Nearly 300 hundred students gathered for nursing convocation at Florida Hospital Church on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012. The annual program is an opportunity for them to put aside thoughts of tests and clinicals, and focus instead on the bigger mission of their profession, says Department of Nursing Chair Jan Preston.

This year’s event featured talks by Pumla Johnson, Sharon Cooper, and Garry Howard—all alumni of Adventist University's Department of Nursing. Each shared recollections of trials and successes as students, and told stories of moments on the job that renew their motivation for nursing.

“As you enter a patient’s room, you are standing on holy ground,” Preston said. “God’s spirit is with your caregiving.”

Near the end of the program, students ceremoniously washed each other’s hands and dedicated them in service to God.

“It was beautiful,” says Lidermi Suarez, second-year nursing major. “It made me feel closer to my classmates, and is definitely something I’ll remember and talk about in years to come.”

By Rainey Park