Lighting of the Lamp Ceremony

Lighting the Lamp: An Affirmation

The Lighting the Lamp Ceremony was established in January 2000 as a means to formally recognize student entry into the nursing major at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. This ceremony was designed to welcome students to their chosen profession, involve family members, and impress upon all in attendance the significance of the commitment each student is making.

The ceremony, held at the beginning of each semester, brings together entering students from Downtown Phoenix campus and the Mayo Clinic Hospital campus sites.

In addition to receiving a charge from the Dean to aspire to excellence in their academic and practice activities, a recent graduate shares an experience that highlights the difference a nurse can make in the quality of peoples’ lives.

Each student receives a pin specific to the ceremony that pictures a lamp, which is representative of the lamp carried by Florence Nightingale. This lamp also reflects the trust placed in nursing by society. Students continue to wear the pin as part of their nursing student uniform as a reminder of the commitment they have made.

Students and all nurses in the audience – faculty and others – join to recite the pledge.

This ceremony, with all of its constituent parts, is designed to mark the inclusion of students in the greater community of professional nursing.