The Elon University Nurse Pinning Ceremony celebrated the class of 2026 cohort, which consists of 28 nursing students, on May 20 in McCrary Theatre. The pinning ceremony marks the transition from student nurse to professional nurse for the students graduating from the class.
Dating back to the 1800s through nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, nursing program director and department chair Cathy Quay said the ceremony doesn’t just symbolize graduating with a nursing degree, but it also symbolizes nursing values like compassion, integrity, advocacy and service.
“Receiving the nursing pin represents a transition into professional practice, and serves as a reminder of the responsibility and standards of others during some of life's most vulnerable moments,” Quay said during the ceremony.
Students received their pins and roses from both faculty and the program’s clinical staff as they walked across McCrary Theatre’s stage. Professor of nursing Lori Hubbard presented students with departmental awards such as the Academic Achievement, Trailblazer, The Heart of the Cohort, and Phoenix awards.
Reflecting on her past four years, senior nursing student and speaker Maiah Giampietro compared the Florence Nightingale Oath, the oath taken by all nursing students at their pinning ceremonies, to school pledges she would say throughout her childhood. However, she mentioned in her speech that this oath is one that she and her cohort had in the back of their minds during their years together.
For Giampietro, one of the things she emphasized was that the cohort had been building up to accreditation for the program when she came into the program. The program was not accredited by the National League for Nursing Commission for Nursing Education until February 2025.
“Many of us even considered ourselves guinea pigs at times, being experimented on while our new nursing program was being built and going through changes,” Giampietro said. “I think that experience made us resilient.”
Professor of nursing Cyra Kussman left her final remarks with the cohort as she plans to retire this spring, noting the importance of “caring for everyone in every situation” and how the healthcare system is ever changing as she reflects on her nursing career since starting as a travel nurse in Arkansas.
“When a patient is scared, they don’t ask for a flowchart,” Kussman said. “They don’t ask for a piece of paper. They ask for a nurse. The nurse is the one who shows up, listens to them and does something for them.”
While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that nursing jobs will see 5% growth from 2024 to 2034, Kussman emphasized that technology use in healthcare "cannot replace human presence, cannot automate compassion, cannot replicate clinical judgement and intuition.” She ended her speech with a five question quiz asking students, friends, family and faculty if they were ready to see the graduates move on in their professional careers, as she closed out her teaching career at the university.
“Your career could grow with you, shift with you, support you again and again,” Kussman said. “Until you have survived nursing school, you have to be trained not just to act, but to endure. Not just to care, but to keep caring and even on your harder days.”
Dean of the School of Health Sciences Maha Lund highlighted the need to work as a team to provide the best outcomes for patients receiving healthcare and that “delivering healthcare is not a solo endeavor.”
To close out their four years together, the cohort watched a slideshow that included pictures from their four years together.
“As care providers, I invite you to make the choice to see the humanity in each patient or client and create a relationship with them where they feel comfortable,” Lund said. “Where they can be their authentic self, and where they can share their stories.”