I think cutsey scrub tops look ridiculous on adult units

Nurses Uniform/Gear

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The other day a co-worker strolled in wearing a scrub top festooned with furry, smiling teddy bears. On an adult cardiac floor...REALLY? On various adult units I've seen Looney Tunes, Precious Moments, rainbows and clouds, hearts, and yes...oodles and oodles of teddy bears.

I think these types of scrub tops look ridiculous unless you work in peds, in which case they would all be highly appropriate. On one hand nurses are striving to be taken seriously as professionals, yet with the other hand they are taking juvenile looking scrub tops off the hangar.

I'm a guy and pretty much have to wear solid scrubs if I don't want to look like a freak. But I am not motivated out of jealousy to kvetch about print tops on the ladies. If women want to pizazz up their uniforms, I have seen tons of very tasteful, very professional looking print scrub tops coordinated with solid pants.

If I were director of nursing of the world, I would ban dorky print scrub tops.

Okay...talk amongst yourselves.

Specializes in ICU / PCU / Telemetry / Oncology.
when you get your rn, go for it. don't forget the hose.

ok, but i roll better in white fishnets, hose is so 70's ... :D

you're the second person i've seen on this page of the thread complaining about having to "fish for" or "grab" someone's id to see what they do. what in the world are you guys doing invading someone's space like that? if someone "fished for" or "grabbed" my id at work, i'd be inclined to smack them. that's just too close and personal for strangers!

the other thing i don't understand is if you work there, why don't you know who they are and what they do? and if you don't work there why just not ask?

note that in my post i said "visually fish", i would never physically grab at someone's id and when your id is supposed to be visible on your chest at all times i think people expect it to be looked at. i know it's done with me all the time by staff, patients and visitors. we are pretty vigilant about who works on floors (we recently had a problem in our area hospitals with crooks coming off the street wearing scrubs and stealing stuff). we actually have 2 id's on our badges, one on each flip side so it's always visible no matter how it spins and lands with movement. as for knowing who is who, i am a volunteer and my shift is once a week for 4 hours. although i personally know the titles of a few of the staff that i work with closely, there are still times i have to go find a nurse elsewhere in the hospital and it's not quickly evident except for the badge.

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Specializes in IMCU.
ok, but i roll better in white fishnets, hose is so 70's ... :D

note that in my post i said "visually fish", i would never physically grab at someone's id and when your id is supposed to be visible on your chest at all times i think people expect it to be looked at. i know it's done with me all the time by staff, patients and visitors. we are pretty vigilant about who works on floors (we recently had a problem in our area hospitals with crooks coming off the street wearing scrubs and stealing stuff). we actually have 2 id's on our badges, one on each flip side so it's always visible no matter how it spins and lands with movement. as for knowing who is who, i am a volunteer and my shift is once a week for 4 hours. although i personally know the titles of a few of the staff that i work with closely, there are still times i have to go find a nurse elsewhere in the hospital and it's not quickly evident except for the badge.

i have the same problem where i volunteer. i once needed a nurse. when i asked a woman if she was a nurse she said "sort of". she was a tech. oh well.

back to our previous programming about scrubs.

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Exactly how big a stick are we going to beat this with? The research is clear. The public is age oriented. Those who remember caps and skirts relate to formal attire. Gen X, or whichever letter we are on now, is OK with contempory garb. Pediatric nursing is a no-brainer. One size does not fit all, and RN's have never been "square pegs." Look the way YOU feel. Dress per code, as per. Judge not, lest you be found silly, stuffy, or one of the other seven dwarfs. The end. LOL.

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Specializes in Education and oncology.

Well this post went around a few trees before coming back to scrubs. I was just hired (finally!) at a job where the units are color coded in what nurses may where. I get to put 9/10ths of my scrubs away- I have patterned scrubs (no silly cartoons but print, breast cancer ribbon, holiday etc) that I will not be allowed to wear. I don't know what my unit's colors are but I know green is one of them. great. I have no green scrubs. I've been collecting scrubs over 20 years. Sigh. I agree with previous poster- I took a lot of pride in my appearance and what I thought were stylish scrubs...

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Specializes in Rehab, LTC, Peds, Hospice.

Please. I work in hospice and we all wear whatever makes us smile and happy. My hands down favorite scrub is one with smiley faces sticking their tongues out. It always gets compliments. You have to laugh in this buisiness. Nursing is tough and stressful enough.

