The Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing honored several recent graduates with awards for academic achievement and nursing excellence. Awards were presented at the 2024 Spring Pinning Ceremony.
Senior Honors in Nursing
Senior Honors in Nursing are presented to graduating students who show academic and nursing excellence. They must:
- have earned at least a 3.5 GPA on required nursing courses
- have shown exceptional performance in clinical practice as a provider of direct and indirect nursing care, designer/coordinator/manager of care, and member of the nursing profession.
This year’s recipients are:
- Megan Starr Morgan of Portland, who earned a Master of Science in Nursing through the Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing program.
- Kamren Belden of Portland, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the accelerated BSN program.
- Bella Miranda-Goeller of Portland, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the traditional BSN program.
Professional Excellence in Nursing Award
The Professional Excellence in Nursing Award is only given in years when the School of Nursing faculty identify a graduating student who excels in leadership, scholarship and the human science of nursing. To be eligible for this award, students must be:
- caring with self, clients, fellow students, faculty, health care providers and the community.
- a leader in multiple areas (may include clinical practice, student government, and the community).
- in touch with their own power and use it appropriately; have excellent communication skills in class, clinical and the community.
- a critical thinker that looks at multiple perspectives and shares own perspective (even when holding an unpopular view).
- respectful in dialogue with others.
- a potentially skilled scholar-clinician, demonstrating a high level of inquiry skills in the creation and evaluation of knowledge.
This year’s recipients are:
- Ryan Connole of Portland, who earned a Master of Science in Nursing through the Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing program.
- Courtney Bell of Beaverton, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the accelerated BSN program.
- Sarah Roberts of Portland, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the traditional BSN program.
Wilma Pope Alumni Award
The Wilma Pope Alumni Award honors Wilma Pope, who was a graduate of Good Samaritan’s nursing program and a former faculty member who taught in both the Emanuel and Good Samaritan diploma schools of nursing as well as the Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing. The award speaks to those characteristics that go beyond academic achievement, including caring in clinical practice and in university activities/classes, clinical competence, professional behavior and involvement/leadership in student organizations. This year’s recipient is Erin Gehrke of Vernonia, who earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the traditional BSN program.
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students
The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students is designed to remind students, even on the hardest days in nursing school, why they chose nursing as a profession. By recognizing nursing students for the above-and-beyond care and compassion shown to patients and their families, this award celebrates what it truly means to be a nurse. Students honored demonstrate a strong nurse-patient connection that makes all the difference to patients and their families in their health care experience and that makes great nurses truly great.
Following an open nomination period, one student in their final term from each prelicensure program (MEPN, ABSN, and TBSN) was selected for this distinction by Linfield’s DAISY Awards Committee. The recipients are kept a secret until the Pinning Ceremony on Commencement day. This year’s awardees are:
- Troy Gernhart of Portland, who earned a Master of Science in Nursing through the Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing program.
- Courtney Bell of Beaverton, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the accelerated BSN program.
- Nanea-Rose Ikeda of Wailuku, Hawaii, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through the traditional BSN program.
