The Capping Ceremony
Nurses’ caps date back to a time when nurses kept their hair covered, even in the house. Each nursing school had their own uniquely designed caps.
The original UW–Madison School of Nursing caps were made of muslin or poplin, and sold by the staff of the hospital’s sewing room or made by the wearer themselves. These caps were eventually replaced by permapress caps that were starched and often dried on the side of the refrigerator.
A Capping Ceremony signified the completion of pre-clinical academic work for students. From there, they embarked on a two-year training period in University hospitals. Unlike diploma nursing programs at the time, there was no probationary period for University students; they received their caps the day they entered the resident portion of the nursing program.
The ceremony was originally held in the Nurses’ Dormitory on the evening of the first day that the new nursing students came into residence in the program. The ceremony included a candlelit processional, the reciting of the Florence Nightingale Pledge, the capping of the new nursing students, a speech by the School of Nursing director/dean, and the singing of the School of Nursing song. As class sizes grew and students invited friends and family to attend the ceremony, the location was moved to larger campus venues, including the auditorium in the Service Memorial Institute.
For the UW–Madison School of Nursing, the caps became optional attire for students in 1970. Although the caps remained available for purchase in the Student Affairs Office (offered through the Nurses Alumni Organization) until the 1989-90 academic year, they were no longer a required part of the uniform and many students opted not to wear them. Capping ceremonies in nursing schools throughout the country were phased out beginning in the late 1970s as nursing apparel underwent many changes. By the late 1980s, the nursing cap had almost completely disappeared from nursing uniforms in the United States. Today, it is a distant, but fond, memory.
Did you know…
In 1970, School of Nursing students created a proposal to make nursing caps optional as part of the required uniform. Led by Barbara Brown ’71, and Laurie Glass ’71, the petition was signed by nursing students and presented to School administrators. The change was permitted, and was officially noted in the student handbook for the 1970-71 academic year.
With the wearing of the nursing cap officially an option, more and more female nursing students opted out of wearing them. The first year information on the cap no longer appeared as an optional piece of uniform attire in the School of Nursing’s student handbook was for the 1988-89 academic year.