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I was recently accepted into a nursing program and found out that we cannot wear clogs. I am so upset because I love my Danskos. They are well broken-in, and have proven to be great when having to mostly stand for 10+ hr shifts.
So with that said...any recommendations? I wouldn't mind a sneaker, though I don't know if I will really be flying around on clinicals. Also, I have heard some stories about fluids, etc. getting on sneakers, and being harder to clean. The Danskos are great since I could just wipe them off. I am looking at the Timberland Renova Pro, would this be considered a clog too?
I was enlightened by this thread by finding that New Balance has wide width shoes as they have always been too narrow for me. I just went online and ordered a pair in 7.5W in those cool bright colors. Don't miss nursing school regulations! As for Danskos, I have an adorable pair of open back mary-jane style Danskos. Sadly, even though I've worn them once a week for 3+ years, they still aren't broken in. I do wear them once a week though (on my last shift of three in a row) because they are so cute. Then I limp on my first day off.
To the OP, it's great you get long clinical hours. I always wished I could have had more realistic clinical experiences. Keep those Danskos though, nursing school isn't forever and a well broken-in pair of Danskos will last you years. I seriously doubt there will be such strict restrictions when you get your first nursing job.
My nursing school required shoes to *be* lace-up, white leather which is why we weren't allowed to wear Danskos. I'm not entirely sure why they required lace-ups when there are other styles of professional white shoes that are in my opinion better suited to nursing tasks, but them's the rules.
I wore a New Balance walking shoe. What is interesting is I just bought my first pair of Danskos since I start my first nursing job on Monday, and I've been wearing them around to make sure they don't need broken in (they don't) and these are amazing compared to my NB ones which I had thought were pretty nice.
If you have to go for tennis shoes, go for a high-end Asics pair with a soft gel support system. They are HEAVENLY on your feet when you have to be standing for a long time. New Balance shoes are good, and they do come in wide widths, which is a godsend, but when I swapped from a pair of what I thought were excellent NB wide width shoes to a pair of Asics that were lower-end and a bit too small for me, my feet felt an immediate difference. 8 hours of constant standing, and I wasn't even feeling any foot pain (other than from them pinching my toes because of the too small thing!). The higher-end ones are even better, and a lot of them still come in wide widths.
Just so you youngsters know, it has only been of recent history (we're talking mainly post mid 1980's or so) that nurses were allowed to wear clogs on duty period. Even when the facility allowed them many insurers wouldn't cover you if you did wear them, never found out what was up with that.
Strangely when in Germany noticed most nurses and physicans were clog type footwear in hosptials.
are you sure your school is stating no open-back clogs? that's how my program was...as long as the shoes were white with a closed toe and closed heel, we were okay. I also suggest Alegria shoes, I love mine! They have a variety of styles to choose from from their Professional Line, including closed heel styles. I personally have two different pairs of the Donna clog but some nurses I work with also wear the Debra style and they love them as much as I love mine.
allycat77, BSN, RN
132 Posts
Yeah i have a friend in the program who verified that any type of clogs are not allowed. In the 1st semester we do monday & tuesday back-to-back 12s. I am thinking i might get at least 2 pairs of different shoes so i can switch out if needed. Probably 1 sneaker and 1 nurse type, non-clog shoe. I really love Danskos, they are particularly great if the ground is a little icy too. I'm sure there are other great shoes out there too. Thanks everyone for the input.