Pinning! Congratulations, nursing graduate Class of 2016!
On Friday, May 20, 2016, nursing graduates of Class 2016 held an age-old tradition: a “Pinning Ceremony,” where nurses and nursing faculty welcome new graduates into the profession.
This tradition dates back to the time of the Maltese Cross, when Crusaders wore the cross as a symbol of service to Christianity. With influence from Florence Nightengale, the school at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London awarded a Maltese Cross to nurses as they completed their nursing program. By 1916, ceremonies awarding the badges were regular traditions throughout Europe and the United States. The badges symbolized educated women who were prepared to serve the health needs of society, and nursing schools began designing their own pins.
Today, nursing pins and the accompanying ceremonies represent a meaningful experience for nursing students, symbolizing completion of educational requirements enabling nurses to sit for their state licensure examinations and then begin the practice of nursing.
Pictured above are the nursing students who graduated from the Moraine Park Technical College Fond du Lac campus, May 2016.
If you want to learn more about our nursing program, and possibly earn your pin someday too, visit morainepark.edu/nursing!
