On August 27, the UConn School of Nursing held its annual Transitions to Clinical Ceremony where third-year students gather to celebrate the next chapter in their nursing education.

The first two years of a UConn nursing students education provides them with a foundation of nursing, research, and clinical application. In their third and fourth years, students participate in small-group clinical experiences allowing them to apply what they have learned in a variety of settings, guided by expert nurse faculty.

During their clinical rotations, students will encounter profound experiences—whether holding a newborn for the first time or offering comfort to a patient at the end of life.

“The Transitions Ceremony is an important milestone in a nursing student’s educational journey,” said Elizabeth Mayerson, DNP, FNP-BC, CNE. “To the students, it represents the excitement of starting off campus clinical. As a faculty member, I see the transitions ceremony as the first step in a student’s professional development.”

During the ceremony, the class of 2027 heard from Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson, Ph.D., RN, FAHA, FHFSA, FAAN, Clinical Instructor, Amanda Moreau, MSN, RN, student David Gorski ’26 NURS, and Mayerson, an assistant clinical professor and director of prelicensure programs.

Every student’s name was called and celebrated individually. After, Gorski led the junior class through the PRAXIS pledge. Faculty and clinical staff then administered lavender essential oils on their hands, symbolizing spirituality, purification, calmness, and higher consciousness. Students took a quiet moment to reflect on why they made the decision to become a nurse while participating in the traditional “Blessing of the Hands”.

As the class of 2027 enters this next chapter, they are reminded of the words of Florence Nightingale: “Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses. We must be learning all of our lives.”