All White Uniform Dress Code?!!

[keludtke]

Help! I need your feedback, thoughts, and advice. The community hospital I am working at is deciding in June that all nurses must wear all white uniforms. Right now, we all have to wear light blue pants, but we can wear whatever color top we prefer. I am angry by this. I personally feel this is an institutionalized, cold, sterile color. Plus, I feel this is "old school". I am 29 yo female and graduated with my bachelor's degree. I am a professional RN regardless of what I wear. My name tag I wear says I am an RN and I have a license to prove it. I know in college I read articles that it is good to wear solid colors because it is more professional than a scrub top with flowers on it. And most of the time, I wear solid blue, which I like. But for some reason, all white reminds me of the nurses in the early 40s-50s in white skirts, white tights, and a cap on their head. I can't explain it in words, but I feel this is a step back for nurses.

Many of the nurses I have talked to are angry with this, besides the cost of all new uniforms (oh yeah, they are just providing us with one uniform) and trying to keep white clean. In the email, the hospital states it wants a professional look. Yet, this email was only for the nurses. Of course, it is ok for the doctors to come in with jeans. All the doctors I see (and I work 7p-7a) wear many different types of clothing. Should this not pertain to them and the rest of the hospital staff?

What do you feel about this? Has your hospital done this? What should I do? I am thinking of writing a letter of complaint. Do you as nurses feel all white is a cold color? Do you think hospitals should go back to an all white uniform? I think I need evidence based research if I want to write a letter to the hospital administrator of why I feel this should not happen.

I like my job and i am not going to quit if we go to all white. Yet, I feel compelled to state my opinion because of how I feel about this matter, but I want to get other opinions on this matter before I precede. Maybe I am the one behind the times?

[GilaRRT]

Thats pretty funny, I think we should start wearing the cool nursing hats and white skirts again. We could have allot of fun with this cool retro theme and call it the "Old Skool Hospital" for a little PR.

Honestly, I am not against dress codes; however, if you want to enforce the code, you had better buy my uniform and provide in house washing facilities. This is how it works where I fly.

I too agree that white is a poor choice of color in the hospital. White is difficult to keep clean, every particle of dust is visible, and quite frankly I do not really like white as a color for uniforms.

I too wear either a solid blue or pale blue matching set of scrubs. If I am in a good mood, I have a couple of tropical island scrub sets I can wear.

[S.T.A.C.E.Y, LPN]

I had to wear all white for school, and I absolutely hated it. I do however like the look of a uniform, and have no issues with wearing a standard colour uniform. I think dark blue or green would look nice, and for the docs.....mandatory lab coats or something like that?

[Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN]

Thats pretty funny, I think we should start wearing the cool nursing hats and white skirts again. We could have allot of fun with this cool retro theme and call it the "Old Skool Hospital" for a little PR.

Honestly, I am not against dress codes; however, if you want to enforce the code, you had better buy my uniform and provide in house washing facilities. This is how it works where I fly.

I too agree that white is a poor choice of color in the hospital. White is difficult to keep clean, every particle of dust is visible, and quite frankly I do not really like white as a color for uniforms.

I too wear either a solid blue or pale blue matching set of scrubs. If I am in a good mood, I have a couple of tropical island scrub sets I can wear.

Hospitals can't control what the doctors wear because the doctors are not employees of the hospital. They contract with the hospital for an exchange of services - unlike nursing, where we must change the color of our pants to satisfy the whims of administration.

I think that a few months worth of "my nurse had a visible stain that looked like my roommate's tube feed on her white uniform" on Press Gaineys would probably have hospitals singing a different tune.

Blee

[The Bell Jar]

Everytime I wear white my knees and butt get dirt streaks on them.I wouldn't mind wearing a white uniform as much if the hospital laundered them.

But it is very cold and impersonal. I would get very bored with it as well. Too bad they didnt give the option of all light blue too.

[VivaRN]

I worked at a hospital that had this policy - they adopted it in the mid-90's. Initially I had the same thoughts as you: this is old school, outdated, and my uniforms are going to be dirty in no time.

Really, though, it wasn't so bad. If you're going to do something dirty gown and glove as you would anyway. There wasn't any increased incidence of stains. How often do you get patient fluids on yourself in general? I try to avoid that no matter what color I'm wearing! Just because you have a white uniform doesn't mean it's a magnet. I'm not sure how else to explain it except to say it wasn't a problem.

Also, and this is something I didn't want to admit to myself... but it did make us look more professional. Patients and families and EVERYONE knew who the nurses were. It is old fashioned, but it seemed to bring out the old fashioned respect for nurses as well.

I didn't see any major cons. Let us know what you find in the literature.

[polish nurse]

Please-don't they have more serious things to think about?

[elkpark]

I think that a few months worth of "my nurse had a visible stain that looked like my roommate's tube feed on her white uniform" on Press Gaineys would probably have hospitals singing a different tune.

Blee

Actually, these dress code changes at hospitals are probably being instituted in response to client comments (we all know that's all hospital management cares about! :)) -- whenever anyone polls the public, the results always show that the public much prefers to see nurses in white.

[leslie :-D]

personally, i love, love, love white uniforms.

practically, they suck.

leslie

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I'm with Leslie.

I love, love, love the look of all white. But its not practical.

I was in healthcare back in the day when the nurses wore all white..head to toe (and wore caps too). The only "splash" of color allowed was a navy blue sweater. As a CNA I, too, had to wear white from head to toe. And wore all white for years and years and years. One big problem with all white is its very easy to look sloppy very quickly. white tends to get dirty looking after all the laundering it gets and in my opinion white tends to show wrinkles quicker than another color.

I wouldn't decline a job if its policy was all white, nor would I leave a job if they decided to go all white after allowing colored scrubs BUT I am sure as hell not running out seeking out places that institute all white

[Kiren]

i think the idea of nurses wearing a standard color at a facility is a good idea. i think it helps patients know who their caregivers are. when the nurses, aides, phlebotomists, physical therapists and everyone else look the same it confuses the patient. i know we are all supposed to wear badges stating our position but realisticly badges often get turned around or are worn in a place that is not so easily seen (bottom of shirt, pants pocket etc.). i used to work in a "color coded" hospital where every department wore a different color and i thought it was a great idea. one good thing about white is that you can wash it in hot water and bleach which helps get the coodies out.:)

[Mulan]

being required to wear white I have no problem with it, and I have no problem with the cleaning

I think it looks better than all the staff wearing all different colored tops and pants and socks and shoes, some of which look like garden clogs. I think that looks very sloppy and unprofessional.