nursing caps

MollyJ · Apr 19, 2001

Hi Lee

I am an RN who hasn't worn a cap for more than a decade. And I am not here to advocate for a return to caps, but I feel like we gave up some instant identity when we lost 'em. Your RN's probably don't like it because the patients probably thing you are THE nurse (hee-hee).

I always salute people who are willing to swim upstream for their convictions. Viva the past.

Tim-GNP · Apr 19, 2001

My sister is also an RN, and she wore her cap up to about 8 years ago. I on the other hand, refuse to wear a cap or white panty hose... I would have to shave my legs.

eventsnyc · Apr 19, 2001

Hello Lee, I am very happy to read that there are still nurses like you who chose to wear the caps. I think the white uniform is very respectable looking, a comfortable sight for patients, not to mention that it is very pretty & economical. Be proud. Christina

adellisrn · Apr 19, 2001

I worked as a student in a little hospital in Huntsville ON. and I would say 2-3 nurses wore there caps still. As a new grad I could not imagine wearing a cap. My nana was a nurse for 40 yrs and when I graduated she insisted I waer a cap to grad...it was the weirdest thing, to be inside talking to authority and wearing a hat!!!

amanda

kewlnurse · Apr 19, 2001

Originally posted by adellisrn:
I worked as a student in a little hospital in Huntsville ON. and I would say 2-3 nurses wore there caps still. As a new grad I could not imagine wearing a cap. My nana was a nurse for 40 yrs and when I graduated she insisted I waer a cap to grad...it was the weirdest thing, to be inside talking to authority and wearing a hat!!!
amanda

I dont wear a cap but unlike TIm i enjoy the pantyhose, and skirt.

opps wrong bbs

RNforLongTime · Apr 19, 2001

At a nursing home where I once worked there was an LPN who wore her cap but she NEVER took it home to clean it it was so disgusting looking that the administrator made her remove it.

duckie · Apr 19, 2001

I stopped wearing my cap about 6 years ago, when a confused resident grabbed it and yanked out a big section of my hair. I had to get my hair cut to cover up the bald area and it took forever for me to get my hair grown back out. I think it depends on what type of nursing you're in. I think they do look good and give a more professional appearance, but most places are going to a more casual dress code and my bright colors wouldn't look good with a white cap. I prefer the colors I wear, as the residents really enjoy the varity of designs and it makes my spirits a little lighter too.

nightmoves · Apr 19, 2001

What a riot! I'm spending about a day shopping for uniforms. After several years in management, the shortstaffing is making it necessary for me to pitch in informally on the units (I always have, anyways.) My agency likes its nurse managers to look "corporate"--just try running to a code in high heels!

Anyways, after being spewed with multiple body fluids last week I decided to pitch the business clothes and go back to whites. My agency is offering the nurses the option of whites or one color (to be specified later this month) scrubs. While shopping for whites I was shocked at the crummy selection--I remember when uniforms looked crisp and attractive rather than like potato sacks. And, yes, I'm old enough to remember mandatory caps--I was in the service and when I got out the first time I was "written up" was when I responded to an emergency (before the start of my shift) without my cap!

One (male) nurse I was in the service with was constantly being called "doc," "orderly," "corpsman," or "medic." He was upset about this since these are all nicknames for a hospitalmate (an enlisted man) and Joe had worked long and hard to get his nursing degree and, by extension, his commission. He was incensed that I was readily identifiable as a nurse and an officer, whereas he would take grief from enlisted patients who were healthy enough to do so. One time I recall that an injured Marine lieutenant started barking at Joe, who curtly informed the lieutenant that he (Joe) outranked him, and that he was a nurse. The burly Marine said, "Well, nursey, where's your cap?" (This was 1972.)

Joe didn't miss a beat--he said, "The Navy won't issue us caps--they're insisting on white berets!"

Really, I do feel that as much as I hated wearing the damn thing, it made me instantly recognizable as a nurse. Recently I was hospitalized for a mild heart attack. Through the morphine-induced haze I saw various people in various outfits waft past my bedside. I suppose they were "color-coded", but dipped if I knew what color stood for whom! I had to squint to read job titles on nametags, so I never really knew if I was reporting chest pain or palpitations to an RN, an aide, a housekeeper, or a dietary technician. And I'd be more sophisticated than the average patient.

We always used to say, in the seventies, "it's not what you wear on your head, it's what you have in your head that counts." But I really don't know how we can make sure that our patients can identify us as nurses.

TLynn · Apr 19, 2001

Originally posted by leesonlpn:
Just interested. Does anyone still wear their caps? I have been an LPN for 20 years. Initially we of course had to wear them, then it was personal choice. Now, obsolete. I still choose to wear mine. Before working the medical floor I am on now, I was told to remove it. I checked the dress codes and there was no stipulation re: caps. Since being on the medical floor one other nurse wears hers, she is an RN, and our clinical co-ordinator. I guess I should admit I wear white pantyhose too, and white uniforms.Quite a few nursing staff wear street clothes to work.Patients seem to really like the cap, though I do get teased from staff members. I guess at 42 yrs of age, I am still a rebel.Mind you, if I had a quarter for every compliment I received from wearing it from patients and family members, I could take a nice vacation.

I have been a LPN for two years. I proudly wore my cap at graduation, to be the cap has been the ongoing symbol of patient care, however I have seen no one wearing them today. i admit to wearing white scrub pants, always white, and colored shirts but no cap. I wish I had the guts you did. We do have one hospital in our state that requires the white uniforms and caps!! My cap off to them that should be required every whre.

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leesonlpn · Apr 20, 2001

For more information - my cap is always clean,I get a new one as needed.

A soiled cap is disgusting. Tim GNP you can get thick enough support hose to hide the hair on your legs.

hollykate · Apr 20, 2001

Do not wear a cap- but have worked at one place where white was required. In critical care, and ED where I have worked, seems the cap would be in the way- not to mention the cap from my school was sort of a pill box style thing- yikes. But, I do still wear white on occasion (nearly always regret it- getting covered with food dye or rifampin) and always wear my white support hose (even under my pants....)