Gonzaga Nursing Pinning Ceremony, December 2013
This week (May 6-12) is National Nurses Week, a week to celebrate the contributions that nurses make to our society, and on May 11, Gonzaga will celebrate the 40 new nurses receiving their Bachelor of Science in Nursing at a pinning ceremony to be held at St. Aloysius Church. The School of Nursing’s class of 2014 also includes 138 Master of Science in Nursing graduates and Gonzaga’s first Doctor of Nursing Practice student who will be receiving her doctoral hood at the graduate commencement ceremony on Saturday.
The pinning is a symbolic ceremony to welcome newly graduated nurses into their profession. They will receive pins and a blessing, and recite the Nightingale Pledge, which is a modified version of the Hippocratic Oath. Named for the famous nurse, Florence Nightingale, this statement of ethics is a vow nurses have taken since 1893 to state a commitment to service. You can read the full text of the Nightingale Pledge, as it will be recited by Gonzaga’s nursing graduates, below.
This was the first year of the newly established School of Nursing and Human Physiology at Gonzaga, and it is especially exciting to celebrate this year’s graduating class. Marcy Heldt, Program Coordinator of the department of nursing at Gonzaga echoed the excitement, saying,
“With the large class of students graduating this semester, it will be a memorable event!”
If you would like to support the School of Nursing and Human Physiology or make a gift in honor of one or all of the newest class of nurses to graduate from Gonzaga, visit gonzaga.edu/give.
Nightingale Pledge
I solemnly pledge myself before God
and in the presence of this assembly
to faithfully practice my profession of nursing.
I will do all in my power to make and
maintain the highest standards and practices of my profession.
I will hold in confidence all personal matters
committed to my keeping in the practice of my calling.
I will devote myself to the welfare of
my patients, my family, and my community.
I will endeavor to fulfill my rights
and privileges as a good citizen and
take my share of responsibility in promoting
the health and welfare of the community.
I will constantly endeavor to increase my knowledge and
skills in nursing and to use them wisely.
I will zealously seek to nurse those who are ill
wherever they may be and whenever they are in need.
I will be active in assisting others in safeguarding
and promoting the health and happiness of all humankind.