[SPOKANE, Wash.]  On Thursday, Spokane Community College Nursing Students celebrated the transition from student to nurse at their pinning ceremony.

Graduations mark the end of a major milestone and the beginning of a new chapter. Students gather their friends and families to watch them walk across the stage and grab the most valuable piece of paper they’ve ever held. For nurses, the pinning ceremony is an added level of celebration that carries a unique historical significance.  

The ceremony dates to the twelfth century and is widely associate with the award given to Florence Nightingale who is known as the mother of modern nursing. This event recognizes the hard work and dedication of each student who has completed their diploma in practical nursing before becoming a registered nurse.

Nursing students often choose someone in their life to dedicate the pin to. This could be another nurse in their life, a mentor, friend or family member.

SCC Nursing Student Alexander Knox dedicated his pin to his good friend Neil Apeles, chief nursing officer at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.  

“I thought it was important for another nurse to pin me and welcome me into the profession,” Knox said. “Tradition means a lot to me, so this made sense.”

As a nursing student at SCC and a mother of seven children, Esperance Abumukiza was proud that her family was able to be here for this milestone. Her oldest child, Huges, proudly welcomed his mother into her new career as a nurse.   

“I’m proud today,” Esperance said. “When I was six years old, I was a refugee from Burundi and when I got here, they didn’t have nurses or doctors to help us so I though by being a nurse, I could give back in this way.”

The event gained inspirational momentum with three key speakers who applauded the exceptional level of dedication from this cohort.

With years of hard work behind them and a lifetime of fulfilment ahead, emotions were high as students reached the pinning, the lighting of the lamp and the Florence Nightingale Pledge.

A pinning ceremony is unlike any other graduation ceremony and it serves as a reminder to new and veteran nurses alike why they are proud to enter the honorable profession.