One of the highlights of this year’s graduation ceremony for Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing came when Dean Janet Mackin, RN, Ed.D., announced that one of the 92 students who received their diplomas was her sister, Marcy Hohorst.
There was a collective gasp from the audience at the ceremony, held on Wednesday, June 2 at Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, because the relationship was held confidential to ensure no favoritism. The Admissions Committee had accepted her on her own merits and Dr. Mackin maintained a professional distance.
Hohorst, formerly a Wall Street stock broker, is not the only new nurse in the family. Her daughter Lauren graduated from SUNY Delhi’s nursing program two weeks earlier.
As for the men in the family, father Walter Cienski is a man ahead of his times. “Our dad has always been so proud to be married to a nurse,” said Dr. Mackin, who grew up in Bayside. “He started a family and all of us have spouses who are strong supporters of our careers.”
Shown here, matriarch of the family of nurses Caroline Cienski, RN, (center) exults after the ceremony with daughters (from left) Janet Mackin, RN, Ed.D.; Carol Caruso, RN and new nursing graduates granddaughter Lauren and her mom, Marcy Hohorst.
-Victor G. Mimoni
