Goettl urges graduates to always remember their purpose

Bradley Goettl, DNP, DHA, APRN, FAAN, FACHE, welcomed undergraduate Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston students into the “best profession in the world” on behalf of the American Nurses Association (ANA) during the 2026 commencement on May 13 at NRG Arena.

Goettl is chief nursing officer of American Nurses Enterprise, which includes the ANA. He delivered the commencement address honoring more than 500 graduates at the ceremony where they were conferred Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing degrees.

“Each of you has been tested in different ways,” said Goettl. “You did it while training at one of the nation’s top nursing schools, in the heart of the largest medical center in the world.”

In preparing for the address, Goettl looked through his “forever box,” where he stores mementos and memories of a career that spans more than two decades. He reflected on the nursing pin he received when he earned his BSN, and his badge from his first nursing job in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, population 780.

“I could barely recognize the guy in the picture, but I remember how I felt when I received it,” he said.

He read a letter from a patient with neck fracture who remembered little from his emergency department experience except Goettl’s voice. From his flight nurse days, he recalled being shaken to encounter his father at the scene of a friend’s motorcycle accident.

“In that moment I froze. I could not separate the scene from the person standing there,” Goettl said. “Brad, lock it in!” a colleague told him, then he sprang into action. He encouraged graduates to “lock it in” and rely on their skills and their teams when they encounter patients and situations that trigger emotional responses.

Goettle closed by giving students three pieces of advice – don’t be afraid to innovate when their career takes unexpected turns; remember the power of nursing and use their voices not only to comfort patients but to advocate for the profession; and to fill their own “forever boxes” with stories that remind them why they became nurses.

Cizik School of Nursing Dean Diane Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, RN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FSAHM, FAAN, spoke during ceremony, as did UTHealth Houston President Melina Kibbe, MD.

“You know what guides clinical decisions,” Kibbe said of the graduates’ learning and experiences at Cizik School of Nursing, “but your compassion will often be what patients and families remember most.” 

PhD graduate Caitlin Weinheimer delivered opening comments, and BSN-DNP graduate Allison Rogan—a second-generation DNP alumni—provided closing remarks.

Learn more about special awards given during the commencement ceremony.