Traditional graduation ceremonies bring to mind caps, gowns, and tassels. However, at a nursing school graduation, you won’t see graduates in the traditional graduation garb, but instead in their scrubs. When Marian University accelerated nursing program students graduate, they attend a pinning ceremony. What is the pinning ceremony and why is it significant? Learn all about the nursing school pinning ceremony.
Nursing School Pinning Ceremony: The History
The pinning ceremony tradition can actually be traced back to the crusades of the 12th century, when knights cared for the injured and suffering crusaders.
These knights, called the Knights Hospitaller, were given a Maltese cross to wear on their arms to distinguish themselves. Fast forward to the 1860s when the nursing professions’ most notable nurse, Florence Nightingale, began presenting medals of excellence to her hardest-working nursing graduates. By 1916, it became standard in the United States to recognize all nursing graduates during a special nursing school pinning ceremony.
Pinning Ceremony: Present Day
Today’s nursing school pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming of newly graduated nurses to the nursing profession. Graduates are presented with a nursing pin by the faculty of the nursing school or, in some instances, a friend or family member who is a nurse.
Nursing students then recite the Nightingale Pledge.
I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of the assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.
I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.
With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician in his work and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.
Marian University’s Nursing Pin
The nursing pin is a type of badge, usually made of gold or silver, which is worn by nurses to identify which nursing school from which they graduated. Marian University’s nursing pin features the school's colors, blue and gold, and was designed with Marian’s emblem in the center. It encircles the Latin phrase “Sedes Sapientiae” meaning “Seat of Wisdom.”
Below the phrase rests the lamp of knowledge, which symbolizes nursing’s commitment to knowledge and caring.
Both the emblem and the lamp are placed on the cross, signifying that nursing is centered on spirituality and caring. The final piece of the Marian nursing pin are the words “Bachelor of Science in Nursing.” These words encompass the pin to symbolize how nursing keeps all of the elements central to providing quality patient care.
Marian University had two classes of nursing graduates in August. Marian University in Indianapolis pinned 49 new nurses in the pinning ceremony on August 18. In Nashville, Marian celebrated its first graduating class on August 20. Six nursing graduates received their pin and took the Nightingale Pledge. Many congratulations to all of our new nurses!
Are you interested in joining a centuries-old profession and making a difference in the lives of others? Learn more about becoming a nurse today by speaking to an admissions advisor.