THE PINNING CEREMONY
The
Tradition: Dr. Susan Opas, a professor at UCLA's School of
Nursing in Los Angeles, provides a rich historical report of the
nursing pin and the pinning ceremony in an article from December
1999 RN magazine. Dr. Opas reports that the earliest badges given to
those who tended the sick were presented to members of the Knights
of the Order of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, a religious
order who tended to the ill and wounded Crusaders in the 12th
Century.
The tradition
of the nursing pin and the ceremonial pinning we know today,
actually originated in the 1860's at the Nightingale School of
Nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London. Having been recently
awarded The Red Cross of St. George for her selfless service to the
injured and dying in the Crimean War, Florence chose to extend this
honor to her most outstanding graduate nurses by presenting each of
them with a medal for excellence.
The Wolverton
Royal Hospital in England initiated the tradition of presenting all
graduates with a badge. The first pin was presented to the
graduating class of 1880 at the Bellevue Hospital of Nursing in New
York City. The pin presented to graduates was both beautiful and
symbolic. It featured a crane in the center for vigilance, encircled
with a band of blue for constancy, and an outer band of red for
mercy and relief of suffering. Dr. Opas reports that by 1916 the
practice of pinning new nurses was common in schools throughout the
United Kingdom and North America.
Today:
Many nursing schools and the public view the pinning
ceremony as an outdated ritual. Some schools have already abandoned
the pinning ceremony and many others are considering doing so.
The Faculty of
CSU-Pueblo continue to view the pinning ceremony as an important
rite-of-passage into the profession of nursing.
Back
to Top
CANDLE LIGHTING
The Tradition:
When the nursing pinning
ceremony was first initiated in the 1860's, the lamp was a symbol of
the care and devotion the nurse administers to the sick and injured
in the practice of nursing. After nurses were pinned,
Nightingale would light a lamp and pass the flame to each nurse as
they said the Pledge:
Original Nightingale Pledge
"I solemnly
pledge myself before God and in the presence of this 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."
|
|
