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As a new nurse, Alison Gates Brown ’78 just wanted to gain experience. But over the course of her career, her curiosity led her from the bedside to the boardroom.

“Starting out as a novice nurse, I wanted to experience all aspects and settings of nursing practice," said Brown, the recently retired President of University of Maryland Medical Center, as she spoke to the future nurses seated in Ira Allen Chapel for the Department of Nursing’s annual White Coat Ceremony on September 27. “Becoming a hospital executive was not on my radar when I was sitting where you are seated today.”

In her first nursing position, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, Brown gained experience in medical-surgical nursing, the cardiac intensive care unit, and the cardiac catherization lab.

Her next nursing role was in a 50-bed hospital in Middlebury, Vermont. During that time, while she was off-duty and visiting an elderly neighbor, a home health and hospice nurse came to change a dressing on the woman’s leg. The experience inspired Brown's next career step as a visiting nurse, which gave her a closer view of the impact of social determinants of health.

“I learned about all the factors that contribute to health and to chronic disease: Where you live, the food you eat, your education, your family structure, access to transportation, the effect of  isolation - and fear of having to go to the hospital,” said Brown. “At the bedside or in someone’s home, I could see the impact I had on the lives of individual people."

"However, I wanted to see how I could impact the health of people I would never see,” she added. 

Brown next earned a master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University, where she took accounting and health care finance electives in addition to the required courses in biostatistics, epidemiology, infectious disease, and environmental sciences. She thought the electives were a practical choice, and they served her well as she took on a position at a public accounting and management consulting firm.

“Our clients were hospitals. And with my seven years of clinical experience, I was at ease talking with hospital administrators and physicians while I was learning the business aspects of problems we were engaged to sort out. I started out knowing what it meant to work on a team, and with my nursing experience, how to problem solve, how to assess a situation, gather data, analyze trends, and formulate plans and solutions to a complex problem.”

One role led to another, and fifty years after starting her nursing career, Brown retired from her position as President of the University of Maryland Medical Center. Her advice to the future nurses was to become responsible and trustworthy leaders, and to be open to new opportunities.

“There are so many places where you will find nurses doing interesting things in a variety of roles and organizations,” Brown told the students in closing. “As you take this big, huge, beautiful step, know that you are also taking on the profound responsibility of people placing their trust in your hands. This is how you will be the nurse, and the leader, the world needs.”

Following Gates’ remarks, Department Chair Rosemary Dale, Holly and Bob Miller Professor in Nursing Leadership, explained the white coat's symbolism as the representation of a promise to heal and to care, and faculty distributed the coats to the students.

This year’s White Coat Ceremony, the tenth annual, included the inaugural cohort of �պ�����’s new direct-entry master’s degree program, an option for those without a nursing background to enter the profession. In all, 135 second-year undergraduate and 27 direct-entry graduate students received white coats at the ceremony.

Nursing White Coat Ceremony Oath

As a nurse dedicated to providing the highest quality care and service, I solemnly pledge that I will:

Consider the welfare of humanity and relief of suffering my primary concerns.

Act in a compassionate and trustworthy manner in all aspects of my care.

Apply my knowledge, experience, and skills to the best of my ability to assure optimal outcomes for my patients.

Exercise sound professional judgment while abiding by legal and ethical requirements.

Accept the lifelong obligation to improve my professional knowledge and competence.

Promote, advocate for, and strive to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient.

With this pledge, I accept the duties and responsibilities that embody the nursing profession.

I take this oath voluntarily with the full realization of the responsibility with which I am entrusted by the public.