As far as being 'treated proffessionally, it is my demeanor that determines that. I've always been taken seriously as a nurse because of how I conduct myself. Period. And last but not least, my patients and families call every female that walks in the room the 'nurse' if they wear scrubs. Which is why I always introduce myself as their nurse and wear my nametag.

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Specializes in Psychiatric, MICA.

When I was a tech in acute care, I wore tops with seasonal motifs and had holiday themes my wife put together for me. I brought some smiles to the patients with these, which absolutely justified their use. I dressed to support what worked for them.

I work in psych now and wear office casual all day. I try to look professional, but the emphaisis is on the patient, not me, so my primary guidelines are quiet earth tones and a non-uniform appearance.

Professional appearance is a worthy second-place goal behind patient care. If cutesy tops are therapeutic, go for it.

D

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On one hand, there are plenty of adults who are going to feel more comfortable witha nurse dressed in pediatric scrubs.

On the other, there are plenty who will be made to feel decidedly uncomfortable with them.

The question then is- how much more uncomfortable will the patients who prefer cartooney scrubs going to be made to feel by conservative scrubs? I really doubt anyone is going to question the ability of a nurse to provide good care because they are dressed conservatively, while there are patients who are very likely to do so when they see someone come in covered in images of Tweety Bird.

The other factor that I think needs to be considered is: is it OK for MDs in a particular healthcare setting to wear ties with cartoon characters on them? If not, then why nurses? If nurses are dressed less professionally than their physician coworkers, it reinforces the idea that nurses are somehow "less than" MDs.

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Wow...surprised this thread is still running. I don't think any of us changed anyone's mind in the opposite school of thought, but it has been an interesting discussion. Thanks for sharing your opinions, despite a few of them going off on snarky tangents. :-)

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Specializes in IMCU.

Well you went and HAD to mention cartoon ties! If a guy is going to wear a cartoon tie he deserves the reaction he gets -- including doctors.

:jester:

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Exactly how big a stick are we going to beat this with? The research is clear. The public is age oriented. Those who remember caps and skirts relate to formal attire. Gen X, or whichever letter we are on now, is OK with contempory garb. Pediatric nursing is a no-brainer. One size does not fit all, and RN's have never been "square pegs." Look the way YOU feel. Dress per code, as per. Judge not, lest you be found silly, stuffy, or one of the other seven dwarfs. The end. LOL.

The whites were the "contemporary garb" of their day. Formal was what Fred Astaire wore in the classic musical "Top Hat" I mean no offense, but these "do your own thing" recommendations for on-the-job attire are hilarious. Every "generation" has it's fad fashion and classic professional wear. In 1969, I guess that would mean wearing a flowing caftan to work or an embroidered workshirt. In the '20s, nurses would be sporting drop waist dresses and fringed hems.

In certain professions, yeah one size kinda does fit all. Nurses are one. Police are another. Should they also be doing their own thing vis a vis their dress? The original reason for whites, though was so you recognized someone as a nurse. That is no longer the case, as nurses are often indistinguishable from all the other employees also wearing scrubs.

. . .The other factor that I think needs to be considered is: is it OK for MDs in a particular healthcare setting to wear ties with cartoon characters on them? If not, then why nurses? If nurses are dressed less professionally than their physician coworkers, it reinforces the idea that nurses are somehow "less than" MDs.

I agree! But somehow doctors are able to get their silly on by wearing weird shoes, socks and ties. As for the scrubwear in the OR, I must be odd, because I really like to see a neurosurgeon wearing a Roadrunner scrub cap. ;)

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The other factor that I think needs to be considered is: is it OK for MDs in a particular healthcare setting to wear ties with cartoon characters on them? If not, then why nurses? If nurses are dressed less professionally than their physician coworkers, it reinforces the idea that nurses are somehow "less than" MDs.

Docs come in on the weekends in jeans. If my scrubs are looking less professional than jeans, well, I should have gotten them out of the dryer quicker so they didn't wrinkle so much!

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as nurses are often indistinguishable from all the other employees also wearing scrubs.

So get the non-nursing staff OUT OF SCRUBS!

If I went around wearing black, a fake badge, a nightstick and stuck a flashing light in my car, the cops wouldn't decide that THEY need to change their attire. They'd tell me to quit dressing like them. If the housekeeping staff is dressed like nurses by wearing scrubs, then tell them to wear something else.

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