Paying it Forward” - School of Nursing - West Virginia University

fear that after graduation we will all be on our own, isolated
and alone with no one to rely on.
The second theme I noticed in the conversation was that
of friendship. We talked about how grateful we are for each
other. We talked about how lucky we have been in our
cohort to have really bonded as a group and made some
wonderful, lasting friendships through this program. We have
been able to support each other through difficult times and
rely on each other for help and advice.
So take a moment and consider the two themes. Our
main concern seems to be that we will be alone and isolated
in practice, but in reality we will never be completely on our
own. Not only do we have the rest of the healthcare team in
our practices to rely on for support and advice, but we also
have this wonderful network of friends and colleagues we
have developed in our time together in school.
I tried to find a great quote by a famous nurse about
working together or collaborative practice, and could not find
any. What I did find were many quotes like this one by
Eleanor Robson Belmont who said, "If you want a thing done
- go, if not - send. I belong to that group of people who move
the piano by themselves." I think this is telling because nurses
tend to be the sort of people who try to do everything on their
own, but we know from research that the best patient
outcomes result from collaborative practice, and it's
comforting to know that we do not have to do everything
completely independently. We should not be thinking this
way because working together provides the best care. So I
have to borrow a quote from management guru Ken
Blanchard who reminds us that "None of us is as
smart as all of us." So keep in touch with your
classmates, colleagues, and mentors and let's
continue to rely on each other for help, support,
advice, and also friendship!
In closing there are many people we would
like to thank. First, thank you to all our mentors,
preceptors, and teachers, some of whom are here with us this
evening. Many of these wonderful people were working on
their own studies in the PhD and DNP programs and had
many other obligations, but they still found time to help us,
teach us, work with and guide us, and we are so grateful to
them.
In addition we would like to thank our families and friends
who have been there for us all through a difficult and often
stressful program. They have supported us in so many ways,
cooking dinner for us when we were in class, being a shoulder
to cry on when we were overwhelmed, taking up the extra
slack around the house when we were short on time, helping
out with chores, child care, and more. And all the while
understanding when we were too busy to spend the time
together that we normally do. You have supported us
emotionally, mentally, sometimes financially and we really
could not have made it through without you. Thank you!
And finally take a look around at all your classmates who have
helped you through this program and give each other a round
of applause because we are graduating! Congratulations
everyone!
“I am glad the School of Nursing gives us the
opportunity to work with faculty nurse
practitioners,” said Genevieve Larimer.
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