SPOKANE, Wash. – In a ceremony traced to Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, 29 Gonzaga University graduates received their Bachelor of Science in Nursing pins May 9 at St. Aloysius Church. The pinning ceremony represents a symbolic welcoming of newly graduated nurses into their profession.
The nursing graduates are presented with nursing pins by a faculty member of the School of Nursing and Human Physiology – or a family member who is a nurse – and recite the Nightingale Pledge, a traditional statement of ethics.
The practice of pinning new nursing graduates is observed in the United Kingdom and North America. Nurses wear their pins as a badge of honor to signify their commitment to serving others and to identify their alma mater. Father Jim Voiss, S.J., assistant vice president for mission, blessed the pins.
The ceremony remembers Nightingale and her three years of service in Turkey during the Crimean War when infection and mortality rates were cut in half thanks to her emphasis on hygiene and nutrition during the healing and recovery process.
For her selfless efforts in caring for injured soldiers, Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George. To share the honor, she presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates. By 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the United States.
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