pins....what do you think?

rach_nc_03 · Dec 18, 2004

I'll be graduating from my ADN program in May 2005, and need advice on our class pins. I'm the class president, and the officers get to decide what our fundraising money is spent on (we have about $1400). We're required to buy our own pins, and the cost is between $50 and $75. Maybe I'm about to be a blasphemer, but I don't see what the big deal is about the pin; it has the year our program was founded on it, not our graduating year, and i've never seen a single nurse wearing his or her class pin. we have a lot of students who are stretched financially, and I'd rather see them be able to put that money toward NCLEX-RN fees or something. We're considering subsidizing the cost of the pins (or part of the cost) with a good chunk of the money. What do you all think? And should we push the issue about being required to have them? A few students have complained to me about it.

I won't even get into the brouhaha over white dresses and caps for the ceremony.

rachel

ADN grad may 2005

'an unexamined life is not worth living'

Fiona59 · Dec 18, 2004

Here's my two bits worth. My pin was given to me at graduation by the school. Just their name and Logo. After writing and passing the NCLEX-LPN, my college (I guess it would be a BON to the US) sent me a sterling silver pin with my license number engraved on it. I guess they were both paid for indirectly by me in my fees.

I've seen quite a few nurses wear their pins. RN's who went through hospital education back in the '70s and '80 seem to wear theirs the most.

A lot of LPN's wore their silver pin but not their school pin. Someone once said the silver pin was her most valuable piece of jewellry, it cost her over $10,000. A few kept theirs in a safe place because they are sentimental and can be hard to replace especially if your school has been absorbed by some other educational outfit.

But I think you should look into funding and see if your school doesn't perhaps subsidize or even provide a pin.

Fiona59 · Dec 18, 2004

Here's my two bits worth. My pin was given to me at graduation by the school. Just their name and Logo. After writing and passing the NCLEX-LPN, my college (I guess it would be a BON to the US) sent me a sterling silver pin with my license number engraved on it. I guess they were both paid for indirectly by me in my fees.

I've seen quite a few nurses wear their pins. RN's who went through hospital education back in the '70s and '80 seem to wear theirs the most.

A lot of LPN's wore their silver pin but not their school pin. Someone once said the silver pin was her most valuable piece of jewellry, it cost her over $10,000. A few kept theirs in a safe place because they are sentimental and can be hard to replace especially if your school has been absorbed by some other educational outfit.

But I think you should look into funding and see if your school doesn't perhaps subsidize or even provide a pin.

HappyNurse2005, RN · Dec 18, 2004

i'd consider-

how many ppl are in your class, as in, how much would it cost? would you have any money left? what else do you have to spend money on?

i am also graduating in may. when i get my pin, i'll pin it on my name badge.

rose

HappyNurse2005, RN · Dec 18, 2004

i'd consider-

how many ppl are in your class, as in, how much would it cost? would you have any money left? what else do you have to spend money on?

i am also graduating in may. when i get my pin, i'll pin it on my name badge.

rose

dosamigos76, RN · Dec 18, 2004

I attend and ADN program and for our LPN pinning, we also had to have a pin. The one from the school was about $50. Many people just didn't have the money, and went to our local uniform store and purchased very pretty pins from them (all different pins available) from $7-$15. No one thought anything one way or the other about where the pin was purchased from.....just an idea. Congrats to you and your classmates!!!

Cheryl

dosamigos76, RN · Dec 18, 2004

I attend and ADN program and for our LPN pinning, we also had to have a pin. The one from the school was about $50. Many people just didn't have the money, and went to our local uniform store and purchased very pretty pins from them (all different pins available) from $7-$15. No one thought anything one way or the other about where the pin was purchased from.....just an idea. Congrats to you and your classmates!!!

Cheryl

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2004

I think our pins were optional and paid for by us. I wore mine until I lost it about 20 years ago, and it didn't seem like it was worth the effort to replace it. I have seen nurses with so many pins they looked like a general in the army...ACLS, school pin, seniority pins, perfect attendance pins, 1 gallon blood bank pins, etc. I have enough trouble keeping up with the stuff I HAVE to have, like my stethescope, scissors, etc.. to be worried about pins. Life is short....simplify!

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2004

I think our pins were optional and paid for by us. I wore mine until I lost it about 20 years ago, and it didn't seem like it was worth the effort to replace it. I have seen nurses with so many pins they looked like a general in the army...ACLS, school pin, seniority pins, perfect attendance pins, 1 gallon blood bank pins, etc. I have enough trouble keeping up with the stuff I HAVE to have, like my stethescope, scissors, etc.. to be worried about pins. Life is short....simplify!

rach_nc_03 · Dec 18, 2004

I think our pins were optional and paid for by us. I wore mine until I lost it about 20 years ago, and it didn't seem like it was worth the effort to replace it. I have seen nurses with so many pins they looked like a general in the army...ACLS, school pin, seniority pins, perfect attendance pins, 1 gallon blood bank pins, etc. I have enough trouble keeping up with the stuff I HAVE to have, like my stethescope, scissors, etc.. to be worried about pins. Life is short....simplify!

lol, dixielee.....I work with a nurse like that. she has so much weight on her badge that when she leans over a patient's bed, her badge zooms down the elastic string (it's one of those retractable deals) and lands on the patient....THUD!

good ideas from all of you...right now, they're requiring us to use the 'official' school pins, but the first alternative i'll pursue is letting students buy substitute pins, if they so choose.

if we pay for the pins, we'll have enough $ left over to pay for one student to sit for the NCLEX-RN. we have onein mind- she's paying an exhorbitant amount of tuition (she's from another country), so this would probably help her a lot.

rach_nc_03 · Dec 18, 2004

I think our pins were optional and paid for by us. I wore mine until I lost it about 20 years ago, and it didn't seem like it was worth the effort to replace it. I have seen nurses with so many pins they looked like a general in the army...ACLS, school pin, seniority pins, perfect attendance pins, 1 gallon blood bank pins, etc. I have enough trouble keeping up with the stuff I HAVE to have, like my stethescope, scissors, etc.. to be worried about pins. Life is short....simplify!

lol, dixielee.....I work with a nurse like that. she has so much weight on her badge that when she leans over a patient's bed, her badge zooms down the elastic string (it's one of those retractable deals) and lands on the patient....THUD!

good ideas from all of you...right now, they're requiring us to use the 'official' school pins, but the first alternative i'll pursue is letting students buy substitute pins, if they so choose.

if we pay for the pins, we'll have enough $ left over to pay for one student to sit for the NCLEX-RN. we have onein mind- she's paying an exhorbitant amount of tuition (she's from another country), so this would probably help her a lot.