help me buck the system, please! super-traditional pinning ceremony that nobody wants - page 11

1. 
   Jan 20, '05

   Lots of great posts with lots of great advice.
   
   I agree that you should write up a professional letter, clearly outlining that the class objects to the attire and the location, giving reasons for these objections, and presenting a viable alternative. I also think that one poster's idea of copying the board of education is a great idea.
   
   My pinning ceremony is on Feb. 8, and it's being held at the university. The only requirement that the School of Nursing put on us is that we all wear matching scrubs, and the class got to vote on the color. We voted on blue, and it doesn't even have to be the same shade of blue...as long as we all wear a pair of blue scrubs.
   
   Good luck with this...you've worked too hard to let anything mar your pinning ceremony.
   
   ~Joanna
2. 
   Jan 20, '05

   I can't believe that the facility is deciding what you wear at your pinning. I graduated from CCRI in RI and they let us decide to wear a white outfit of any kind. Most peolpe wore scrub tops but I bought a real nice white dress top, I didn't like the idea that they tried to tell us what to wear then. We were thinking of showing up in all dress clothes but the majority decided not to. Good luck in changing there minds. Thats what I'd like to do with people who try to take over our ceremony. Ahh! If you decide not to attend I'd understand because I almost didn't go either. Congrats at becoming a nurse. Good luck on the NCLEX.
3. 
   Jan 20, '05

   For my pinning we wore our student uniforms. That what was we wore as we struggled to become nurses and it seemed appropriate to wear that to our pinning. It was a brief but meaningful ceremony held in a classroom with treats and punch provided by the teachers. It meant more to me than the graduation and in hindsight I would have skipped the graduation ceremony and just had the memory of the pinning.
   I skipped my first Master's ceremony as well and I will probably skip the next one (which is coming up soon but would involve a trip to Arizona). As some have said, it is the achievement of the goal that means more than the ceremony celebrating it (to me anyway).
4. 
   Jan 20, '05

   has op ascertained that the other 'available' places are really available and not booked up or too expensive??? it is considered cute to assume that a conservative person is out to cram their ideas down someone else's throat...this is not the truth but it gives a aura of correct behavior vaudavillian use to wrap themselves in the american flag to get applause...now the clinch word is separateion of church and state...
   i have attended classes in churches where a room had been rented...everyone was motivated by the discussion at hand and not on what the rest of the building was for.
   or how well clothed the statue of Jesus was...it he was presented in a tux what differance would that have made
5. 
   Jan 20, '05

   I am in an ADN in a county cc, and after reading this thread I will be checking on where our ceremony will be and required wear (if any). I am also Jewish and would absolutely raise the church location issue with the administrators. I am not at all hesitant about attending other religion's services, and as a guest have been overjoyed to have been asked to observe many beautiful, deeply moving services from many different denominations. But this will be MY ceremony, and I would be offended if there were Christian overtones to the ceremony. Indeed, I would not want there to be Jewish overtones either. Unless the school is a religious one, religious overtones are simply out of place. I say this as a very observant fellow, who finds religion an integral part of my life.
6. 
   Jan 20, '05

   my pinning ceremony had similar issues. they required the women to wear the stupid cap. i did not attend the ceremony because of the cap issue. to this day i do not regret not attending.
7. 
   Jan 20, '05

   Quote from actioncat

   You said it. I did not buy a pin. I did not attend a pinning ceremony. I did not attend commencement. I worked hard to achieve good grades in nursing school, but in the end, all that really matteed to me was how much I knew and getting my license.
   Anyway, I don't have any advice to offer, but just wanted to say that must have been horrible to have to wear a cap! And I don't think it is really proper for a state funded school to be holding the ceremony in a church and for it to have religious overtones. It looks like you have your work cut out for you.

   My LVN class will be graduating tomorrow afternoon, but I won't be attending.I honestly don't feel like I've accomplished my goal until I have the license in one hand and a job offer in the other. Ceremonies are fine, and my classmates are quite excited, but I'm 51---not 21. I am still studying hard to pass my NCLEX, and I see less than half my classmates at free review sessions at school. Many have not done any studying since Christmas. (We finished school Dec. 22). I will go out to a nice dinner when I pass the NCLEX, and let you all know about it! -Charlie :chuckle
8. 
   Jan 20, '05

   Rachel in NC....welcome to nursing! You will learn to pick your battles wisely...with that said...YOU enrolled in a small traditional, conservative school. Did you do your homework about their traditions? I doubt your class is the first to do this! Nursing is rich in tradition and capping, pinning, white dress, on and on is part of it. Yes, most object...but it is part of paying your dues! I, being a man had to do some of that too. Flower on one chest, pin on the other and solid white> Heck, I suprised they didn't ask me to wear the cap. Just my humble opinion, please respect the traditions of that school and nursing in general. Too many people have gone into nursing for the money, or job opportunities, without giving a hoot about the history and traditions..That is a shame! I enjoyed my "old diploma nurse instructors" (who now all have the MSN or Phd.'s) It was so interesting hearing the stories and traditions. I work with a lot of women and there is a sign at work hung up by a women for the women.....it reads...."time to put your big girl panties on and deal with it". Well put. Just know that you fought the good fight and represented your fellow classmates well by advocating for them, but expecting to change a college's system or traditions probably isn't going to happen. Don't lose sleep over it...Enjoy your moment as a graduate! Best of luck on your NCLEX and career.
9. 
   Jan 20, '05

   Why don't you just skip the ceremony if you have so many concerns about the whole thing. Some people were complaining about every little thing about our pinning ceremony, my advice to them was either come and just do it and focus on the most important goal...(becoming a nurse) or stay at home and complain. In ten years its not going to matter where the ceremony took place, or what you had on.

