Why Whites ?

nursy_ann · Mar 5, 2002

At nursing school it is required to wear white....also at the hospital where I work all the nurses wear white except the suprevisors...who are in blue! Always wanted to know why! they really want to show they are different from us? lol

No seriously there's no reglementation according it but it is as well.

Ann

Josefin, BSN, PhD, RN · Mar 5, 2002

Originally posted by RoaminHankRN
Funny, no one has mentioned a couple of things. First what year is it? Second, what about NAME BADGES? How many times do you see people without them or ones you can barely read. My feeling is to have a badge that identifies your picture, name and title, CLEARLY. And to act professional. Who cares what color scrubs you wear. Look at MD's. Did not at one time they wear white jackets and carry a little bag. Times change. I could be wrong, but you'd be hard pressed to find nurses of the younger generation willing to wear hats and some of the silly uniforms you had to in school. That is where it should end. As a house supervisor, we wear white. Does it make me more recognizable or feel more professional?
What about surgery staff, OB and peds. Heck most pysch nurses wear street clothes. And then what about administration? There are all levels of nursing. Some with patient care, some with out. You can't standardize it all.

Also as a male, my personal thoughts about whites... no thank you.

Just my thoughts

Hank

Go Hank! I totally agree with you!

Josefin, BSN, PhD, RN · Mar 5, 2002

Just a question: Do you pay for your uniforms yourself? And for washes too? It seems like that from some of your postings. What is it like in UK for example?

In Sweden you just pick clothes in your size in the "workingclothes-room". All of the clothes are white (except for in surgical units etc), the same for assistant nurses, RN´s, students and doctors. Of practical reasons most RN´s wear all white, but many doctors only wear a coat. (I wonder why?!) We can choose between trousers, shirts, dresses, jackets and coats. When the shift is over you just throw them in the laundry-bag, put on your street clothes and are off...

kewlnurse · Mar 5, 2002

I wear white pants, and print tops, dragons, cats and dogs, golf balls etc... Don't see the purpose of all whites. you want the patient to know who the nurse is TELL THEM!. The other day i got poop on my cloths and had to wear hospital scrubs for the next 12 hours, people didn't recognize me, honestly!

RNforLongTime · Mar 5, 2002

I never had a nursing cap. At my hospital, we buy our own scrubs. I still stick with what I said earlier. If you want your patient to know who the nurse is, introduce yourself as such!

SICU Queen · Mar 5, 2002

No whites for me! I prefer colored scrubs, but have to say it WOULD be nice if each group (nurses, aides, dietary, etc.) had their own color. I worked agency at a big hospital in New Orleans and they did that. It was SO neat! I could tell right away who was who.

As far as the caps go, I haven't worn one since school, nor do I intend to ever wear one again. YUCK. I hated them... we tried to get them "removed" from our uniforms during my freshman year, but the nuns were adamant about keeping them :)

raiderron · Mar 5, 2002

Personally I prefer NOT to wear white. I am like PigPen in the Peanuts cartoon.....I could get dirty in a snow storm. At least with the colors I have a chance!

Ron

queenb091 · Mar 5, 2002

I am a Rn student and I also work in a hospital as a tech. In school we are required to wear any solid combination of maroon and white. In the hospital where I work we are allowed to wear any scrubs except denim. If you want to wear white I say go ahead. For myself, I will stick with the cute patterns and bright colors. They hide my spaghetti stains from dinner. I gets lots of compliments from the patients about my scrubs. I also introduce myself when I go into the room so they know who I am.

Hutchy · Feb 12, 2006

I've just read an intersting article on this subject which made a lot of good points.

My personal take first - I will NEVER wear that stupid cap again!!!!! It fell off my head into a patient. It hits the overbed frame in ortho set-ups. Impossible to keep clean, or to keep on. Impractical in the extreme.

I prefer pants, comfortable pants. I have to lift, pull, drag, reach, squat, stoop, and so forth in the ICU. I don't just sit at a desk or stand quietly holding a clipboard. Forget the dress/skirt. Not for real work. And I'm not a perfect size (fill-in-the-blank) anymore, either. I wear a different size top from the size pants I buy. Sad, but not that uncommon. When was the last time you could do that with a dress?

I hate the color white. Now why, you ask is that so? This is where the article becomes interesting. The parody of a nurse is one in a white dress, usually a good deal too tight, but even if not, it's ill-fitting - and it's always white. White means nurses. And in the media nurses are objects of disdain, not respect. Playboy makes good use of this stereotype. White dresses in a buillding just FULL of beds - !!!!!

White also shows the stains - blood, betadine, bile, you name it.

White also shows through. It is hard to buy white fabric that does not. I know because I sew.

I agree that nurses need to be identifiable and that they need to look professional. I do not agree that going backwards is the answer.

LilPeanut, MSN, RN, NP · Feb 12, 2006

I agree with no on whites. I work peds and I enjoy the bit of freedom I have by wearing whatever matching scrub top I have.

My hospital is color coded. Clerks and support staff that are non-medical wear purple. PCAs wear surgical green. RTs wear surgical blue. Nurses wear royal blue.

clee1 · Feb 13, 2006

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" When working for a particular hospital, dress as their policy requires.... Otherwise, move along little nursie!
When I worked in military hospitals, white was required, and the uniforms were issued to the civilian nurses free, to be returned at the end of one's employment there. When I worked civilian hospitals, some allowed colorful tops/print tops with white pants, some allowed color scrubs, some were stuck on the white uniform -- however, they did not issue those white uniforms to the nurses, you bought those expensive darn things, cleaned your own uniforms, and threw them out if the stain just wouldn't come out of the garment.
I think if hospitals want white again, let them pay for them, clean them, and re issue them to each of their nurses as needed. I prefer to go to work in street clothes, and change into work clothes, then dispose of those dirty bacteria infested uniforms AT THE HOSPITAL, change back into my street clothes and go home at the end of each shift worked. I hated wearing those uniforms home to my family, and further more, it was expensive to clean the ones that became soiled on the job with blood, or other organic substances.

:yeahthat:

Whites are a pain in the assets to maintain. If a HCF wants to buy them and maintain them, I'll gladly wear them.

clee1 · Feb 13, 2006

Uniforms AND dry cleaning them is tax deductable.:)

Only if you itemize; and only if you have enough deductions to justify it.

And going to the drycleaners all the time really bites.