Mind Boggling - Not going to graduation?

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Can someone please help me to understand why a nursing student would not want to attend his/her pinning ceremony. :uhoh3:

I just don't understand. My friend and I are about to complete our nursing program in about 6 weeks. She keeps telling me that she may not attend our pinning. I did not jump down her throat or anything I was just curious as to why she felt this way. Apparently she has not gotten along with one of the instructors and does not want to go. But why would she let an instructor cause her from not going ? She has been through so much to get to this point now. She failed the first semester in nursing school and had to wait a year to get back in... after all that she still doesn't want to attend. She knows how beautiful they are, her mom is a nurse and she's been to her moms. IDK apparently some people aren't exicited about pinnings anymore.

Me, I'm totally different. Every time the thought of me walking across that stage to get pinned gets me teary eyed. I've dreamed of the day of my pinning for so long now and I can't wait to experience the day. I can't wait to wear my all white with my cap and site my natingale pledge. :nurse: (sigh)

For those of you that did not or will not attend your pinning ceremony, I just have one question: Why ?

Thanks in advance for clearing this up for me.

Specializes in Med Surg, Specialty.
I can understand negative feelings about a school, bad teachers, arbitrary testing systems, etc., etc. But in the end I don't think you should take it so personally to the point where you don't go to the final ceremony...

If you have kids, or younger siblings, or any other young people who you are a role model to then you should do it. Because if you don't participate it sends a bad message to the young ones - i.e. how are they supposed to know they should achieve if you've achieved and you're playing it down or even sending out the message that you don't care or that you did a bad thing.

I disagree that not attending your school's graduation celebration = being a bad role model. I had a great celebration with my family, and merely omitted celebrating with the school which I felt failed me in many ways. Celebrating with the school would have been very fake to me; why would I drag my family down to witness that? It was a personal choice and I fail to see how this makes me a bad role model. Traditions aren't appropriate for every family situation, there's nothing bad about creating your own traditions and making things work for your family.
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Specializes in LTC.

I talked with my classmates about this the other day and one student brung up a valid point. She said not going to pinning for her would be selfish. She implied that its not all about her accomplishments its about the support she received from family and friends. She stated that her family have sacarificed so much for her to finish and it means more then anything for them to watch her get pinned.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.
I talked with my classmates about this the other day and one student brung up a valid point. She said not going to pinning for her would be selfish. She implied that its not all about her accomplishments its about the support she received from family and friends. She stated that her family have sacarificed so much for her to finish and it means more then anything for them to watch her get pinned.

Yes, I agree. This is one reason why I am sure I am attending.

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Specializes in LTC.

It all boils down to what is important to an individual. It really is senseless questioning/judging the motives of others. We all have our reasons for doing or not doing, and what it all boils to is, "I didn't participate because I didn't want to." And if that is good enough for self, it should be good enough for everyone else.

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Specializes in Acute Care Psych, DNP Student.

I think I was feeling sad last week when I posted that I would rather not go to pinning. Now I feel differently, and look forward to our pinning ceremony more since I'm not feeling 'down'.

I agree with the above poster, though, that it might be unwise to question the motives of others. Seldom do we have a true picture of others' burdens.

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Specializes in Case management, occupational health.
She said not going to pinning for her would be selfish. She implied that its not all about her accomplishments its about the support she received from family and friends. She stated that her family have sacarificed so much for her to finish and it means more then anything for them to watch her get pinned

She has a valid point, however there are many of us who have done this with no help and no support from anyone, and would have no one there to celebrate with us, and by going it would just be another reminder of how alone we were.

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Specializes in NICU.

I plan on going to mine, assuming I do graduate. But why do you question those who choose not to? It's their choice. Not going does not make them a bad or selfish nurse. They may simply be a private person who would much rather a private celebration with their family, or god-forbid, would prefer to let the occasion pass unnoticed. So what?

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Specializes in Vascular Surgery.

If I could get away with not going to my pinning ceremony I would. The experience of lecture and clinicals as a journey is what I will remember from nursing school--not getting a shiny pin that I can buy on eBay.

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Specializes in Pulmonary, Cardiac.

So I went to the pinning ceremony. I didn't want to, but my classmates made me feel like I was being selfish by not wanting to go. I SHOULD NOT HAVE WENT. We were told we had to arrive 2 hours early, that 2 hours consisted of one nursing instructor exerting her will upon us once more. Like puppets, it was disgusting. We stood up, we sat down, over and over on her cue. (had to get it right) half the time the area we were sitting in was behind all the spectators, so they would not have even know if we all stood at the exact same time. This instructor, made threats to students (threatened to withhold awards). By the time that the actual ceremony began, I just wanted to run out of there, but by then I had family in the audience.

Whatever your reason, if you dont want to go to your "ceremony" then dont let other people make you feel like you had to go. I did, and was so fed up that I skipped the one ceremony Id planned to go to, my cap and gown, it was 3 days later, and I was just fed up at that point.

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I don't know how the prestige of pinning/graduation differs from that of any other major...I am a second-degree nursing student to begin full-time nursing coursework in the fall. My first degree was in journalism, and the only reason I went to graduation was for my family. The class I graduated from was huge and the ceremony was long and boring. Tons of people didn't go to graduation. I'm just not into all the pomp and circumstance, especially because my school was so huge, I didn't know many of my professors personally and honestly, no one would have known if I didn't go.

This time around, I'm going to a very small school and I expect I will get to know more of my classmates and instructors personally, and I know for me graduating from nursing school will be a much bigger accomplishment than it was for my other major (which for me was easy). I'm sure I'll want to celebrate, but I'm also not one for ceremony.

For people with hectic lives (you never know what someone may be dealing with outside of work or school), some of these celebrations can take up a lot of valuable time. And in the end it's not the ceremony that matters. I don't think there's any reason to admonish someone for choosing not to go, or thinking that those students who *do* go will in some way be "better" nurses.

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I've never gone to any pinnings/graduations (LPN, ADN, BSN, post-MSN certificates) except for my MSN graduation.

Didn't miss any of them. After 18 years as a nurse, I couldn't tell you the name of one instructor and/or classmate.

What I do remember is how supportive my husband and sons were.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
I talked with my classmates about this the other day and one student brung up a valid point. She said not going to pinning for her would be selfish. She implied that its not all about her accomplishments its about the support she received from family and friends. She stated that her family have sacarificed so much for her to finish and it means more then anything for them to watch her get pinned.

I'm sure some people really want to see their loved one walk across that stage. Having said that, I think there are a LOT of people that would rather not spend hours watching people they don't know "celebrate" and about 2 minutes of the one they are there to see. Lets face it, graduation ceremonies are crowded and boring for a lot of people that won't admit they would rather stay home.

To me, expecting everyone you know to attend a "ceremony" is pretty selfish. I didn't walk for my AA, and nobody in my family gave a hoot.. instead they all came over to celebrate privately.. which I loved! I may feel differently after my BSN but I don't see myself jumping up and down to walk then either.

I'm also deathly afraid of falling on my face in front of all those people, which plays a part in it too.:lol2:

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