Graducation/Pinning Ceremony Ideas

[ABM1227]

hi all!

i am 6 weeks away fromg graduating nursing school, needless to say i am totally freaked out and on top all my anxiety, homework and clinicals, i also got sucked in to planning my classes graduation/pinning ceremony-which will prove to not be an easy task as half of my class members don't even want a ceremony. they are completely negative about the whole situation, which makes my job a lot harder.

i have the basics completed: location, time etc. what i am looking for is some ideas on how to make the ceremony more fun...

i found a thread on here called "you know your in nursing school when.." i asked my classmates to finish that sentence so i could incorporate some humor in to our ceremony, i also have some pictures i can use to put together a brief slide show. we are having buttons made, instead of pins (because the majority of the class thought the pins were "stupid" and didnt want to pay for them) and possibly we will have either t-shirts or sweatshirts made for our graduating class.

does anyone have any suggestions for me?

i appreciate any feedback you all might be able to give me!!

thank you!! =)

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I totally understand how you feel. I'm also in the process of planning pinning ceremony and I have received almost NO participation from my classmates. We were thinking about doing a music video but that idea is out. So I plan on doing a slide show it and that will be it.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Gee, if they do not want it, why bother? Who needs to spend extra money near Christmas on something you are not interested in? Why not reserve space at a restaurant or club and only the interested students, who have RSVP's and PAID IN ADVANCE, will attend?

I graduated in December too. We found a church that would let us use facility for one evening. We paid a band to play during the reception and had cake and punch. A few flowers (pots of poinsettas) and that was it. Not much expense.

Turned out the FAMILIES wanted the ceremony. After all, they have been thru this with you.

[ABM1227]

I agree, the ceremony is more for all the people that have helped us accomplish our goal. It's been a long journey and we as well as our families, mentors, and teachers deserve some recognition.

Our clinical Instructor has made it clear that bowing out of a ceremony is not an option. The ceremony is tradition and is expected of us. Apparently it's a big to do with quite the turn out from the community.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

I also added a few " you know you are nursing student when"... in my speech for LPN pinning. Everyone enjoyed that piece.

[RN_SummerSeas, MSN, APRN, NP]

They took away our pinning ceremony because too many nursing students went to that and skipped graduation so the president took offense and said no more I wish you well and hope YOUR ceremony is AWESOME!