Back to Traditional Nursing Uniforms?

Nurses General Nursing

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from nursing link:

"nurses in one unit at the jfk medical center in atlantis, fl, have decided to wear the old-fashioned style nursing uniform for an eight-week trial to see how it would affect patient opinion of the care they received and how this would translate into patient satisfaction scores."

read the full article: http://nursinglink.monster.com/careers/articles/9541-back-to-traditional-nursing-uniforms?utm_source=nlet&utm_content=nl_c1_20100819_traditionalscrubs

what do you think? no mention however as to what male nurses would wear ... :eek:

Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

I am been a nurse for 28 yrs and did wear a traditional uniform for the first 10 yrs of my career ..........white stocking...dresses...pant suits....white skirt with a white top and always white nursing shoes....now I always wear white scrub pants...white nursing shoes and a nice pastel solid colored T...would I want to go back....YIKES NO WAY....I love my scrub pants....I say let the housekeepers get a special uniform.......we have a VERY large print name badge that is attached to our regular nane badge that say RN......or RT...or LVN...its gigantic and can be easily seen

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Luckily pants had become acceptable when I graduated in 1975, but not for nursing school, and I despise pantyhose in a way I find hard to describe. I recall caps had a tendency to bang into things if you bent over, or get knocked crooked- and I reeeaaaallly don't like to fuss with clothing while I'm running around like a maniac.

The traditional garb in the graduation portraits depicted in the article look lovely to me, but the average bedside nurse normally looks worse for the wear long about hour 7 of 8 (normally there were no 10 or 12 hour shifts in the olden days).

I like the idea some have mentioned here about wearing the whites every so often when the mood strikes, and though they were gone by the 70s, I covet one of those fully lined navy blue wool capes. Most facilities want an across-the-board dress code for the nurses, though.

I wear plaid boxers thank you very much. :D

To sum it up, I just want to wear non-white pants with a zipper.

Amen to the zipper. I also have to have the cargo pockets - can't have enough pockets!!

our floor nurses wear white (icu and ed wear blue) and we have quite a few nurses that have gone to wearing blue and black underthings below their whites as some sort of protest - it is too funny.

Amen to the zipper. I also have to have the cargo pockets - can't have enough pockets!!

Can you put up a link to the pants you wear if they're scrub-ish?

How about, instead of name tags, we have the back of our scrubs done like football players. Our name across the top and RN/LPN/CNA/MD/HKP/KTN where the number would go? :rolleyes:

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Or humungous block letters like on those windbreakers that say F B I or A T F so disgruntled family members and supervisors looking for you to work extra can identify you easily from waaay down the other end of the hall. :p

Luckily pants had become acceptable when I graduated in 1975, but not for nursing school, and I despise pantyhose in a way I find hard to describe. I recall caps had a tendency to bang into things if you bent over, or get knocked crooked- and I reeeaaaallly don't like to fuss with clothing while I'm running around like a maniac.

The traditional garb in the graduation portraits depicted in the article look lovely to me, but the average bedside nurse normally looks worse for the wear long about hour 7 of 8 (normally there were no 10 or 12 hour shifts in the olden days).

I like the idea some have mentioned here about wearing the whites every so often when the mood strikes, and though they were gone by the 70s, I covet one of those fully lined navy blue wool capes. Most facilities want an across-the-board dress code for the nurses, though.

Am almost sure some schools here in NYC, namely Saint Vincent's still issued capes throught the 1980's and perhaps later, or at least students could order them.

Know this because many a "youngster" St. Vincent's nurse marched in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in whites, cap and cape. By young, I mean nurses who would have graduated around the 1980's.

Indeed on the day St. Vincent's Manhattan closed, a "young" nurse wore a white dress, stocking, shoes and her St. V's cap and cape. When the media asked her about her uniform, she stated is was from her graduation and she wanted to wear it on the last day of the hospital's existence to honour the long history and tradition of Saint Vincent's nurses.

Specializes in PACU, OR.

My cape ended up covering a bird cage...

It's not what you wear, but it's part of it. Why do supreme court judges wear robes? Why do catholic priests wear collars? Why do nuns wear habits? Why do police officers wear uniforms? I could go on but you get the picture. What we wear definitely impacts what people think of us. Pt surveys indicate they prefer white uniforms. It automatically gives the nurse a favorable opinion with the pt.

I'm not advocating for old fashioned uniforms! I'm not saying we won't get respect with scrubs. I am saying white uniforms and caps (shudder) are universal symbols of nursing, and are viewed with respect.

Since Vatican II many religious orders of both men and women got shot of full habits. Nuns and monks probably are more likely to wear them, as opposed to sisters and brothers. You could walk around any of the remaining Catholic health care systems/hospitals and would be hard pressed to tell the "nuns" from anyone else.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
. . . Indeed on the day St. Vincent's Manhattan closed, a "young" nurse wore a white dress, stocking, shoes and her St. V's cap and cape. When the media asked her about her uniform, she stated is was from her graduation and she wanted to wear it on the last day of the hospital's existence to honour the long history and tradition of Saint Vincent's nurses.

That's a sweet sentiment. One marked difference between California and the eastern states is the relative higher density of historic nursing schools and hospital based programs you had there. I find the whole subject fascinating and I love old movies that depict (at least a little bit!lol) it. I'm quite sure nurses of the '30s weren't flaunting the rules as Barbara Stanwyck did in "Night Nurse", but the dorms and all-powerful House Officer is based in some sense of reality. Student nurses of today might be surprised that students were expected to be almost like indentured servants back then.

Since Vatican II many religious orders of both men and women got shot of full habits. Nuns and monks probably are more likely to wear them, as opposed to sisters and brothers. You could walk around any of the remaining Catholic health care systems/hospitals and would be hard pressed to tell the "nuns" from anyone else.

When I started Catholic High School in 1971 the habits were a thing of the past for all but two of the nuns, who were older and not working in the classroom anymore. I remember clearly one nun who still worked as a nurse at the adjacent hospital run by the same order of religious, who had a beautiful all white habit that always looked perfect!! I think when I was 16 I was so in awe of that - some Supernatural Power had to be involved! :nurse:

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