Vent! They cancelled our pinning!

Nursing Students General Students

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Okay, so I just heard today that my school is refusing to let us do a pinning ceremony for the graduating nursing class! They said if you want to "graduate" you can do it like everyone else at the normal graduation, and we'll just give you a pin there too. Take into consideration the school pays for none of this ceremony. It's all money raised by fundraisers, money given mostly by the students. But they are refusing to let us have this ceremony on campus. I still have one year left, so I have a year to fight this but it's totally screwing over (pardon the language) the people that are graduating now. It would be one thing if it was a school tradition to do a pinning, but for goodness sake this tradition has been around for all nurses for forever! We've tried to get the faculty involved, but their hands are tied since it's all the administration that decided this. We've thought about doing the ceremony off campus but to rent a place, and get everything that we need it's would be just too much money. I know the people graduating now are really bummed because they have no chance to fight this. I just don't understand how they can do this! I'm sorry I just had to vent. All i know is i'm going to fight like heck to make sure my class has a pinning ceremony even if it has to be in my backyard! Thanks for listening/reading.

Thank you to everyone for your fantastic suggestions and honest opinions on this matter. I know we're definitely going to admin first, see what we can fight/persuade out of them, and then see where we are at and figure out things at that point. A pinning is really important to me (and my family, my mom and grandma are nurses and they would be really bummed if they couldn't see me get "pinned" like they did in school) but i know it's not important to everyone, which is totally fine, everyone has the right to their opinion. That's what makes this site so great! But an extra thank you to the few that kept this post on track so i didn't have to spend an hour reading 8 pages when i should be studying! :typing Thanks again to everyone - I'll post again once we figure something out to let you all know what happened! :heartbeat

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I respectfully disagree back -- the original point of the pinning ceremony (the tradition posters here want to maintain) was that it was the graduation ceremony, the school putting its final "stamp of approval" (the school's pin) on the graduates. For students to organize and put on their "own" pinning ceremony makes exactly as much sense and has exactly as much legitimacy as the students organizing and putting on their own commencement ceremony. If it's not an official act of/by the school, it's pointless and just an imitation or parody of "real" pinning ceremonies. If graduating students want to throw themselves a great party to recognize their own accomplishments, their families' contributions, etc., I think that's a great idea and every graduating class should definitely do that -- but don't call it a "pinning ceremony," because it isn't.

Nursing students should have their pinning for two very important reasons:

1. It is a LONG standing tradition in the profession.

2. It is NOT the same curriculum as the REST of the college.

Does the faculty happen to mention at these regular graduations that nursing students have to meet a HIGHER academic standard than EVERY other non-healthcare discipline in the college?

Nope...they sure don't.

That is why not having a pinning ceremony is such a slap in the face.

I 190% disagree with you that there is a "growing trend" on ditching the pinning ceremony because the administration of schools don't think that nursing departments should have their own...it's because the schools simply don't want to fund it...but if the students raise their own money SPECIFICALLY for this purpose, and the school yanks the privilege, then they need to be taking that money and splitting it among all the graduates who worked to earn it.

Heck, why don't we just ditch the robe and mortar board and wear regular clothes to graduation because the original significance of wearing such garb doesn't exist anymore....

http://www.herffjones.com/capgown/college/index.cfm?at=8&con=8

I think that little things like this, is what diminishes the prestigue of the profession of nursing. It's not the same degree as any other...period.

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Nursing students should have their pinning for two very important reasons:

1. It is a LONG standing tradition in the profession.

2. It is NOT the same curriculum as the REST of the college.

Does the faculty happen to mention at these regular graduations that nursing students have to meet a HIGHER academic standard than EVERY other non-healthcare discipline in the college?

Nope...they sure don't.

That is why not having a pinning ceremony is such a slap in the face.

I 190% disagree with you that there is a "growing trend" on ditching the pinning ceremony because the administration of schools don't think that nursing departments should have their own...it's because the schools simply don't want to fund it...but if the students raise their own money SPECIFICALLY for this purpose, and the school yanks the privilege, then they need to be taking that money and splitting it among all the graduates who worked to earn it.

Heck, why don't we just ditch the robe and mortar board and wear regular clothes to graduation because the original significance of wearing such garb doesn't exist anymore....

http://www.herffjones.com/capgown/college/index.cfm?at=8&con=8

I think that little things like this, is what diminishes the prestige of the profession of nursing. It's not the same degree as any other...period.

:yeah::yeahthat::pumpiron::clphnds::hdvwl:

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