Upgraded Wardrobe

Nurses Uniform/Gear

Published

I feel so guilty for the amount of money I spent within the past month on uniforms however at the same time I'm glad that I did because I was in dire need of uniforms that actually fit me.

When I was in nursing school, I was working the night shift as a CNA and between the hours I worked, the hours of school, and the poor lifestyle habits I had and the amount of stress I was under I ended up putting on a LOT of weight (I was considered obese). However, after I graduated with my ADN and began working as an RN I managed to lose a good amount of weight (over 60 lbs).

However, working as an RN now some of my fellow coworkers used to bust me all the time because I would wear the scrub tops that were 2 sizes too big for me (some of the tops could go above my knees) or the pants that would be so baggy as well. In the middle of nursing school though a friend of my mothers gave me a huge bag of new and unused scrubs (her niece wanted to go into nursing then backed out) that I combed out the larger sizes and gave the smaller sizes away along with donating the scrubs that didn't fit me comfortably anymore, which I now regret.

I was slowly adding new clothes that fit me into my wardrobe however within the past month I went a little crazy and ended up buying about 7 pairs of pants and 8 new tops. Thankfully with the scrub pants I was able to get a 20% off discount using my school ID. The irony? After I splurged I got a gift card for a uniform store for nurses day. Granted the pants are not as fitted as the tops because I like the extra wiggle room, it makes me feel a little extra confident that I look good in scrubs again. And I also learned my lesson too about getting rid of scrubs that are too big now - I placed them in storage as a "just in case" I get a little "fluffy" again.

Have any of you been through a similar situation?

During my first 2 years as a CNA, I bought a lot of nice, expensive scrubs... then I decided I was DONE with that line of work. I gave ALL of those beautiful scrubs to someone online who'd just graduated after leaving her abusive meth-head husband and putting herself through college while working full time to support her little boy... she had posted online looking for a couple of sets of cheap scrubs to last a couple of months until she could afford nicer ones. She was REALLY surprised when she got those boxes in the mail! LoL I went back into healthcare within 6 months of that, haha, and while I occasionally wonder about myself for giving them all away, I don't regret it!

I understand the guilt. I am currently in nursing school but work as a PCT. For clinical, we wear these horrible uniforms. They are boxy and unflattering. Everyone hates them. The hospital where I work as a PCT is not color coded so I get to wear whatever I want. The week before my orientation, I went to the uniform store and spent about $300 on scrubs. I tried on every single brand and cut until I found one I loved and bought almost every color. I am hoping to get a job at this same hospital in May after I graduates so I will be able to wear them for awhile(fingers crossed). Buying scrubs for me was way more fun than buying normal clothes. Not sure why. I easily could have spent more money there, but held back.

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