MCC’s Newest Nursing Graduates Worked Frontlines of COVID-19

Amid chaos and fear in the face of the global pandemic, a group of Middlesex Community College nursing students stepped up to staff the college’s COVID-19 testing site when called upon in 2021. On Thursday, May 25, many of the same students will walk across the Lowell Memorial Auditorium stage on their graduation day. Carolyn Walsh, MCC’s Director of Nurse Education, called the students’ historic path to graduation day “courageous and admirable.”

“MCC’s 2023 nursing graduates completed a rigorous two-year nursing program and were the first nursing class to enroll and start their nursing educational journey at MCC during the height of a global pandemic,” Walsh said. “Nurses are on the front lines of healthcare and often transform chaos into control. The college, nursing program and students did just that by responding to the communities’ immediate healthcare needs of COVID-19 testing and vaccination administration across the community and on the MCC Bedford campus. I am proud of their perseverance coming together as a team, a class, and more importantly, as future nurses to care for those in need.”

Under challenging and unprecedented circumstances, MCC’s nursing students gained valuable, hands-on experience performing the testing and vaccination work. Before graduating, they played a vital role in helping to save lives and keep the community as safe and healthy as possible.

They also completed their education under stricter restrictions, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) requirements and clinical limitations. Their graduation comes at a time when they are needed most with staffing shortages and having to navigate the new normal.

Ahead of graduation, the graduates attended MCC’s first in-person Health Pinning Ceremony since the pandemic on Tuesday, May 23. The ceremony is an honored tradition in healthcare for graduates to receive a pin and recite an oath to practice their profession honorably.

The oath reads: “As I enter the nursing profession, I pledge to practice with integrity and to use the knowledge and skills that I possess to provide quality care. I will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping. I will honor each individual under my care with the understanding that they are unique in body, mind, and spirit. As an advocate, teacher, and healer I will work to promote wellness in individuals, families, and communities. I will uphold the standards required of the nursing profession and apply evidence-based practice to all the care that I provide. To the best of my ability, I will contribute to the advancement of the nursing profession.”

MCC’s 2023 Commencement ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 25 50 East Merrimack Street. Whether full- or part-time students, the graduates have endured many obstacles on their paths to successfully entering the nursing field.

“Our nursing students balance full-time jobs and other family commitments,” said Ann McDonough, Coordinator of MCC’s Part-time Nursing Program. “With all of these demands and those of the pandemic, they have a lot to be proud of.”