Like some input on pins for ceremony

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Hi all! Question for those of you who have gone through this, or are in the process of it: does your school require you to purchase/wear a specific pin for the pinning ceremony? Can you choose your own? And if you can, what did you choose to wear?

My school has an "official" pin that hardly anyone likes, although most do buy them anyway (expensive and ugly). I checked with faculty head on this, and we're NOT required to use those, we can use whatever we want, as long as it's "small enough so as not to be visible from the audience" (we're all on a college stage, pretty far removed) and not obscene. She said students in the past have used Guardian Angel pins, little Nurses Care pins, smile faces, like that. She said I could use my son's Star Wars pin if I wanted to :) The audience doesn't see it until the ceremony is done and we join our families, anyway.

So....I went and bought a classic gold-colored caduceus with small block letters RN at the bottom (she said this was ok, too, even if we're not RNs as yet; it was still fine). It was inexpensive, I like it, but....

Then I got to thinking: why not make it more meaningful? A "ribbon" pin in whatever color for whatever cause? A pin of my grandmother's (who passed away not long ago)? I saw a colorful pin of a hand with a heart in the center (Nurses Station) and thought that would be charming, too.

What say you all?

[elkpark]

It doesn't really matter if the school's pin is "ugly" -- it's your school's pin, and the point of the pinning ceremony is that the school is giving you its final "seal of approval" (its pin) as a graduate. Marking you officially as one of theirs, as it were. That's what is "meaningful" about the ceremony.

What would be the point or meaning of a ceremony in which students can be "pinned" with any pin??? Of course, I'm sure I'll be hopelessly outnumbered by opposing viewpoints on this, since I'm now, officially, an old fogey/battleaxe ...

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

It doesn't really matter if the school's pin is "ugly" -- it's your school's pin, and the point of the pinning ceremony is that the school is giving you its final "seal of approval" (its pin) as a graduate. Marking you officially as one of theirs, as it were. That's what is "meaningful" about the ceremony.

What would be the point or meaning of a ceremony in which students can be "pinned" with any pin??? Of course, I'm sure I'll be hopelessly outnumbered by opposing viewpoints on this, since I'm now, officially, an old fogey/battleaxe ...

LOL, you're not an old fogey or battleaxe for being traditional; it's usually the stance *I* take (and I'm not either one!) :)

Anyway, at one point one of the faculty heads talked to our class about a change in the ceremony: we had expected to be pinned by a friend, family member, or faculty of our choosing, but since our class is so big it wasn't feasible time-wise to allow it, and instead there would be two 'pinners' assigned from faculty. We could vote on who the two would be, but that's it. During all of this, she said that the point of the pinning wasn't to honor the family member who was pinning us, but that THEY as FACULTY were honored to be welcoming us in as colleagues by way of the pinning. So, she assured us that they weren't "stuck" pinning us, but rather that they would enjoy it.

So, from where she/they are coming from, the pin we choose should be important to us, not them: they offer a school pin, and most do choose it, but many do not. Actually, I had my checkbook out to order it and then I saw it . I suppose if they were actually giving it to me, that would be different, but since I'm forking over the bucks, well....that's when I decided to check out other options!

Thanks for your input, I do appreciate it :)

[DarlinNurseRed]

I am thinking about using my sister's pin...I pinned her with it when she graduated. I am a traditionalist my nature, but I have seen some very expensive pins flattened out in parking lots!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I am thinking about using my sister's pin...I pinned her with it when she graduated. I am a traditionalist my nature, but I have seen some very expensive pins flattened out in parking lots!

I like the idea of a pin legacy (even if it's a linear move!).

My mother-in-law is an RN (well, until she retired a number of years ago, but she's still "a nurse"!). My husband thinks she'd be totally thrilled if I asked to use her pin....I think that would be nice, too. Now, let's see if she HAS it still (and it didn't get nailed in a parking lot ).

[truern]

It doesn't really matter if the school's pin is "ugly" -- it's your school's pin, and the point of the pinning ceremony is that the school is giving you its final "seal of approval" (its pin) as a graduate. Marking you officially as one of theirs, as it were. That's what is "meaningful" about the ceremony.

What would be the point or meaning of a ceremony in which students can be "pinned" with any pin??? Of course, I'm sure I'll be hopelessly outnumbered by opposing viewpoints on this, since I'm now, officially, an old fogey/battleaxe ...

:yeahthat: :yeahthat:

[DarlinNurseRed]

I think your mother-in-law would/should be quite flattered that you asked her, even if she doesn't remember where it is. I would be.

Our pinning will be a few days before the college graduation, and we have been told to wear white uniforms (not scrubs).

I think this is an appropriate tradition.

I wore a white uniform AND a white cap when I was pinned with my LPN pin a hundred years ago...hehe

The pin is to be placed on a uniform in actuality, so it kinda "goes" with the uniform, just like an armed forces medal probably would be awarded to the men in dress uniform.

(i sorta feel like I have been through boot camp, BTW)

I found it odd that one of the threads mentioned a nurse's pinning wearing the graduation gown without the cap...I would feel like I was wearing a choir robe. The gown and cap should be reserved for Graduation, but at least the nursing students are being honored...that is a plus.

Usually the family is very proud to be there..mine will be.

[NJNursing, ASN, RN]

My school is providing us with our pins and the engraving plus the ceremony. All we have to raise is the money for flowers and programs. We don't have a choice on pins and we're grateful to a point because the pins would be about $50 each and after the NCLEX, liscensing, Kaplan costs, we're happy to have one less expense.

[lovablelvn]

My class had a problem with our pin being ugly too, but as one of our instructors told us "you may never become an LVN/RN but you will always be a Graduated Nurse from this school". I think it was an honor to represent my school for everything they had taught me.

[LeesieBug]

We MUST have the school's pin to be pinned....either purchase one, or borrow one.

I really don't care what it looks like, I want my school's pin. As someone above mentioned, to me that is the whole point.

[debsuztx]

We voted as a class which pin we wanted from a catalog. There are 50 students, and we picked a Cadeceus pin. But, then others didn't like the pin and wanted to order another pin. Our class representative gave everyone the website to order the pins from if they so choose. She is ordering the pin we voted on for about 1/2 the class the others are getting it on their own. I was going to get pinned with a James Avery "RN" pin, but our director told us we are not officially RN's at that point, but we could wear it (get pinned) and then immediately take it off. I just decided to order a different pin. I have my pin from LVN school that I have never worn again, that I have in my jewelry box, nice to look at but it was cheap and cheapy looking.

[CJM_LPN_2B]

I will be entering LPN school in July, a friend of mine is graduating as I am entering, she said it is MANDATORY that we buy the schools pin. Ours is $110.00...