As a student nurse, the one day that you look forward to is even of greater significance than college graduation.. nursing pinning. The nurse’s pin dates back to the early Maltese cross in which a pin was worn meaning a service of Christianity. The servants would care for others with communicable illnesses. Since then, the meaning of the pin has transformed throughout different cultures and programs. Florence Nightingale, the creator of the first structured program for nurses, eventually adopted the pin as a symbol of knowledge, servitude, and compassion for the vulnerable. Today, all nursing programs (and other non-nursing programs) culminate with the ceremony of pinning.
As a practicing RN, we receive different pins to put on our badge. These include acknowledgements such as various awards, employee of the month, degrees, and years of service, among others.
Earlier this month, I received my 5 years of service pin. It feels like I have been a nurse for so much longer, while also feeling like just yesterday I spoke at my own nursing pinning ceremony. In 5 years of graduating with my ASN, I completed a BSN, got trained in chemotherapy and Pediatrics, became certified in Medical-Surgical Nursing and ACLS, worked as a Charge Nurse on weekends and nights during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now have the greatest honor of teaching last semester nursing students at a community college.
While I receive my 5-year pin, I have the honor of providing the nursing pin to all of my students. And in reminiscence of my own pinning, I recite the nurse’s prayer:
Give us strength and wisdom when others need our touch
A soothing word to speak to us, our hearts yearn for so much
Give us joy and laughter to lift a weary soul
Pour in us compassion to make the broken whole
Give us gentle, healing hands for those placed in our care
A blessing to those who need us, this is our Nurse’s prayer
Until next shift,
Shania