my first cap was white cotton with a drawstring in the back. it sort of favored an old pioneer sunbonnet only without the large front part. the front was only about 1" wide. my second was made of organdy and pretty much required starching every time we wore it. my third was a standard sears-roebuck generic one.....i lost it sometime in the early 80's.
my pin was 10 kt gold. kind of a round oval.....with the university seal in the center. it was stolen from my lab coat at work one day. i later found one in a pawn shop. it isn't gold but gold plated, but since it was all i could find i bought it for $5. i think the first one was like $50. (gold)
Specializes in Informatics, critical care, research.
I was not required nor expected to wear a cap. I did not buy nor feel the need to buy the pin. Last time I wore a cape, I was 7 years old and it was for halloween. I was Bat-Man!
My Class did not place any value on the caps since they are germ havens and also logistically dangerous. We felt the nurses safety was more important than the "tradition". Thus, many had a cap-burning or cap-stomping ceremony. I didn't destroy my own cap, but I never wore it after nursing nschool, and have no idea where it ended up after several moves.
Most of us did keep and wear our pins. To be honest, after all these years of nursing, I don't wear my accolades, but I still do have the pin in my keeping. I also still wear nurse dresses if I am working in an environment that I know I can safely give care while wearing it.
Yes, we had nursing caps. They looked like oragami! Once we were seniors, we got the velvet black stripe glued to it! So tacky. All we did was hit our now 4 inch taller heads on the tv's in the patient rooms. Our school also still made us buy and wear our dresses on certain occassions--not just our pinning ceremony. It was OLD SCHOOL. We were also not ever allowed to wear anything resembling a sneaker/tennis shoe or clogs that were open in the back. Our poor males had these awful white lace-up clown shoes they made them wear. Our instructors all wore their nursing caps from their schools. Many also wore their dresses, and multiple nursing pins. It was like a parade from a museum. A coworker of mine says they had CAPES!! OMG, I would die.
I was broke (seems to be the story of my life!), so I opted to use an old pin I owned instead of buying a nursing pin. The cap was optinal so I flat out did not bother to purchase of find a replacement!!
All i remember about my cap is it was white and a real pain when i had to wear it during clinicals.I would bend over, hit, the siderail,the curtain, even the pt a couple times,lol.I do remember a stripe on the side corner.I also had a pin, round gold, size of al little bigger than a nickel.I was SO glad i didnt have to wear my cap when i graduated, they had stopped that soon before i graduated...
Specializes in Peds, Home Care, Cardiology, Pulmonology.
Wow, I graduated way back in the day.
I have a cap, pin and cape!
My cap was a horror...needed to be starched by hand, then pasted on the fridge or a clean window until it dried.....peeled off very carefully and then a flap folded into the top, near the brim, carefully wetting it with a syringe of water...then you had to wet the string and carefully P.U.L.L the string and shape the cap how you wanted it!!! Praying all the while you didn't break the string!! Once pulled you kept it in an old candy tin or bowl so it would keep it's shape!!
In school we had dark green velvet stripes attached to our caps with good old KY jelly...one for each year. Our cape was dark green wool[which I was allergic to]!
Didn't wear my cap much after grad, it got too soggy and limp, going in and out of croup tents........boy THAT really does show my age.
I keep my pin in my jewelry box and my cape in the cedar closet.
I worked so hard for that white cap and pin, I will probably keep it forever.
Nice to hear from one of my cohorts.I remember croup tents. Our capes were navy blue and warm as toast during the cold Pennsylvania winters. Scrubs are so much easier to work inbut we lost something when we lost the mystique. Thanks for reminding me
i have the nursing pin. its my school emblem with a pinholder that says bsn. i decided to go all out with my nursing pin instead of buying a class ring. i felt getting the pin best represented my accomplishment graduating than the ring did. (anyways it was cheaper hehe).
My cap is well... white... :chuckle with a snake shaped like an S with a sword through his center on one of the wings. I actually really like my cap and if I can get it on by myself, I'll probably want to wear it to work when I graduate.
Haven't gotten my pin yet. If I make it through this last year of nursing school, I'll get it at graduation!
Pin, no cap, our school dropped caps sometime before I went there. My pin is almost an inch of octagon madness with the lamp over our school's funky logo. It looks like a startrek communicator thing from the next generation. I'd wear it though, 'cause I earned it, except that um. The pin part on the back just seems flimsy to me, and I don't want to lose it.
NexLvlDad
33 Posts
I was not required nor expected to wear a cap. I did not buy nor feel the need to buy the pin. Last time I wore a cape, I was 7 years old and it was for halloween. I was Bat-Man!