May 2006

May is a month for celebrating Spring with its tender beauty, mothers with their tender love, and nurses with their tender care. Thus, May provides a perfect opportunity to honor and appreciate those who give so much each day in caring for others. Nurses are our primary contact in getting well, being well, and staying well.

I am pleased to honor all nurses during National Nurses Month—and Carlow University nurses in particular. As the president of Carlow University, an institution that has educated generations of inspired and inspiring nurses, social workers, counselors, and teachers, I am regularly reminded of the vital work that our graduates do—work that exemplifies all that our University represents: commitment, competence, and compassion exemplified in leadership and service.

Carlow University involves persons, primarily women, in self-directed lifelong learning which enables them to grow intellectually and spiritually, to respond reverently and sensitively to God and others, and to render competent and compassionate service in personal and professional life . During its 76-year history—and true to its mission rooted in the legacy of Mother Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy—Carlow University has dedicated itself to ensuring that the women and “a few good men” it educates are strongly positioned to lead others and to work for the good of all. And the spirit at Carlow is characterized by a climate that has always been present on our campus: a “high care” culture which affirms that “At Carlow, I Matter.”

What we recognize about those students who come to Carlow to train as nurses--or those who are already nurses who come to Carlow to gain additional credentials—is that they are truly committed to every patient. For them, every patient matters. I take enormous pride, for instance, in our many nursing graduates who have won “Cameos of Caring” awards. Last year alone, seven Carlow nursing school graduates received this important honor, joining many others over the years who have been recognized for their outstanding competence, compassion, and leadership.

Carlow University is celebrating its 50 th year of providing nursing education in this region and is proud of its more than 4,800 nursing graduates. Carlow's School of Nursing recently received a ten-year re-accreditation based on the quality of its programs. Over 70% of our nursing graduates pursue their careers in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Importantly, our faculty members have committed themselves to ensuring that those who want to be “high care” nurses will, for years to come, have enough instructors to make sure that caring traditions continue at Carlow. In fact, they are launching an RN to MSN program for nurses who may wish to become nurse educators in addition to serving in clinical capacities. For more information about this new program for nurse educators, you may check out the Carlow website at www.carlow.edu where you will also find an article in the most recent Carlow Journal on this program, or you may call Carlow directly at 412-578-8764.

To further ensure that there will be future nurses and future nursing educators, this Summer, Carlow is sponsoring a three-day intensive workshop for high school juniors and seniors who are interested in pursuing academic programs in preparation for caring professions. This program, “Prepare to Care” will address the need and the necessary credentials to pursue these careers. For further information, please contact Laurie Petty at 412-578-8851.

Florence Nightingale once said, “Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive a devotion, as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or cold marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit?” I believe that nursing is one of the finest arts.

Carlow University is pleased to educate exceptional nurses in this region, to teach this important art, and to partner with others in Pittsburgh who share our commitment to nurturing and educating the whole person—and especially those who are called to the caring professions.