Under the gleaming lights of the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom, nursing students stepped into a new chapter on Thursday. Every semester, the Light the Lamp Pinning Ceremony recognizes students moving from classroom learning to clinicals where they get hands-on experience.
“This moment is like a stamp,” nursing associate professor Li-Chen Lin said. “(You’re) part of the family now. Let’s be a team. Let’s work on it together. We’re (going to) make this profession better and better each day.”
At the ceremony, students heard speeches from the Dean of Nursing Kavita Radhakrishnan, Master of Ceremony Vinh T. Nguyên who guides the event’s proceedings, and two fellow students, nursing senior Rebecca Hong and nursing graduate student Temprance Nevels. The speakers encouraged students, congratulated their accomplishments and offered reassurance about the next phase of learning.
“I just hope that when (students) listen to the speakers … they think to themselves, ‘This is going to be what my journey is going to be,’ and they take something from that, and they learn,” said Alexsis O’Neill, senior program coordinator for clinical placements.
Following the speeches, nursing students were recognized and given their pins by their professors. Families, friends and fellow students erupted in applause with each name, receiving gleaming smiles across each recipient’s face.
“My frat brothers and my family pulled up,” pinned nursing junior Nicholas Thompson said. “Hearing them yell and scream for me … People don’t see the work and the support behind the scenes. Hearing them and seeing them actually pull up and supporting me here meant a lot to me.”
After the ceremony, with candles in hands, students gave the Nightingale Pledge: a modified Hippocratic oath given by nurses to affirm their responsibility and commitment to the practice. Although the pledge has changed since originally written in 1893, adapting to reflect developments in technology and nurses’ responsibilities, the core values of ensuring the best-quality patient care have remained.
“The words that we recite really hold a lot of value,” said Diana Martinez-Aviles, senior nursing student and co-president of the Hispanic Nursing Student Association. “Knowing that we’re really going to be sent out into the real world, and interacting with patients and making a real impact, that’s a responsibility that we do not take lightly.”
Beyond clinical skills, professors made sure to emphasize the importance of empathy
as students navigate into such a demanding profession. Lin encouraged students to practice both self-care and compassion, recognizing that healthcare can be stressful.
As students begin clinicals, they move from practicing skills in classrooms to caring for real patients in hospitals. The Light the Lamp Pinning Ceremony not only recognizes students’ hard work but also instills in them the importance of their new roles.
“It’s a recognition of my accomplishments,” pinned nursing junior Sarah Hew said. “But not only that, it’s also a really special time in my life where I get to start serving others, which is what I really want to do in my life.”
