Water poured over the hands of each student, cleansing them for the healing work they will do over the academic year, as a blessing is said.
QUINCY, ILL. -- It's a new school year for nursing students at Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing.
In celebration, the college hosted its annual Commitment to Care ceremony Wednesday at the Town & Country Inn & Suites.
Nursing Student Victoria Steiner was one of 400 future nurses in attendance.
"Eight years ago, my mom was diagnosed with cancer and it was at that point I decided to switch careers. It was the only time I've had that light bulb moment of going, I've always wanted to help people and this is exactly how I'm going to do it," Victoria Steiner.
Sitting down in small groups, each student spoke about the importance of good care and why they chose to step into the role of a caregiver. For Steiner, it all came back to her mother.
"The blessing that came out of that is that I'm now going to go forward and honor the care she received and provide that to others," Steiner said.
"Nurses are in very intimate, private spaces with patients. It's our privilege to get to be a part of that and it's a huge responsibility," Pamela Brown, CEO and President of Blessing-Rieman said.
The ceremony ended with a Blessing of the Hands, reminding them of the healing work they will do over the academic year.
"Our hands are used with patients all the time, to heal, to comfort, to hurt. We hurt patients sometimes to help them heal and to think about your hands and what that means to patients," Brown said.
"This will be the first time I will have had my hands blessed. But I think it's a really neat experience that we'll get to have. To receive a blessing as we go forward, our hands are hopefully providing a lot of good blessings to the community," Steiner said.
Wednesday's blessing included incoming students and upper classmen, many of which are excited to start the school year with a new simulation lab.
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