Went to a pinning ceremony...I was disgusted...

Nursing Students General Students

Published

I volunteered at a pinning ceremony at the same college where I am currently enrolled.

It was the SADDEST ceremony I have ever seen. The graduates, showed up, in whatever scrubs that they wished to wear...wrinkled..there was zero consistency as far as who wore a cap vs who didn't.

There were no flowers, just the faculty...half of who didn't even dress up.

The refreshments were Walmart cookies and soda....THAT'S IT!

There was no budget to allow for it...and I am wondering how to approach the propect of possibly having each class start a fundraising from the first semester, for our pinning ceremony 2 years later...so it can be as simple or as elaborate as we want it to be.

What do you think?

I volunteered at a pinning ceremony at the same college where I am currently enrolled.

It was the SADDEST ceremony I have ever seen. The graduates, showed up, in whatever scrubs that they wished to wear...wrinkled..there was zero consistency as far as who wore a cap vs who didn't.

There were no flowers, just the faculty...half of who didn't even dress up.

The refreshments were Walmart cookies and soda....THAT'S IT!

There was no budget to allow for it...and I am wondering how to approach the propect of possibly having each class start a fundraising from the first semester, for our pinning ceremony 2 years later...so it can be as simple or as elaborate as we want it to be.

What do you think?

Our school does this. The second year students raise money during there last year starting with selling stethoscopes and clipboards and other supplies to the new students at our 2 orientations, one in May and one in August a week before classes start. They also sold raffle tickets for $2.00 apiece to give away a Littman Cardio 2 Steth to one lucky student. They do other stuff throughout the year but I don't have specifics, they attend a different campus than first years, so we don't really interact after orientation. I think it is a great idea, last years class raised enough for a catered dinner and other nice stuff! If you start in your first year you may be able to help some fellow students who will be struggling to come up with money for a pin or for the NCLEX too. If our students have extra above the proposed budget for the ceremony that's what they do with it.

;)

Specializes in Oncology, Med-Surg, Nursery.

That really is a shame, I know everyone that has attended them at our school talks about how nice they are. Hopefully your class can figure out a way to make your ceremony way better. GL!

Specializes in Emergency.

Maybe see if you can get some pictures together from the pinning ceremony to prove your point. If you show them how their pinning ceremony will likely look if they don't raise money, maybe everyone would be more willing to chip in. Maybe getting some numbers together, and having a 'goal' for them to reach.

I really liked the idea of selling stethoscopes and other needed stuff to the 1st years on their orientation day. Maybe see if the school can advertise that you are doing this, so people bring money to the orientation day and will expect to buy stuff.

I don't see why a pinning ceremony has to cost any money? I went to one in October (looking for inspiration!) and it was simple, no refreshments at all. All the students were required to wear black slacks or skirt with a white top and their white lab coat. There was a powerpoint presentation that showed photos of the group through their 18 month journey. It was pretty simple, but formal too. The dean of nursing at my college is a stickler for the students all dressing the same for the ceremony. It's shocking that the students at your school have such little regard for the importance of their accomplishment!

I am going to my school pinning ceremony...tomorrow J

Our class has a great committee who had sent out a survey to everyone that would be attending pinning. They asked us if we wanted to have food and drinks, flowers, decorations, a photographer, music, ect... Basically let the people who were coming to the ceremony decide what they wanted it to be like. It ended up costing us each about $22. We don't have to wear scrubs/uniforms, but we are to dress reflecting that we are professionals.

I think if you could start a fundraiser that would be a great way to pay for it. I know there were some of my classmates who were not happy about the cost we ended up paying. I would try to form a committee of students and faculty who would be willing to work with the fundraisers.

I hope your pinning ceremony turns out much nicer than the one that you saw! Good luck!

our "party"/ceremony is a pretty big deal from what i gather. it's my first quarter. our class will graduate spring of 09. each quarter we all pay a $25 print fee. it covers all journal articles that our instructors want us to read. there's a guy in the class that opened a bank account for us and he takes care of having the copies made at a local print shop. we don't seem to have that many articles and the rest of the money is used for our party/ceremony. $25 per student per quarter (i think we're down to 49 students now) is a lot of party.

Specializes in Urgent Care.

We are only haveing cake and juice. We'll be having a slideshow of pictures form clinicals and whatever photos we have taken along the way. It will be short and sweet.

Specializes in 5th Semester - Graduation Dec '09!.

My school takes pinning very seriously. We wear cap and gowns and they rent out the convention center. There is a five-piece orchestra from the music department. They have photographers that take photos all night. A tradition that we have is students can decorate their caps-- some use rhinestones to make a red-cross. Others write things like, "finally made it." It's really neat!

I would suggest letting your Student nurse association take over the responsibility, instead of faculty.

My school takes pinning very seriously. We wear cap and gowns and they rent out the convention center. There is a five-piece orchestra from the music department. They have photographers that take photos all night. A tradition that we have is students can decorate their caps-- some use rhinestones to make a red-cross. Others write things like, "finally made it." It's really neat!

I would suggest letting your Student nurse association take over the responsibility, instead of faculty.

Wow, that sounds great!

::

I think that sounds great, too.

Question: why must there be food at this event? Most of us don't need sugar-laden drinks and fat-filled sweets. Pinning ceremonies aren't that long, are they? People can go without food for a few hours.:eek:

I believe our ceremony takes place with graduation ceremony in some way.

Finally, it won't hurt for everyone to throw in a few bucks to round out the cost of making a pinning ceremony nice. :smiley_aa: There will always be those crabs who have a critical comment for everything, including donating to an event that involves them. :lol_hitti:Hey - skip a pack of

cigarettes a day or two and BAM! That's your share of the donation!! Yay!!!! :roll

Congrats to everyone who are this stage of their program. I am in awe of you. :yeah:

:Holly2::Holly2::Holly2::Holly2::Holly2::Holly2:

My daughter told me about the ceremony at her nursing school. Almost no faculty or administrative help at all. The entire event was planned and coordinated by a committee that was composed of mostly the class officers. The programs, everything was designed by someone on the committee. I remember the programs because my daughter handmade them, using calligraphy to letter them. She spent hours and days making them. The ceremony itself went off pretty well. Then after the ceremony, someone from the administration asked about what they had done to plan everything so that they could follow suit in future years. I have no idea where they got the money to pay for the flowers, and the supplies, and refreshments. At least the student committee tried and put in a lot of effort.

+ Add a Comment