Joplin, MO. – Nearly 30 nurses were warmly welcomed into the Freeman fold Tuesday night during a graduation ceremony that’s unique to this area.

Resembling athletic signing day celebrations often seen at high schools and universities nationwide, these graduate nurses – who have completed their two years of schooling but have yet to take their National Council Licensure Examinations (NCLEX) to become registered nurses – inked their signatures on dotted lines while loved ones looked on and future Freeman co-workers cheered and applauded their accomplishments.

“I am very appreciative of those around me and how hard they’ve worked to become nurses,” said Camrie Davis, a graduate nurse who will work for Freeman orthopaedics. “Anybody who you went to school with, they all become a sort of fellowship to you.”

Nurses serve as linchpins to any functional hospital or healthcare system, said Freeman Health System President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Fry, speaking to the assembled graduate nurses and their families at the Ron Richard Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus.

“A patient spends five percent of their time with physician and about 95 percent of their time with a nurse or nurse tech,” Fry said, “So, it is truly vital to us that we bring nurses into our system who are consistent with our mission, vision, values. I think we’re confident today that everyone joining the team fits that bill.”

The graduate nurses recognized during the ceremony included: Shelby Blythe, Karen Gonzalez, Aiddenn Vanatta, Jadyn Fox, Victorea Stephenson, Jaylen Evans, Adeline Vanderpool, Karleigh Schoenberger, Paige McIntire, Amber Opel, Alexia Ingold, Esmeralda Martinez, Jacob Pearce, Danielle Russell, Mickayley McCluney, Heather Autry, Blair Wilson, Taylor Young, Madison Burkhart, Amanda Weaver, Rylie Tyer, Dylan Byrd, Camrie Davis, Molly Kesler, Mackenzie Droessler, Megan Blair, Brittney Clark, and Anistyn Honey.

To learn more about Freeman Health System’s nursing programs, visit freemanhealth.com.