[mady]

dressing code for nurses is must, i have seen some nurses wear tank tops showing their belly and tatoo above ther bum in summer, however, hospitals should not force nurses to wear uniform.


you see, there is no uniform regulation for health professionals, such as doctors, social workers, physio etc..., then why nurses must wear uniform!!!

[RN_Amy]

Hi there everyone,

My name is Amy and I am an RN. I live in Australia and I work in the Recovery Room. I wear scrubs to work provided by the hospital, as do all the staff within the operating theatre. Plain pale blue.... very boring... but better for infection control.

All the ward nursing staff have to wear uniform ie. navy slacks or skirts and a choice of blouses, shirts etc in navy, white or red. Other ward staff have differents uniforms eg. OT's, ward clerks, etc yet MOs wear what they please.

In any department other than theatre I think that nurses should be allowed to wear as they please but remain professional. I have seen a number of nurses sporting long acrylic nails, coupled with copious amounts of jewellery which is a great breeding ground for MRSA... yuck!

The way you present yourself immediately presents an image to patients' and others in terms of your professionalism... whether you like it or not!

Ask yourself... who would you to nurse either yourself or members of your family? Someone who was professionally presented... or someone who had long fake nails, overdone makeup, tonnes of jewellery, overpowering perfume and chewing gum? I know who I would want!

This is all my humble opinion of course....

[lanilpn]

I don't feel that the nurses should have any dress code besides clean scrubs. what makes it confusing is when the cleaning crew has the same scrub as the nurse. there needs to be some way to tell the difference between that.

[Daisy]

Coming from a nurse that used to wear white uniforms and a CAP! I consider myself a professional. Whatever you want to call it be uniforms or scrubs we should look professional.We will never return to the old days (thank goodness) but we can look like professionals that we are. Some of the scrubs out there today look awful with those horrible prints. Our hospital has a set of solids that we can wear and it works. As long as the nurse looks neat and not trashy we will continue to display the honor of the profession. Since there is such a shortage of us in this country and we want to get paid well for the work we do,lets look the part!!

[barefootlady]

No uniform code except clean, properly fitting, and name tag clearly visible. Either on a lanyard or device supplied by hospital to allow for access to time clock

If the hospital does not supply us with a realistic clothing allowance or the scrubs themselves, then. as long as we are approiately dressed, they should appreciate that they have nurses.

[psychonurse]

I always made a point of telling all my patients my name and that I would be their nurse that shift... At the hospital that I worked at if you worked ER, OR, ICU they supplied us with specific colored uniforms. We would wear regular clothes to work and change when we got there and then put them in the laundry when we were done.....it was wonderful and I liked them to supply me with scrubs.....of course the nurses on the floor had to buy thier own uniforms and it could get costly.

In corrections they don't have any real dress code...some of us wear our regular clothes with a lab coat over the top or scrubs depending on how we feel but of course we only have nurses there not housekeepers and lab techs in our place....i like the freedom of wearing what I want and how I want to express myself......

[Rock]

Yes. Nurses and other hospital personnel should wear uniforms, to distinguish themselves from each other. The uniform could be white or some other color. but should be able to be bleached when washed to eliminate any organisms.
School caps look very nice on nurses, and one can determine at a glance what school was attended.

Rock

[HeartsGalore]

Over the past 23 years of my nursing career, I have definitely noticed a decline in the professional appearance of RNs.Actual uniforms(as opposed to cutesy-patterned scrub sets or street clothes-except in peds or mental health,etc respectively),conservative jewellery,hair off the collar,trimmed nails have become the exception. I always shake my head when I hear nursing colleagues, once again,protesting the fact that there exists,with good reason I think, dress codes for hospital staff,including nurses.I find it curious that you never hear police officers and firefighters(still largely male-dominated professions),complaining about being forced to conform to a certain code of dress. Nor do you often see CEOs,bank managers,airplane pilots,etcetc bucking the dress requirements of their fields to dress casually.But in this still female-dominated profession,my theory is that,we nurses still,as a whole, feel powerless to effect real change in health care decision-making.Because we don't truly value the unique perspective and potential for influence we have from the front lines of health care,we've chosen to take a stand in how we're going to dress to give us a sense of power.It is only an illusion,of course- we nurses,in large numbers,are still not lobbying governments for change, or writing letters to policy makers, or even phoning into local radio forums to make our voices heard.So we remain a largely silent majority-we can b--ch and complain over coffee with each other,blowing off steam but that will never effect change or influence people.Unfortunately for nursing,we now,as well, look less professional,less proud,less respectful of our field. You're fooling yourself if you think appearance doesn't really matter.Standards matter.

[powerpuf girl]

I firmly believe in a dress code.,Whether it be scrubs or whites.It is awful being sick and have to be tended by someone who looks and smell as if they are going to a party or just left one.The nails should also be groomed,large earrings and earrings in the brows should go.Call it old school if you like,but we do have to have a dress code or people would wear whatever.

[kimmicoobug]

I look pretty young at 26 and have noticed when I wear a particular scrub top, I get referred to as "young girl" more often. When I wore this particular top this week, the patient called me "little girl!!!!!" I came home and told my husband I was retiring that top.

With that said, I am not in favor in wearing a particular color on a particular unit. I like variety in my appearance.