white uniforms vs. colored/printed

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Does anyone have any research about the effects of white uniforms vs. colored/printed ones? My administrator wants nurses to go back to white. We want the other because of style, fun, and "this is 2002 !" Thanks :o

Good luck with your career Suesquatch. I am a nurse for 19 years. I am very human, not iconic. I can tell you it is the person and his/her manner in which he/she brings the art and science of nursing to the bedside.

Where do you get the idea that an icon isn't human, or that that is even implied?

Of course it's the person and the art and science, not the uniform. But hey, wear what you want. *I* plan to wear whites. My rotations have included a grand total of one woman who still wears a white dress, and the response to her by the patients is one of immediate recognition and comfort. This has been verbalized to me by them repeatedly. While I don't believe for a moment that it makes her a better nurse, I think that it makes the patients more comfortable. And that's my point, and a large part of my purpose.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

I can't agree with that. The school project i had to do where i interview random people on the street, the vast majority equated someone in a white uniform with words like "mental hospital" "strict" "sterile" and "unfriendly"

Does that apply to anyone that wears white? No, just an example of what "people" perceive and why i'll never base what i wear for work on a gerneralized stereotypical judgment.

If white is what you want then that's for you. White doesn't make the nurse any more than a coloured scrub outfit breaks him/her. It's not the uniform. It's what you put in it. The patients who like the nurse in white, like her for more than the uniform, I guarantee you that. As far as the icon thing, I just can't get into it. I think of religious icons or iconic rock stars like Elvis. I guess it is just not the nurses I know. We are all real people, not dieties or rock stars, or legends. Being real is part of what makes most of us good nurses. Hey if white is for you, more power to you. Don't forget, what's on the outside is just window dressing. If there's something good inside it enhances that, if not it hides nothing. Way back when I was 22 and a new grad, I wore a white dress, white hose, and a little cap. I had to. It was our dress code. I'd rather have 41 year old me as my nurse than 22 year old me. I have more experience and maturity as a nurse and a person. I hate to see people caught up in the 'romance" of nursing, the uniform, the angelic image, etc. Nursing as a profession has way more substance than that. I don't have any issue with the nurse who wants to wear white or whatever else as an individual form of expression. I have a BIG problem when something like a white uniform is touted as a solution to professionalism. Real problems, like the nursing shortage and poor morale are far more complex than uniforms or forcing a smile more often. I guess maybe because you are still a student, I'd encourage you not to buy into something like that. It is just my opinion. I am not slamming you personally, but I do very much disagree with you on this point. I 'll never be iconic, but probably antique sometime in the near future!

I know how I have felt as a patient and having a head full of medications, the only uniform colour that really bothered me was seeing my nuruse come in dressed in all black. I felt like I was dying and to see a really tall man dressed all in black kind of scared me in the condition that I was in. Black at the time seemed a little grim reaper"ish". I really hope I don't have to wear all white though when I get out of school. I'll look like the Michelin tire man! LOL

I think good taste has limits. Maybe they sold him his scrubs at Hot Topic! (My kids do like that store and some things from there are quite cute) I think maybe all orange might get to me almost as much as all black. I might wake up and think I was in prison or on a road crew. Yikes! It goes without saying, whatever the uniform cleanliness should always be #1.

Specializes in LTC and MED-SURG.
sorry but i think whites are the most professional attire for nurses. People respect that look more and it is comforting to allot of our elderly patients. And as for the "vomit, blood, and leaky babies" ........... What? If u cant see it, its not there?? YUCK!! I feel that not all....but some people forget being a nurse is not just a job....its a profession!!!! Take pride in the nurses who came before you....these brave women fought a male driven society to gain respect, trust and honor to a once "undesirable" profession.

Just one persons opinon....I do respect u all in whatever color u choice to wear :nurse:

I have a few opinions on this subject, some possibly contradictory.

(1) I like nurses to be distinguishable from other hospital workers (doctors, techs, etc.)

