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 Gerontology, nursing education.

I once worked at a long-term care facility that had "Casual Fridays". Employees could wear jeans to work if they paid a dollar that went to either a charity or toward the facility's holiday party fund---can't remember which it was. At any rate, one nurse came to work one Friday in a rumpled printed scrub top---I think it was a cartoonish print---and ratty, faded, torn blue jeans. :eek:

After seeing that, chicken print scrubs seem rather tame...

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=leslie :-D;4394120]hmmm... i 'think' there's sometimes a fine line between "cutesy" and humorous/light-hearted.

i personally despise anything that consists of butterflies, hearts, rainbows and all that sappy stuff.

since i sew, i did make a scrub top that consisted of miss piggy on the back, and i appliqued one of kermit's legs, hanging out of miss piggy's mouth.:D

that's my way of lightening up.

I sew, too-- and throughout this thread I've been on a mental trip to JoAnn Fabrics, imagining what every cotton print I can think of would look like as a scrub top, especially the quilting prints! If a scrub top print can indeed be a subliminal message as someone else suggested, that "greenback" dollar print would be good. But for those who work in addictions, if the management asked the staff not to wear the dice print, they might have a point. :nurse:

QUOTE=AZO49008;4393902].. . .I guess my whole point is (and maybe I should have made it more clear in my opening post) that nursing has a lot of infantile, juvenile and "cute" icons associated with the profession. Teddy bears, hearts, rainbows, angels, silhouettes of people holding hands. You get the picture. And it's not just on scrub tops, but on lots of things that the public and other medical professionals see everyday.

But these icons most often come from our corporate overlords in their branding and advertising, not somebody's scrub top! I don't know about anyone else's large city, but in mine you will not see a mailing, a commercial or a brochure that doesn't have a kissy-face heart, a teddy bear wearing a stethoscope, or a nurtiuring female figure in there somewhere. Not only that, but the public is repeatedly assured that "we care". Well, what happens if we don't, but give the patient superior care anyway? I find it a lot more offensive to have a third party tell total strangers that "I care", even though, as it happens, most of the time I do. "Caring" and "caring for" are two different things, and our marketing types know this very well.

This is part of the reason I only come here to look at informative posts directly connected to the betterment of nurses and not to the petty and sometimes divisive nature that (sadly) often rears its ugly head. :uhoh3:. There are people who are in dire need of caring and well-trained healthcare professionals, not people who are so paltry and whiny about, oh, no, SCRUB TOPS:eek:!! As long as the tops are neat and are within hospital regulations, why care? I have been in and out of hospitals throughout my life and I can't tell you what kind top the nurses assigned to my care were wearing. What stands out to me is the quality of care that was provided. I'm well aware of the rants and venting which are understandable, but scrub tops, really? Seems to me like the cattiness from the nurse's station may have spilled over to the message boards...:nono:

Well, Girlsmiley read on!! You're in for a wild time, this is actually what is considered a fun thread!!!!!!!

This is part of the reason I only come here to look at informative posts directly connected to the betterment of nurses and not to the petty and sometimes divisive nature that (sadly) often rears its ugly head. :uhoh3:. There are people who are in dire need of caring and well-trained healthcare professionals, not people who are so paltry and whiny about, oh, no, SCRUB TOPS:eek:!! As long as the tops are neat and are within hospital regulations, why care? I have been in and out of hospitals throughout my life and I can't tell you what kind top the nurses assigned to my care were wearing. What stands out to me is the quality of care that was provided. I'm well aware of the rants and venting which are understandable, but scrub tops, really? Seems to me like the cattiness from the nurse's station may have spilled over to the message boards...:nono:

re the bolded (emphasis mine):

maybe and hopefully, when you become a nurse, you will understand the many obstacles we face:

with our image, being one of the several enigmas we are confronted with.

we have a long way to go before we will ever be considered cohesive, unified, credible, and competent.

and so, discussing as to what we wear, is consistent and pertinent in relating to how we are perceived on a professional level, and the layman's level.

i do understand that as a nsg student, your ideals are the archetype of most students.

i too, was one of those students, who concocted a list of shoulds and should nots.

then i became a nurse.:nurse:

and as a nurse, i can promise you, there is nothing catty about the op's contentions.

let's reopen this thread in a few years, shall we?

i'd be interested in hearing about your righteousness at that time.

leslie

Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

To those still wearing scrub tops (and pants) with cheesy prints on them; enjoy wearing them while you can, as the movement accross Nursing management and hospitals is to get rid of that type of hap hazard motley crue appearance. Many hospitals in the region where I practice have mandatory uniform policies where RNs wear a certain solid colour scrub and distinguishing device. This is becomming popular and many other hospitals are considering implementing these changes.

