POINT LOOKOUT, MO. — The Armstrong McDonald School of Nursing (AMSON) at College of the Ozarks held its 16th Annual Pinning and Blessing Ceremony on Friday, May 9, at 4 p.m. in Williams Memorial Chapel.

Class of 2025 graduates, nursing faculty, family members, and guests of the graduates attended the event. A reception for the graduates and their families was held afterwards.

At the ceremony,18 students received a specifically designed pin that reflects the program’s five main pursuits of truth, character, critical thinking, the tenets of Florence Nightingale, and creating a nourishing environment.

Dr. Janice Williams, nursing program director, expressed how impactful this ceremony was and how proud she is of her graduates.

“The purpose of the Pinning and Blessing Ceremony is to celebrate the nursing graduates’ accomplishments and commission them for future service to the profession,” Williams said. “The ceremony signifies the completion of a rigorous education process and also a farewell to faculty and friends with whom they have shared the process. The nursing pin communicates the wearer’s earned right to the title of nurse and provides a tangible link to the source of their education. It has been one symbol of our service as nurses to others for over 1,000 years.

Dr. Kara Dougherty, RN, DNP, and FNP-C, was the keynote speaker for the event. Dougherty is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner who began her professional career in 1995. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, a Master of Science degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner from Texas Woman’s University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.

Dougherty holds 52 active licenses in advanced practice nursing and possesses a clinically diverse background spanning specialties such as emergency medicine/urgent care, retail health, general/internal medicine, physiatry, bariatrics, and telemedicine/virtual health. In addition to direct care delivery, Dougherty owns a medical-legal consulting practice. She has served as a clinical adjunct faculty in the Armstrong McDonald School of Nursing for the Class of 2025.

With the graduating class of 2025, 287 graduates have completed the AMSON program. These graduates have earned 100 percent first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam for the past six years. The program has also been ranked “No. 1 Best Program in Missouri” by RegisteredNursing.org in 2024.

The above press release is from the College of the Ozarks.