Mount Nursing majors and their families enjoyed the Blessing of the Hands Ceremony on Friday, October 4.
Mount Saint Mary College Nursing majors gathered at the college’s Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary on Friday, October 4 to receive a blessing for their hands: the most important healing tool a nurse has.
“Blessing of the Hands” quickly became a Mount tradition since its implementation about two years ago. This year, Fr. Gregoire Fluet, chaplain and director of Campus Ministry at the Mount, led the ceremony.
Dr. Jason N. Adsit, president of the Mount, congratulated the Nursing students for their choice to follow this noble career path. As the son of a nurse, Dr. Adsit has always known the dedication a career in nursing takes. And he will remain forever grateful to the dedicated nurses who helped save the life of his son, who just days after birth, fell gravely ill.
“My mother always said that nursing was a profession of the head, the heart, and the hands,” he explained. “It was the hands of a nurse who took my son to get the emergency care he needed…It was the hands of nurses that patted our backs as doctors talked to us about difficult decisions regarding our four-day-old little boy. Three weeks from now, that little boy is going to be eight years old, because of the hands of nurses.”
Susan LaRocco, Dean of the School of Nursing, told the nursing students to take a good look at their hands.
“What do you see?” she asked. “There’s 27 bones, three nerves, and some of the densest nerve endings in the entire body. But…your hands are so much more than the muscles and bones you learn about in anatomy. Your hands are an extension of your heart. They can comfort a crying child. They can provide a caring touch to a terrified patient. They also will develop the technical skills, skills you need to provide safe, effective care.”
She added, “Let you heart and your mind guide you always to provide compassionate, safe, and culturally appropriate care, now and throughout your career.”
School of Nursing professors assisted Fr. Fluet during the blessing, and Fr. Fluet ended the ceremony with the Mount Saint Mary College School of Nursing Prayer: “Guide us Lord, as we reach out to others to help them in their time of need. Provide us strength, compassion, and knowledge to care and lead. As we embrace others, please guide our heads and heart, and remember to take care of ourselves, so we can help others and do our part.”