Billed as “the Magnificent 17,” graduates of the Kauai Community College Nursing Program took the next step toward becoming Registered Nurses on Saturday at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center.
Professor Maureen Tabura of the Nursing Program said the candidates must successfully complete a series of tests before becoming Registered Nurses. On Saturday, the RN candidates received their Nurses Pin, recognized as a badge of honor among the healthcare industry, after receiving their degrees during the 60th Annual Kauai Community College Commencement.
The Magnificent 17 includes Rochelmae Balboa Agustine, Corban Allard, Shier Cassandra Asuncion, Kimberly Anne Blanes, Mary Clair Constantino, Ma Victoria Cristobal, Kiane Dalit, Tatsiana Dashkevich, Erika Faye Esposo, Veronica Udarbe Fernandez, Harlee Fujimoto, Sean Reed Himongala, Josey Jacinto, Naomi Kaauamo, Alexie Lane Schwarze, Paris Tengelder and Elizabet Taylan.
As a “graduation present,” each of the Magnificent 17 earned a $1,000 award from the Pauline and Nicholas EZ Street Scholarship that, according to Tabura, is to be used toward paying for the final series of exams that will result in them becoming nurses.
Tabura noted that the KCC Nursing Program has had a 100 percent success rate for five years during the nurses exam, and depends on the scholarships, including the Street Foundation, the Mokihana Club Scholarship, the Poipu Rotary Club Foundation, the Jo Douglass Nursing Scholarship, and the Nicholas and Margaret Carlozzi Scholarship.
The Jeanette Justice Memorial Award, one of two special awards presented to Nursing students, was awarded to Josey Jacinto, and the Josefina Abaya Cortezan Nuring Award was presented to Shier Cassandra Asuncion.
The group of nurse candidates and teachers, including Tabura, spared no tissues as they recounted their two-year journey through the program before receiving the Nurses Pin from a loved one, similar to how police and firefighters receive their badge.
The nursing pin, according to the National Library of Medicine website, is a 1,000-year-old symbol of service to others.
The earliest ancestor of the pin dates back to the Maltese Cross, adopted by Crusaders and worn on their habits as a symbol of service to Christianity. Florence Nightingale, recognized as the first nurse, also had an influence on the pin. The most recent ancestor of the pin is the hospital badge of 100 years ago that was given by the hospital school of nursing to the students to identify them as nurses who were educated to serve the health needs of society.
This is the root of the KCC pin that features the emblem of the University of Hawaii with accompanying symbols representing constant learning.