So to the Print Wearers...enjoy your crazy tops as their days are numbered.

re the bolded (emphasis mine):

maybe and hopefully, when you become a nurse, you will understand the many obstacles we face:

with our image, being one of the several enigmas we are confronted with.

we have a long way to go before we will ever be considered cohesive, unified, credible, and competent.

and so, discussing as to what we wear, is consistent and pertinent in relating to how we are perceived on a professional level, and the layman's level.

i do understand that as a nsg student, your ideals are the archetype of most students.

i too, was one of those students, who concocted a list of shoulds and should nots.

then i became a nurse.:nurse:

and as a nurse, i can promise you, there is nothing catty about the op's contentions.

let's reopen this thread in a few years, shall we?

i'd be interested in hearing about your righteousness at that time.

leslie

Yes, Leslie, you are correct that I am a nursing student, but I am in no way, shape, or form new to the nursing profession. My aunt, who raised me, has been an RN for 39 years as well as three first cousins (2 RNs, 1 CNA) and two other aunts who are NPs. I, alongside RNs and doctors, cared for my dying Grandmother who died after a long and courageous battle with brain cancer, all the while caring for my two boys alone while dealing with my husband being on his 2nd deployment to Iraq (cue:vlin: ).I have been a CNA in a hospital, nursing home, hospice, and and am now a PCA (personal care attendant) for an agency, and before that I was a police officer in the U.S. Air Force so, please, take what I say as you will, but there was no sense of righteousness [(definition-morally upright; without guilt or sin) wow, really?:confused:] to any of what I said. Also, as I stated, I have been both patient and employee for a number of years and I was giving my opinion on the matter and your opinion is just that, YOURS, and we all know what they say about opinions...:igtsyt:the last two lines were lovely.:icon_roll

I am curious. Do the cutesy scrub people dress in cutesy patterns outside of work?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
yes, leslie, you are correct that i am a nursing student, but i am in no way, shape, or form new to the nursing profession. my aunt, who raised me, has been an rn for 39 years as well as three first cousins (2 rns, 1 cna) and two other aunts who are nps. i, alongside rns and doctors, cared for my dying grandmother who died after a long and courageous battle with brain cancer, all the while caring for my two boys alone while dealing with my husband being on his 2nd deployment to iraq (cue:vlin: ).i have been a cna in a hospital, nursing home, hospice, and and am now a pca (personal care attendant) for an agency, and before that i was a police officer in the u.s. air force so, please, take what i say as you will, but there was no sense of righteousness [(definition-morally upright; without guilt or sin) wow, really?:confused:] to any of what i said. also, as i stated, i have been both patient and employee for a number of years and i was giving my opinion on the matter and your opinion is just that, yours, and we all know what they say about opinions...:igtsyt:the last two lines were lovely.:icon_roll

living with, being related to, and knowing nurses is not the same as being a nurse.

living with, being related to, and knowing nurses is not the same as being a nurse.

...and piggy-backing on a post that you obviously didn't read isn't the same as reading it. i have 9 years experience in nursing.

Specializes in Developmental Disabilites,.

Cutsey tops make me happy, If I am happy I work better.

I think what Ruby was getting at was ...as an RN (aka registered nurse, e.g. licensed to practice as a registered nurse) That if you applied to say, a hospital in the United States, you would have the ability to be hired as a Staff Nurse legally - that without fear of being arrested for impersonating a licensed professional.

I think a great majority of us have taken care of family and friends prior to our edu and licensing as RNs. While that experience will be rememberable for all, it was not very similar to the work of an RN except in caring and in that way, more.

Anybody want a piece of blueberry cake? It'll be out of the oven in 7 minutes.

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