(2) As a student, I'm very interested in what various workers do. I spend a lot of time reading name tags to determine who does what.(I have to try to read name tags because I can't determine by the uniforms who is who.)

(3) I wouldn't turn down a job because of the uniform requirement, but when I graduate, I hope I work in a facility that allows nurses to wear the colors of their choice. My best colors are purple and blue. So anyone who wants to know if I'm a nurse will just have to read my name tag or ask me. Or assume that I'm a nurse because I'm taking care of them.

(4) Just for the sake of nostalgia and my stereotypical concept of a nurse, I would like to have a few white uniforms, (including skirt/top and dress)

But aren't white uniforms rather impractical for people who work with people, their fluids and excretions, etc.? In the old days, how DID the nurses stay clean, pressed, and starched?

*sigh*

I never said wearing white makes a better nurse.

Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.
In the old days, how DID the nurses stay clean, pressed, and starched?

Maybe I'm just a neatfreak, but I manage to keep my uniform clean each day. I'm probably just really good at dodging the crappy stuff:p

take this survey about white vs color uniforms!

http://www.fabricworkshopandmuseum.org/exhibitions/rn-survey.php

Specializes in Psychiatric, Geriatric, Cardiac.

A few years ago, nursing staff went to set colors at my hospital. This decision was made by the nurse council after it was identified as a complaint by many patients on satisfaction surveys because they couldn't tell who they were seeing in their rooms and in the hallways. Now nurses wear either all white or white tops and navy blue bottoms, techs wear blue tops and bottoms, respiratory staff wear green tops and bottoms, etc. Since then, several positive comments have been made by patients and visitors, as they can now quickly identify who people are by their outfits. I think this is a great idea myself, as I've been to facilities where you have no idea who anyone is.

Throwing in my opinion here....I have been in nursing 27 years. I was a baby when I started :lol2: Back then we wore white. I wore white polyester and white cotton. white nylons and white shoes. I was nursing when we were allowed to wear colored "smock" tops. Then I worked as a Charge Nurse in a SNF. Can you believe I was expected to wear street dresses, nylons and pumps with a white lab coat. I was doing Chest PT, suctioning and managing vent patients, trach care as well as tube feedings, O2 dependent pts, Diabetic Management to name just a few skills all in my "Sunday Best" .....then Scrubs came about....(in LTC anyway) and we ran to stock up....soon the men were looking down the fronts of our shirts as we bent over to do wound care etc...we were getting many lewd sexual comments....we begun pinning our tops closed and we rebeled....we don't want to wear white...you can see through it...it stains....it's colorless...patients are scared of us...and on and on we went to win the Scrubs war.....today I walk down the halls of the facility I work at....I am met by women wearing Baby Mickey Mouse and Precious Moments Scrubs...and neon Crocs that look like Duck feet....these same women have nose rings, tongue rings, black dyed hair and tatoos.....what do our elderly think......this is not the era they came from....personally, I think I would be scared to have someone come at me like that to give me a bed bath. I think we have more behaviors....We had a period where the young CNA's were wearing belly tops and exercise pants. Finally the DON said....If I see one more person come to work like this we are going to all white.

Personally, I hope to see that day again. I do work with some nurses that always wear white....and this is my observation after 27 years.

1.) The Nurses wearing all white give a very professional personna.

2.) I am never in doubt who the Nurse is.

3.) I observe them to be the recipient of greater respect and treatment.

I could go on but I can see I am in the minority so may not be a good thing :)

I work in an ER and our hospital went to all white for nurses. EVERYONE hates it! Have you ever tried to get charcoal or betadine out of White? It isn't going to happen! We have to buy and wash our own uniforms. Administration thinks it makes us more recognizable but I have been mistaken for a cafeteria worker multiple times and patients think anyone that wears a uniform (no matter what color) is a nurse. So what is the point! In addition, everyone can see through the pants and that means there is no hiding your peri pad! I graduated in the 80's when there were only white, green, and blue uniforms. Why can't we choose what color we wear? It would be one small thing that could improve moral and not cost the hospital anything!:mad::twocents:

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