NMCP Celebrates 105 Years of the Navy Nurse Corps

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (NNS) -- The 105th birthday of the Navy Nurse Corps was celebrated May 13 at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth with a cake-cutting ceremony, recognition of the history of the corps as well as the dedication of all 1,336 nurses at the facility.

In 1908, several members of the first graduating class of the "Sacred Twenty" Navy nurses reported to what was then Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Now, more than a century later, the medical center is home to 1,265 registered nurses and 71 licensed practical nurses. Of those, 424 are active duty in the Navy Nurse Corps; 16 are deployed overseas.

As the ceremony remembered the past, it also looked to the future: Five newly commissioned ensigns were excited to finally celebrate the Navy Nurse Corps birthday as Navy nurses.

Ensign Leonard Wilson has already been in the Navy for 13 years, attaining the rank of Petty Officer First Class in the Hospital Corps. He'd served as a surgical tech at NMCP, and the Portsmouth facility was his first choice for his first duty station as a nurse.

"I like Portsmouth," Wilson said. "It's one of the biggest training hospitals [in the Navy]."

A native of Key West, Fla., he hopes to work in the Progressive Care Unit as well as eventually earn his Masters Degree.

Portsmouth was also the first-choice destination for Ensign Youela Arrington of Rocky Mount, N.C. She had been a recreational therapist for five years, working in vocational rehabilitation for adults with physical disabilities. Arrington joined the Navy through the Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program (MECP). She hopes to get her Masters Degree through the Duty Under Instruction (DUINS) program, going to grad school full time while in the Navy.

Ensign Carolyn Higgins' father was in the Navy, and while born in San Diego, she grew up in Pennsylvania. "I wanted to be part of the 'Big 3'" medical centers, she said.

Higgins' father died of cancer, which spurred her interest in working in oncology.

Ensign Heather Weaver visited Portsmouth while she was in school at Clemson and liked what she saw at the medical center. A native of Gastonia, N.C., she hopes to work in Labor and Delivery and eventually become a nurse midwife.

Ensign Sarilyn Escobar was born at Naval Hospital Guam, the oldest of seven children. Her father was a Marine, and before becoming a Navy nurse, Escobar was a corpsman, a surgical tech, for five years. She advanced through MECP and hopes to work in critical care.

Earlier, NMCP's Director of Nursing, Capt. Mary K. Nunley, told the new nurses, "Do your best wherever you are." She also encouraged each to find a mentor. She talked to them about seeing the big picture of nursing roles throughout the medical center; if there are more patients in another ward, they may be called to assist.

Nunley, who has been a Navy nurse for 26 years, advised the new nurses to focus on the job and learning the Navy. She also encouraged them to enjoy this stage of their lives and careers. She said, "These are the good old days."

She added that not only will they be caring for patients, but they will be training Navy Corpsmen, who, more often than nurses, deploy. "Your job is to prepare corpsmen to go far forward," Nunley added.

The ceremony featured well wishes from Rear Adm. Elaine C. Wagner, NMCP commander, who also read a message from the Surgeon General of the Navy. The ceremony concluded with the most junior commissioned Nurse Corps officer, Ensign Carolyn Higgins, and the most senior commissioned Nurse Corps officer, Capt. Elizabeth Savage, cutting the festive blue, gold and white cake with a naval officer's sword.


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For more news from Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, visit www.navy.mil/local/NMCP/ .