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Members of the Graduate School of Nursing Class of 2018 gathered with fellow students, faculty and guests to celebrate their achievements at the 2018 graduation celebration at UMass Chan Medical School on Wednesday, May 31.
Following brief remarks from GSN Dean Joan Vitello, PhD, Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Provost Terence R. Flotte, the annual awards were announced for remarkable academic, service and clinical accomplishments.
Chancellor’s Award winner Colette Dieujuste, MS, was lauded by Chancellor Collins for her doctoral dissertation on postpartum depression in Haitian women. The Community Service Award was accepted by Priya Gandhi, RN, on behalf of a unique community care organization that offered itself as a site for clinical placements for GSN students, thereby enhancing the educational enterprise. Gandhi and her husband founded Amrit Sabha Adult Day Care for elderly South Indian Americans.
New this year was the Humanism in Health Care Award for a student or faculty member who is an exemplar of and advocate for compassionate patient care, demonstrating the essence of humanism through intention, action and eloquent reflection. Kathleen Schultz, BSN, RN, a Doctor of Nursing Practice student, was the inaugural recipient of the award. Janet Hale, PhD, professor of nursing, associate dean for interprofessional and community partnerships, and director of interdisciplinary and community partnership, who created the award, read aloud a first-person reflection by Schultz that demonstrated her commitment to compassionate care. Schultz recorded her experience with a Vietnam War veteran who revealed his PTSD to her in what would prove to be his final hours. Her ability to connect with and make an impact on a patient through her humanism and compassion allowed him to finally find peace after more than 40 years of mental anguish, according to Dr. Hale.
See the full list of awards and recipients below.
Chancellor’s Award
Colette Dieujuste, MS
GSN Dean’s Award
Margaret Donovan, MS
Carol Bova Scholarship
Amanda Cornine, BSN
Lillian R. Goodman Award
Thin Aung, BSN
Annie Vigeant Worcester City Hospital Scholarship
Ryan Flynn, RN
Paulette Seymour-Route Scholarship
Rachel Richards, MS
Suzanne T. Sullivan Scholarships
Catherine Piro, BS, and Leigh Remington, RN
Mary K. Alexander Academic Achievement and Leadership Award
Cecily Kulsick, BS, RN
Lucie D. Russell Briefcase Awards
Nicholas Chasse, RN, and Florence Gichuhi, MS, NP
GSN Community Service Award
Amrit Sabha Adult Day Care
Jane McCue Magner Award
Samia Ahmed, RN
Humanism in Health Care Award
Kathleen Schultz, BSN, RN
Commencement Speaker
Amelia Nelson, MS, NP
Related story on UMass Chan News:
GSN class speaker Amelia Nelson will improve clinical care with doctoral acumen
