Skip to Main Content

This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.

Chat with TESU

University Celebrates April’s Accelerated BSN Program Graduates

W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions' live virtual Pinning Ceremony on April 22.

The W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions honored graduates of its Accelerated BSN Program’s April 2021 cohort with a live virtual Pinning Ceremony on April 22.

Accelerated Nursing Program’s Virtual Pinning Ceremony Marks More Than a Rite of Passage

The W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions at Thomas Edison State University honored graduates of its Accelerated BSN Program’s April 2021 cohort with a live virtual Pinning Ceremony on April 22.

The pinning signifies a ceremonial entrance into the profession for graduates who are now eligible to take the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). The April 2021 cohort represented 17 students who entered the program with non-nursing undergraduate degrees and successfully completed 60 Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) credits within the program’s compressed timeframe.

For the April 2021 cohort and the school’s staff and educators, the customary ceremony marked a year that was anything but routine. "Members of this cohort began the program two weeks after the state's COVID-19 lockdown," said Dr. Lia van Rijswijk, associate dean of Undergraduate Nursing Programs at the school. "They adapted continuously to pandemic-related changes and requirements and, during their final semester, eagerly responded to a sudden surge of requests from the Trenton Department of Health to mobilize quickly in administering what would amount to thousands of COVID-19 vaccinations to at-risk populations in our community. They were also among the first nursing students to return to onground clinical rotations at Capital Health and St. Peters University Hospital and remain there through the next waves of COVID cases."

During the ceremony, program graduate Gianna Sabidussi of Lambertville, N.J., received the Dr. Christine M. Rosner Clinical Excellence Award. The award honors the memory of Rosner who served as an associate dean in the school before her untimely death in 2014.

"This cohort represented extraordinary students who successfully navigated through the formative phases of their education and training during the largest public health crisis of our generation," noted van Rijswijk.

To learn more about this and other academic programs available through the W. Cary Edwards School of Nursing and Health Professions, visit www.tesu.edu/nursing.

Vi-Anne Antrum, DNP

"I was able to understand and build on the foundation that I already had to be able to serve people better."

Watch Vi-Anne »

CCNE Accreditation