More than 150 guests gathered from as near as Connecticut and as far as Kenya to celebrate the Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing (GEPN) students earning their Certificates in Nursing on September 25.
“It is well appreciated that the GEPN year is challenging, stretching and pushing you in ways you may not even have known was possible at the outset,” said Dean Ann Kurth ’90 MSN, PhD, CNM, MPH, FAAN of the grueling 11-month program that culminates in the NCLEX exam. And this year’s cohort made a hard pivot in the spring semester during a global pandemic.
“You applied to Yale before ‘social distancing, contact tracing, and quarantine’ were buzzwords, but your first year, and indeed the rest of your career, will be shaped by COVID-19,” said Kurth. “I am incredibly proud of the way each of you persevered and supported each other.”
GEPN Chair-elect Dr. Sascha James-Conterelli DNP, CNM, LM, FACNM saluted the students that she has come to know so well during an intense year. “You showed up, and showed out, even though we were online,” James-Conterelli said. “And you demonstrated to us that you are dedicated to this profession. You persevered, you raised the bar, and you demonstrated your excellence. You are a true demonstration of why YSN is what it is. I’m so proud of you guys!”
In a nod to tradition, the GEPNs then donned their white YSN baseball caps, and in a toast to their achievement, they clinked their glasses of sparkling cider provided by the school.
Congratulations GEPNs!