Capping, Pinning and Candlelighting

149. It's tradition for student nurses to have a capping and candle-lighting ceremony somewhere around their second or third year. More than just  symbol of the nursing profession itself, the white cap worn by the female nurses and pin for the males, symbolize the honor and responsibility it takes when taking care of people. The lighting of the candle shows that we, like the lady of the lamp Florence Nightingale, could be a light to others; a source of inspiration and compassion, especially those who are suffering and in pain. Although people from other  countries may think that the cap is dated and a mere decorative item on one's head, I think that it is more a symbol to other's how serious we are about our professions. However, the down side to using a cap during duty is because one may actually be harbouring infectious pathogens on one's lovely heads. That is one of the reasons why first world countries don't use caps anymore, only scrub suits which I actually like for their comfort. Anyhow, we had this ceremony during the first semester of our third year. We all wore our white student uniforms and since we were so many, we resembled a sea of white. It was very moving to see so many of us getting capped and pinned by the different clinical instructors, head nurses of hospitals and deans coming from different colleges. Then we lighted our candles and recited our pledges. I was so proud of the both of us and the rest of our classmates. We were going to start having real duties from now on. Five days straight, different hospitals, different areas, different patients, different clinical instructors with different personalities and ultimately start honing our skills as nurses. Previously, we were only having one-day-a-week duties practically with nothing to do but stand around all day taking vital signs and getting oriented. From this day forward it would be different. People would be expecting a lot more from us, and watching us with hawk eyes for the slightest mistake. Still, I was excited and proud for all of us. We were halfway there.