   Quote from rach_nc_03

   Hi all-
   
   I'm posting this in the general discussion rather than the student discussion, as I want to hear from people who were successful in doing something like this.
   
   I'm the president of my ADN class, graduating this May. We have 17 students, 14 of them women. Our faculty is, almost entirely, *extremely* conservative, and the school is in a very small town. Our pinning ceremony is held in a church, and has pretty significant christian religious overtones, which I have a problem with; I think it's an inappropriate blurring of the line between church and state (this is a state-funded community college), and I've had a few students express discomfort with having the ceremony in this church. By the way- it's only held there for faculty preference; there's plenty of room on campus.
   
   My main concern, though, is the attire for the ceremony. We're being forced to wear white dresses and caps. Now, we have to wear the caps in most clinical rotations, which is enough of an indignity (people think we're kidding, that other staff members are playing practical jokes on them by sending students in the room with caps on...it's nauseating, but I've tried to change this with no success). But I think it's ludicrous to insist we wear them at the pinning ceremony. It's *our* event, not the faculty's. In my opinion, the requirement that women wear dresses is inappropriately sexist, and from a logistical standpoint, *nobody* should be spending money on a white dress that will gather dust forever, when we have the expense of the NCLEX looming in our immediate future.
   
   We have one student who wants to wear a white dress, and the others are adamantly opposed to it. I'm looking for ways to approach the program director with alternatives...I think that I need to have some suggestions, or he's just going to shut it down completely. Personally, this issue is important enough to me that I won't attend the ceremony if we have to wear the dresses. I know of at least 2 other women who plan to do the same thing.
   
   My current plan is to have a meeting with the director and my vice-president to discuss the feelings our class has about the issue, and suggest a couple of alternatives- wearing nice, 'dressy' outfits, or wearing our clinical uniform (white smock and lab coat with navy pants). I'd like to hear from anyone else who had to address this issue, and how you resolved it. I'm also open to any suggestions *anyone* has...this director is extremely old-fashioned (he said he'd have us all wearing black stockings and orthopedic shoes, if he had his way), but he also respects me *specifically* because I'm confident and outspoken. By the way, if this were not the prevailing feeling of the other class members, I'd just skip the ceremony...I'm treating it like a class issue because I feel that's my role as the class president.
   
   Also, please don't try to convince me we should be wearing the dresses. I don't really give a hoot about someone else's traditions that encourage disrespect and sexism, so the 'traditional' nurse's uniform is something I refuse to ever put on my body. I find the caps degrading enough...I am a medical professional in training, and there's nothing more irritating than having a doctor or nurse or patient say, 'how *cute*!!' when I walk into a room. If you disagree with me, I certainly respect your opinion, but I am absolutely certain of my position on this subject.
10. 
    Jan 20, '05

    Dear Todie,
    
    She already said that because she is class president, she feels obligated to stick up for the general wishes of those who elected her.
    
    Dear Rachel,
    Great thread you started. It's fun to read everyone's comments. I don't blame you for hating the caps, after having to wear them to clinicals! Maybe you can find a nice Jewish attorney to accompany you to discuss the matter with administration.:chuckle
    
    Don't forget my advise ACLU !
    
    Sincerely, Jan
11. 
    Jan 20, '05

    It amazes me how so many people don't support the OP and how many posts this has generated.
    
    She presented her case in a reasonable manner and asked for other ideas -- she did not ask for criticism for wanting change (which, if you've read her posts, her class supports -- she is class president). Plus the students PAY for their own pinning ceremony so they think they ought to have some say; and I agree.
    
    We NEED flexible, thinking nurses who look for new ways of doing things, not doing something just because "we've always done it that way"...but doing things because they are the best solution to the problem.
    
    The best pinning ceremony I've heard of so far was krmmom42's.
12. 
    Jan 20, '05

    I understand how you feel. looking at some of the class pics in the past show that they require the same outfit at my school... with a purple SMOCK on over it!:uhoh21: just like our clinical uniforms (all white head to toe, some instructors even say we need white underwear, bras, and hose) I don't like it and I don't look forward to it. however, it's one ceremony that I have to do to show those who loved me (and those who doubted me ) that I made it. I will wear the uniform with PRIDE!:hatparty: several students who started the program WISH they could be wearing the dress and participating with me. it's no different than the traditional cap & gown at graduation. who actually thinks it's a good fashion statement? it's just that most people have gone to a traditional graduation and are used to the cap & gown, but not many have attended a pinning ceremony, so it looks kinda cheezy.
13. 
    Jan 20, '05

    Quote from gnunurse

    My LVN class will be graduating tomorrow afternoon, but I won't be attending.I honestly don't feel like I've accomplished my goal until I have the license in one hand and a job offer in the other. Ceremonies are fine, and my classmates are quite excited, but I'm 51---not 21. I am still studying hard to pass my NCLEX, and I see less than half my classmates at free review sessions at school. Many have not done any studying since Christmas. (We finished school Dec. 22). I will go out to a nice dinner when I pass the NCLEX, and let you all know about it! -Charlie :chuckle

    CONGRATULATIONS as one who has been there i know that you will feel insecure at first but you have the determination to get through school, nothing can stop you now

Must Read Topics