Pinning Ceremonies?

[FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

All,

My wife is finishing up her RN and it was announced that there is no real pinning ceremony, only a class graduation.  Pins will be placed on their sash by the instructors prior to the ceremony.

When I graduated, pinning was it's own ceremony and it was an emotional event, with students choosing who would pin them, my wife pinned me (she was an LPN at the time).  My wife and I are obviously quite irritated by this as we've been looking forward to me pinning her for years.  The class told the instructors they wanted a true ceremony and they were told no.  

So all this leads me to ask.  Are formal pinning ceremonies the norm or rare?  Are we upset about something that doesn't happen most places?

 

[Tjede Harris]

This has happened at my school as well. They are not allowing us to be pinned by anyone other than the faculty, which I think is ridiculous. Traditionally the student chooses someone who inspired them personally, a friend or family member, as long as the person pinning was at or above the level that the student was. Example- RN can pin another RN, or an LPN, but an LPN couldn't pin a RN. I look at it as our instructors were paid to be there to teach us, and though they may have inspired some students along the way, the students initial inspiration like came from someone on a personal level. I was pinned by my mom when I graduated as an LPN, it was truly a special moment, and now that she has passed away, I cherish that memory so much more!! I am very angry that 5 months before we are scheduled to graduate we get informed that the only ones allowed to pin us are instructor! The pinning should be what the students want, and not what the instructors want.