculum that I was enrolled in. as I look back I can remember what attracted me to nursing in the first place. In 1999, at the young age of 57, my father was diagnosed with Non- Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, stage 4. As my mother and I spent every waking hour nourishing him back to life I noticed that a spark was ignited in me. Spending months in the hospital caring for him while he got treatment allowed me to realize how much I had it in me to give and care for others. I started volunteering at hospitals and noticed how I strived to keep doing more. I got my bachelors degree in psychology and finally I ended up in this amazing nursing program. Eight years after I first found my passion I am happy to say that my father is still in remission and I am finally going to be an RN!
With the successful completion of this program I am able to see what a true nurse really is all about. To me nursing is about caring, about touching peoples lives and wanting to leave them a little better then they were when we started caring for them. It’s about therapeutic communication, and understanding what each patient needs. I have treated many patients over the past 2 years from the elderly to the infant to the mentally ill and terminally ill, everyone might appear different however they are all seeking the same thing. Everyone just wants to get the best care possible and know that someone is caring for them as they would for themselves. This is what unites us as nurses. The ability to give each patient what they require along with the...