UMass Chan presents white coats to future nurse practitioners, asks them to be ‘generous listeners’

The Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing at UMass Chan Medical School presented 50 Doctor of Nursing Practice students with their white coats on Tuesday, Sept.15, in a celebration recognizing their transition into clinical practice and marking a pivotal education and career milestone.

Family members, guests and faculty were on hand to watch the second-year students receive and don their white coats and recite the Nightingale Pledge in unison in the Albert Sherman Center Auditorium. 

Terence R. Flotte, MD, the Elisabeth Chair for the Dean of Medicine, executive deputy chancellor, provost and dean of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, opened the ceremony and emphasized the importance of advanced practice nursing in providing healthcare access, particularly in rural areas and for underserved populations.

“You have the potential to provide access to care for a broader range of patients, which is a key to long term health of populations,” Dean Flotte said. “You are in areas where we need you so much and we appreciate your dedication to advancing your credentials to be able to provide care.”

Joan Vitello-Cicciu, PhD, the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair in Nursing, dean of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing and professor of nursing, encouraged the future nurse practitioners to embrace the practice of “generous listening.”

“As nurse practitioners, your clinical expertise will be essential. Yet some of the most meaningful healing you provide may come through your ability to listen deeply to the stories, fears, hopes and experiences of those entrusted to your care. Every patient has a story, and those stories deserve to be heard,” Dean Vitello said.

To help illustrate her message further, Vitello introduced a pair of speakers, DNP student Amanda Berry and Angelina Coco, DNP ‘20, AGNP-C, a nurse practitioner at Worcester Health Care for the Homeless.

Berry, who received her white coat during the ceremony, shared her story about growing up in Newtown, Connecticut, and how she was profoundly affected by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

In May, Berry received the first-place award at the 22nd annual Gerald F. Berlin Prize for Creative Writing Award Ceremony for the piece that she shared, “The Look on Their Faces.”  It describes how her father’s presence following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook and the response of the Newtown community impacted her understanding of what it takes to be a nurse.  

“Growing up where I did, I learned how much courage it takes simply to remain present,” Berry said. “So in pediatrics, I show up. I pull the chair close. I kneel so I’m at eye level with parents and patients. I explain things more than once, not because they aren't listening, but because fear rearranges what the brain can hold. I write instructions down. I pause long enough for questions that are hard to ask. I have learned that information can be a form of comfort, that clarity can steady someone who feels like the ground is moving beneath them.”

Coco read a poem called “Meet Me Where You Are,” about how healing starts with being present in the places where patients feel safe to share their story.

DNP third-year students Mark Long and Brianne Sutherland led the Class of 2028 in the nursing pledge and addressed the meaning of receiving a white coat. Susan Feeney, DNP, MS, FNP-BC, NP-C, associate dean for advanced practice programs and associate professor of nursing, led the presentation of the white coats to the Class of 2028.

DNP students who received their white coats 

Watch the ceremony on YouTube.