St. Ambrose University students watch a dedication and blessing ceremony for the newly named Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing at St. Ambrose on Thursday, Oct. 17. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
The St. Ambrose University nursing department has begun a new chapter with a new identity. The Davenport university has renamed the department the Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing and the Nano Nagle Online Nursing Program. “Today, our stories become one. … We are a new light for our community,” St. Ambrose President Amy Novak said […]
Already a subscriber? Log in
Want to Read More?
Get immediate, unlimited access to all subscriber content and much more. Learn more in our subscriber FAQ.
The St. Ambrose University nursing department has begun a new chapter with a new identity.The Davenport university has renamed the department the Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing and the Nano Nagle Online Nursing Program.
1 of 6
Audience members, including nursing students, watch a dedication and blessing ceremony for the newly named Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing at St. Ambrose University on Thursday, Oct. 17. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
St. Ambrose President University Amy Novak welcomes guests to a dedication and blessing ceremony Thursday, Oct. 17, for the Davenport university’s newly named Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
The Center for Health Sciences Education at MercyOne Genesis, located off SAU’s campus at 1320 W. Lombard St., Davenport.
Luke Johnson, a senior nursing student at St. Ambrose, talks about the nursing program.
St. Ambrose President Amy Novak, center, talks with guests.
Sister Vicky Larson, PBVM, speaks during the ceremony.
“Today, our stories become one. … We are a new light for our community,” St. Ambrose President Amy Novak said during the department’s dedication and blessing ceremony Thursday afternoon, Oct. 17.The ceremony, which attracted more than 100 people, was held at the Center for Health Sciences Education at MercyOne Genesis, located off SAU’s campus at 1320 W. Lombard St., Davenport. The event was held as part of the St. Ambrose homecoming week activities on and near the central Davenport campus.
Event honors Presentation Sisters
The special event honored the Presentation Sisters for the group's $6 million in financial contributions and its longstanding legacy of nursing education and rural healthcare service, which continued with the founding of Presentation College in 1951 and recently closed.The Presentation Sisters have entrusted St. Ambrose to carry on their mission following the closure of Presentation College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, after the 2022-2023 academic year.Thursday’s ceremony marked the continuation of Presentation’s signature online nursing program, now named the Nano Nagle Online Nursing Program, in honor of Nano Nagle, the founder of the Presentation Sisters. (St. Ambrose announced the opening of Nano Nagle Online School of Nursing at the Davenport-based university in 2023.)“Today is a capstone moment. … We had to have the courage to set it free and trust St. Ambrose,” said Sister Vicky Larson, PBVM, speaking on behalf of the Presentation Sisters.In addition to dedicating the new department name, the event’s activities also included a history lesson on the Presentation Sisters. Some of that history, which was featured in a video, includes:
The Presentation Sisters was founded by Nano Nagle in Cork, Ireland, in 1775. She established secret schools – called hedge schools – for Catholic children, who were barred from education by British law.
In 1880, the Presentation Sisters were invited and came to Dakota Territory from Dublin, Ireland, to teach the children of the Lakota people and French settlers.
In 1886, three Sisters responded to Rev. Robert Haire’s invitation to launch Sacred Heart School in Aberdeen and soon were staffing parish schools around the Diocese of Sioux Falls. When a diphtheria epidemic struck the Aberdeen area in 1900, the Sisters were asked to care for the sick.
Presentation Sisters have been missioned to Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala and Zambia, Africa. With this same spirit, the congregation began a ministry in 2002 with Hispanic immigrants.
In 1951, the sisters founded Presentation College to fulfill their mission of rural health care and service through nursing education. Due to financial challenges, the college closed its physical campus last year.
“After 60 years of higher education in Aberdeen, the Sisters partnered with St. Ambrose University to carry on the legacy and light of Nano Nagle through the Presentation Sisters Department of Nursing,” according to information from St. Ambrose.The theme of “carrying on the light” was heard and seen throughout much of the ceremony. That theme was to honor Nano Nagle, who was described as a woman who “carried her lantern among Cork’s attics and alleyways, bringing comfort and hope to the city’s poor, sick and elderly,” materials from Presentation College said.“Today, you are shining your light on others,” Sister Larson said.“Our collective vision of an education rooted in person-centered care, enhanced by technology and deeply infused with our Catholic social teachings, finds a home in the spirit of Nano Nagle, whose pioneering ministry was never bound by geography and who called all who serve alongside her to be of service to others in any part of the world,” Ms. Novak said in previous news release announcing the online nursing program.The program is designed to extend the reach of online nursing education across the country by offering flexible, remote learning opportunities for working healthcare professionals.But much of the celebratory event was focused on the future. Online and on-campus nursing students told the crowd how the nursing program is getting them ready for the work world.Luke Johnson, a senior nursing student at St. Ambrose, told the crowd that he once saw the nursing field as a scary place. However, St. Ambrose is preparing him for the health care field.“They have loved me like my own family. … This is a place where minds can be molded,” he added.
