The Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing’s fifth class of students were honored during a pinning ceremony on May 12 in Butler Chapel on main campus. Dr. Stacy Wise, director and chair of Nursing, presided at the event and welcomed everyone present.
A new part of this year’s ceremony was the presentation of The DAISY Award to a senior nursing student. The first recipient, Sarah Dunn, plans to serve as a wound care nurse.
During the ceremony, not only were the 46 students honored but through the tradition of the nursing pin and the Nightingale Pledge the nursing profession was honored. The tradition of the nursing pin and the ceremonial pinning began in the 1860s at the Nightingale School of Nursing at St. Thomas Hospital in London. Having been recently awarded the Red Cross of St. George for her selfless service to the injured and dying in the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale chose to extend the honor to her most outstanding graduate nurses by presenting them each with a medal of excellence.
The Nightingale Pledge is an adaptation of the Hippocratic Oath and was composed by Lystra Gretter, an instructor of nursing at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, and was first used by its graduating class in spring 1893.
The Pinning Ceremony now marks the passage from the student role to the practice role. The pin of each school of nursing is unique, and only graduates of that school may wear the pin as a statement that they have completed that program. Campbell University Catherine W. Wood School of Nursing’s Inaugural Class of 2018 designed the pin.
The degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) will be conferred upon these students during the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences’ Spring Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 13 at 3 p.m. in the John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center.
About The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nursing Students
The DAISY Foundation, as part of its service to the nursing profession’s role in patient care, established this Student Award to provide colleges/schools of nursing a national recognition program that they may use to recognize and celebrate nursing students who demonstrate commitment to care and compassion and make the nurse-patient connection that makes such a difference in the healthcare experience.