A nursing school graduation party can be a solemn affair with only a few close friends and family members attending, or a casual picnic or open house for the entire neighborhood. You may also want to plan a party for your fellow graduates, so you can have fun together one last time before moving on to your new jobs. In fact, they might be the ones to most enjoy light-hearted decorative touches, such as teddy bears in scrubs.
Decorations
- The traditional white nursing cap is a distinctive symbol of nursing. Make your own out of cardboard or print images from stock photography and clip art to post around the party site.
- For graduates and guests with a sense of humor, use hospital implements as decorations and serving dishes. For instance, serve chips and dip in a (new, of course) bed pan, or wrap silverware in napkins with medical tape.
- Use pieces from kid's toy medical kits as accents.
- Of course, just because you're graduating from a nursing program doesn't mean everything has to be medical. You can also include traditional graduation decoration ideas like tassels and balloons featuring the year of graduation.
Favors and Treats
- Medical-themed novelty candy, including gummy bandages and chocolate bandages can be a fun treat to place at each table.
- Use a heart or brain gelatin mold to create a unique dessert option. Although they were designed with Halloween in mind, they would make a perfect addition to a nursing party.
- Syringe pens and highlighters make a fun party favor for a nursing school graduation party. You can order them plain or imprinted with the graduate's name, year of graduation, or a short congratulatory message.
- Oriental Trading sells nurse rubber duckies, making a great decoration in addition to a trinket guests are sure to want to take home with them.
Invitations
While any invitation will get the message across, for this special event, nursing symbols will add extra styles to your invites. For instance, Invitation Consultants offers a nursing invitation design with the traditional cap and a clipboard. Check with the bookstore at your school for additional designs. They may carry invitations with the college logo or crest, and if the nursing program is large, they should stock even more themed stationary. If you can't find exactly what you want, you can always use your computer to print your own personalized invitations with just the imagery you desire.
Venue
Deciding where to hold a nursing school graduation party can be difficult if the graduate attended school far from his or her hometown. Do you hold the party in the same city as the college or ask the graduate to return home for a celebration? This can be further complicated by the day and time of the actual graduation ceremony. One option is to hold a friends-only party at school and a family event after you return home. Consider renting a community room at the school or reserving several tables at a local restaurant if you would like to hold your party immediately after graduation. Back home, the venue for the party can range from your parents' backyard to a local banquet hall or recreation center, depending on the size and formality of the party.
Although many of the decorative touches can be amusing, graduating from a nursing program is no laughing matter - it's an achievement to be proud of and worthy of celebration.
