Madison Long
Life Editor
“My husband, who’s a professor in business, and I have talked about this a lot,” says Sue Anderson, associate dean and director of the School of Nursing. “He said, ‘Your nursing students have the most responsibility of any student on campus. If my business students screw up, somebody may lose some money. If your nursing students don’t know what they’re doing, they can kill someone.’”
As May rolls around, seniors in the nursing program are reflecting on their long hours spent in clinicals and classes.
For seniors like Katilynn Gist, some days involved questioning lecture material or feeling frustrated when the patient in bed C didn’t receive the care they deserved.
However, other days, like May 9, will soon be welcomed with a sense of pride, accomplishment and heavy emotion. Every questionable test grade, every empty Monster can and every pat on the back from Mom has come to this moment.
On that day, Gist will meet up with Anderson on stage, where she will the ISU pin emblem symbolizing her position among the ranks of 3,100 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and 20,000 registered nurses (RNs) in Idaho according to the 2024 Idaho Nursing Workforce from Idaho Center for Nursing.
According to the Denver College of Nursing, this pinning ceremony accompanies traditional commencement and certification exams. The practice dates back to the 12th century when monks joined the Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist.
In modern times, the pinning ceremony was revived in the 1860s when Queen Victoria honored Florence Nightingale with the Red Cross of St. George for her work in the Crimean War. Later, Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, shared the honor by presenting medals of excellence to her brightest nursing students.
“Nursing is one of the most versatile professions where it doesn’t just have to be bedside patient care,” says Cara-Lee Esplin, clinical associate professor in the School of Nursing. “Nursing has informatics. Nursing has entrepreneurship. Nursing has a public health aspect. Nursing encompasses the whole person.”
The ISU nursing program began in 1956 while the school was still known as Idaho State College, operating as a part of the Kasiska Division of Health Sciences. The program maintains high standards for students and provides experience across a variety of clinical areas. It also offers Idaho’s first nurse anesthesia program, serving as a leader in nursing education across the state.
Although Gist started at ISU for physical therapy, working directly with clinicals and patients confirmed that nursing was the path for her. After graduation she plans to return to her home state of Alaska, working in the pediatric unit and NICU of a hospital in Anchorage. Her goal is to ultimately work in pediatric oncology for cancer care.
“The reality is you’re never going to stop learning. There’s always something more to question, a new condition, something that you haven’t seen,” says Gist. “If you have an opportunity to do something, it might be the only opportunity you have to do it. Don’t be afraid to jump in.”
Currently, the ISU School of Nursing offers several education opportunities – a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.), a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), a Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.), a graduate nursing education certificate, a Family Nurse Practitioner to Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate (FNP to PMHNP) and a Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP).
Anderson mentioned a possibility of adding terminal degrees, which represent the highest level of academic credential available in the field. These degrees expand nursing into clinical practice, leadership, research and knowledge generation.
“I’ve always told my students that any place where there’s a human being, there’s a place for a nurse,” says Anderson. “We are very essential to the health of Idaho. The students, every day, inspire me.”
The ISU Nursing Program pinning ceremony will take place May 9, 2026, at the Stephen Performing Arts Center from 2-5 p.m.