Abolishing the Pinning Ceremony

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Should the Pinning Ceremony traditionally held to honor graduate nurses be abolished?

    • 61
      yes
    • 245
      NO

306 members have participated

netglow, ASN, RN

4,412 Posts

Hey it's college. Graduation ceremony with all the other graduates is fine and enough. If there is a barbeque or a celebration somewhere afterwards then fine. But, the whole idea of a pinning ceremony was awkward and childish to me. I felt like I was back in a sorority or something (I was in one at my first college/degree) and, as an adult this made me feel foolish as a nursing degree is an academic accomplishment and not to be treated any different.

I also did not get any pictures taken of me in a traditional nursing uniform/hat. Pinning itself is silly. The college makes some cash off those expensive pins. I knew that thing would get tossed in a drawer or lost and who cares if it's lost? excepting that you dropped over $100 for it. Now if you are just a kid, all this sounds like it's fun and all, but as an adult it seemed absolutely ridiculous to me. Several of my classmates did not go to the pinning, I should not have either, but I thought it was so controversial at that point (and I wanted good reference letters from my instructors) that I went. I will say that I bought a $5 nursing pin to be pinned with, and that got tossed right before I put my blouse in the laundry.

allnurses Guide

Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN

11,304 Posts

I also did not get any pictures taken of me in a traditional nursing uniform/hat. .

That issue was one our class struggled with . . . should we wear traditional white for the pinning and/or class photo. Most of our class did not want to wear white for the pinning but we did end up wearing our white student uniforms for our photo (we had to wear all white as students).

Only one nurse wore a traditional white uniform with a traditional white nursing cap for the pinning and I thought it was kind of cool actually. But I just wore a simple dress.

I personally see nothing childish about the pinning BUT to each their own. A few of my classmates didn't attend for the same reasons you spoke about.

We graduated sort of incognito with the rest of the college - we simply wanted a way to celebrate among ourselves so we did our pinning the next night.

The college told the nurses NOT to do anything that would attract attention . . . but many of us (me included) wrote things on the top of our caps . . . mine said "RN" in gold lettering painted on by my mom.

TLCmommyof3

40 Posts

I am a older student I can honestly say I want to be pinned when I graduate. Nursing school is a huge accomplishment and I would feel upset if my school didnt have one. I like traditions and find nothing silly or foolish about it! I say light a fire under your dean and get what you deserve! While some people may not want it, the ones that do should be allowed to have the pinning ceremony.

Flare, ASN, BSN

4,431 Posts

Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

i did get pinned from my ASN program, but i don't recall a ceremony for the BSN program, there could have been one for the students that were not already rn's for all i know though. I got my bsn from a very large state school and the divide between RNs and non-RNs was very obvious.

cindyk123

12 Posts

Specializes in NICU.

I think the pinning cermony is so important. I attended one for my associate degree and was proud and excited about the whole thing. Last year I graduated with my BSN and was disappointed that pins were not even offeed for the graduates that were already RNs to even buy. They only had a ceremony for those that were new RNs. I would of loved to have had a pin from my BSN it took a great deal of dedication to complete with raising 3 kids on my own and having an injury that almsot disabled me.

klone, MSN, RN

14,790 Posts

Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I graduated from a community college, so our pinning ceremony was combined with the graduation ceremony, which was separate and just for the nursing class. It was pretty special, and we got to choose which instructor we wanted to present our pin to us.

My husband (who was then my fiance) also was graduating from nursing school, at a school across the country. His graduation/pinning was on the same day as mine, but he skipped his so he could drive 2000 miles to come to mine. True love!

I will be graduating from my BSN program this winter, but I will probably not attend the graduation (online, but they do offer an in-person ceremony). I just want the piece of paper!

kcdunlap

183 Posts

I graduated an ASN program last May. No pinning ceremony. If my aunt (A nurse herself) hadn't asked about my pinning ceremony I don't think I would have ever known about the tradition.

CountyRat

323 Posts

Specializes in Wilderness Medicine, ICU, Adult Ed..

Of course the pinning ceremony is "old school!" It is called, tradition. Traditions link us to those who have come before, and bequeathed to us the profession that we are now called to uphold. This is a beautiful thing that helps people see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves. The fact that other schools and other professions do not have this tradition makes it even better. That highlights the unique nature of our undertaking.

Oh, and just a note in passing; thirty years later, my Los Angeles County School of Nursing pin is still one of my prized possessions, and I wear it on my suit jacket or lab coat at formal and professional occasions. I am very proud to be part of that old fashioned tradition.

sallyp911

204 Posts

Do not abolish the pinning ceremony! Someone mentioned if they do, get together to have it yourself. Get your own pins made or ordered. Print out and use the social media network to get the word out!

Doing away with this traditional ceremony is so un-American! To me, that's like having only raw mushrooms and tomatos and water served at Thanksgiving dinner and no turkey or ham or going to a 4th of July celebration out in the woods to watch the moon rising or coming to a Xmas party with no presents to exchange, no food served, no TV watching but instead watching a bean seed grow.

If it means doing some kind of fund raiser due to budget cuts: do a car wash, have a multiple garage sale, cookie sale, etc, just do it.

Call the local TV or cable station why you're sponsoring this cake sale, car wash, house cleaning services. Not to get you or your school in trouble, but to gain better exposure to your cause.

Patti_RN

353 Posts

Specializes in ..

I attended a diploma program (I already had a BS and the accelerated BSN programs weren't yet an option). Since then I've added two rigorous graduate degrees. There wasn't an academic moment in my life as proud as when I finished nursing school. I had a favorite instructor who also was also one of my clinical instructors. She was a wonderful mentor and incredibly demanding as well as encouraging. In the couple months prior to my graduation she was diagnosed with cancer. I visited her in the hospital and asked her--if she were well enough--would she come to my graduation and give me my nursing school pin in the ceremony? The ceremony meant an enormous amount to both of us. I keep that pin in a drawer; I've never worn it since my instructor died. But, I do take it out and remember her grace and determination, both as an instructor and as a dying cancer patient. My story has no real place in this discussion whether to abandon these pinning ceremonies, but to me it was a deeply personal and meaningful moment in my nursing career that I'll always cherish.

the school doesn't pay for our pinning ceremony - it is held on campus in the gym but the students buy their pins and their "pinning whites" and the SNA pays for a small reception afterward...

I think there would be riots if they ever cancelled ours, and I attend a satellite campus of a HUGE university, in fact the BSN's (if they attend the RN to BSN program) also get pinned again...

RNsRWe, ASN, RN

3 Articles; 10,428 Posts

Huh. Well, let's see if you can figure out where I stand.

I graduated with my first degree (non-nursing) a whole pile of years ago. Had no interest in attending the graduation ceremony; they mailed me my diploma/degree.

I graduated with my second degree (nursing); I had no interest in going to that graduation either (yep, they mailed me that diploma/degree, too). HOWEVER, the PINNING ceremony you would have had to have used wild horses to drag me away from! That pinning ceremony was for my nursing school accomplishments, it was recognition of what I had done outside the normal "student" thing. This wasn't a ubiquitous degree in humanities or business administration, it was....NURSING. My family and close friends attended the pinning; as far as I was concerned, THAT was my graduation.

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