Accelerated BSN students participate in Pinning Ceremony.

Celebrating new nurses

The UF College of Nursing celebrated its annual pinning ceremony in August. The pinning ceremony marks the end of nursing students’ undergraduate careers and the beginning of their careers as professional nurses and Gator Nurse alumni. The concept of the nursing pin dates back to the Crusades, when the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem displayed the Maltese Cross on their uniforms. Following the Crusades, some of the Crusaders noted the excellent nursing care provided by the Hospital of Saint John and decided to join the nursing group. Over the centuries, various schools and craft guilds adopted symbols to use on buttons, badges or shields to represent their training, wisdom, strength, courage and faith. — Tracy Brown Wright