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.
The only choice we were given was gold, silver, or bronze, w/wo engraving. I want the pin that our school has used forever ( my school is app 90/100 years old). I can't wait and just want to get out! Pin me, bless me, and let me go!
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.>>>>
I agree. Your school pin, no matter how ugly, represents the time you spent in YOUR nursing school and your pride at graduating. I still have my pin 40 years later, though I stopped wearing it when it went the way of nursing caps and white uniforms because I was afraid of losing it.
I would also still love to be wearing my cap and white uniforms, but the "youngsters" coming out of nursing schools refused to wear them, so now I wear the colored tops just like dietary, housekeeping and other departments. They worried about the cap messing up their hair, or getting caught on a curtain....I thought of my cap with pride that I had the priviledge of qualifying to wear it. I don't feel quite so professional anymore....... especially when a pt asks me to "please send my nurse in" because they see me cleaning a toilet and think I'm their housekeeper. Oh well...... things change........
I would also still love to be wearing my cap and white uniforms, but the "youngsters" coming out of nursing schools refused to wear them, so now I wear the colored tops just like dietary, housekeeping and other departments. They worried about the cap messing up their hair, or getting caught on a curtain....I thought of my cap with pride that I had the priviledge of qualifying to wear it. I don't feel quite so professional anymore....... especially when a pt asks me to "please send my nurse in" because they see me cleaning a toilet and think I'm their housekeeper. Oh well...... things change........
Why don't you still wear white uniforms if that's what you prefer? Surely you aren't told you CAN'T, right? The cap, maybe not if the hospital doesn't have it as part of dress code any longer, but the whites...why not?
I see alot of nurses who wear white (although a dress is truly hard to spot anymore). Most in colors, as I will be, too, BUT: I figure I bought white uniform pants and top for pinning, I expect I'll be wearing them to work also!
I asked my MIL for her pin, she was flattered and would have gladly given it, but she no longer had it (she loaned it to the family of a former classmate to have hers remade--she lost it--and never got it back). I wondered how she'd feel about my NOT buying my school's pin, since she's so old-school traditional about nursing and such, and was surprised to hear her say "are you really going to wear it on your uniform? If not, why waste the money? I haven't seen mine in 35 years, and I've never missed it!"
So I chose to not get my school's pin. I'd say about a little less than half the class, maybe a bit more than a third, made the same choice. I'm sentimental on lots of things, but I know darned well this pin would go into a box and never see the light of day again. I never bought a high school ring, and never regretted it. Never bought a college ring (first time through) and never regretted it. Never attended my first college graduation, and never regretted that, either, so I think I know myself pretty well by now!
I went with the gold-colored caduceus with the block "RN" on the bottom. It's quite tasteful, and I know I will stick that onto a tote bag at some point in the future, without worry of losing it (it cost me $10, not $100).
To each his/her own, I guess. Those of you who cherish your school pins, I'm truly happy you have them. Those who are forced to buy them and didn't want to, well, my sympathies!
My school had a handful of pins they used for pinning that once you were off stage you took off and they used over. I you wanted one contrary to what one poster stated, wasnt given to us we had to purchase. Ours were $90 each- 14kt gold plated.
My school has an OK looking pin-there was a gold filled one for $45 and a 10k gold one for $145. I was all set to order the "cheap" one but my mom insisted on buying me my pin and told me to order the gold one. She's so cute, she is very excited about the pinning. We also had to order special uniforms. They are all white and cost about $24. I'm kind of traditional too. I think RN's should wear something that defines us as RN's because we are often mistaken for CNA's ,Housekeeping etc. I don't think I'd like wearing a cap(kind of a moot point anyway since I'm going into the OR) but I have no problem with different colored scrubs for varying job positions. We also have a couple of nurses that wear their caps and I have to say they carry it off well. The older patients love it because the know who their nurse is....
crb613, BSN, RN
1,632 Posts
The only choice we were given was gold, silver, or bronze, w/wo engraving. I want the pin that our school has used forever ( my school is app 90/100 years old). I can't wait and just want to get out! Pin me, bless me, and let me go!