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?
Do you know why white uniforms were used? White can be bleached, germs killed easier,spots can be cleaned at work while wearing, and also doesn't show dandruff. White is the one color that patient can identify with. Also some nurses wear same uniform without washing. How do you know if a "flower" scrub uniforn is clean? Also if wrinkles show then you are not ironing uniform and you don't look or smell clean. Also staph will colonize faster on uniforms if not bleached or cleaned properly.
thanks sib
WERE used--tht was then--this is now!!!!
when hospitals assign scrubs--like in OR, or L&d--they are certainly not ironed-- and in todays day and age, white is NOT the only color the patients can identify with--and staph will grow even on white uniforms that are not bleached--many people cannot wear bleached uniforms--or even scrubs cleaned in the hospital because of the harshness of the cleanser still left on the clothes-----and if someone is the kind of person to wear the same uniform several days in a row without washing--what makes you think they wouldn't do the same with white--and just iron it so it looks clean???
we left behind the caps, and even the blue capes--it doesn't make us less professional!!
I'm still in school, and our uniforms are all white. While I do come home with dirt, etc on them, I would imagine it would be there no matter what color uniform I wear. It looks more professional, and the patients tend to look at us differently than the other students we work with who wear grey (yuck!). Only downside: see-through pants! lol.. but usually a nursing jacket will cover that problem, too.
My hospital is just looking at uniforms and I expect a decision this year about a single scrub color. I too have been at a facility that went all white. I agree with several posts - looks good but is impractical at times (I work ER).
I can say that with 17 years of experience including travel to six states, white gets two thumbs up because it makes you immediately identified as a nurse and seems to come with respect from patients and families - I can live with this.
So get out the bleach and be proud to be identified as a nurse!!!
I love my white uniform, my hospital have two options , if you whant to wear white, good ....if you don't whant to use white , hunter green is thealternative....but white look very profesional .:1luvu:
I love my white uniform, my hospital have two options , if you whant to wear white, good ....if you don't whant to use white , hunter green is thealternative....but white look very profesional .:1luvu:
I just started working at a hospital that requires the nurses to wear white. It has to be white pants, but then your jacket or shirt has to have a white background with any kind of design. But it HAS to have the white background. And then the nurse's aides wear purple.
I really like this idea because the patient knows who their nurse is and who the aide is. Yes it sucks wearing white but I feel more professional in a way.
OK, here's my 2 cents; All white uniforms....Hmmm....A truly antiquated idea to invoke chastity and purity in the late 1800's. Anyone who has been a nurse today or anytime recently knows that this is just simply put impractical. Nothing stains more permanently or even frequently than on a virginal white uniform. If the institution employing does the laundry than I could not even utter a condescending thought on the subject of white uniforms but ....Yeah, I see that happening soon!! LOL! Personally, I think that we as nurses should say that to invoke professionalism one should look beyond the color of the uniform but maybe into our ability to improve the quality of our patient's care or here is a rave idea; how about including nurses in on the many ideas that affect nursing as a whole. Nurses making decisions for nurses., WOW what a concept. Just food for thought.https://allnurses.com/forums/images/smilies/added/w00t.gif
This is pretty disrespectful...it's fair to mandate cleanliness, short nails, bathing, tidy hair...but forcing you to wear a UNIFORM? Why white? I agree with the poster who thinks it harkens back to nurses being seen as pure, virginal nun-like....also subservient, faceless and interchangeable. Come on, guys, our profession does not need this step back. It takes a simple, "Hello, I'm so-and-so, I will be your nurse tonight" and wearing the large name tag that clearly ID's me as an RN...we wear royal blue scrubs but have the option of providing and wearing our own. I love the color and convenience and wear these, but it would be a royal battle if our hospital went paternal on us and started mandating white....
personally i feel that all nurses wearing white effect patients overall negatively.besides the mundane routine of procedures and the difficulties of being ill,boredom and cabin fever i have seen patients struggle w/ daily.Variety is good and contrast inspires visual interest from the common schedule of a patient's daily schedule. i have worked primarily w/ leukemia patients and the uniforms i wore were a topic of discussion at times and did break the same routine day in and day out for the patient. color and variety i believe are important. why do you think hospitals try to make rooms and lobby areas pleasant to be in. ambiance is important. :redpinkhe
All white scrubs, huh? Little piece of advice- don't be like me when I was a new nurse and where Mickey Mouse undies under your white pants. (What can I say- I was in a big hurry to get out the door and got dressed in the dark- that was the day I swore off white pants forever). Seriously, with all MRSA hysteria and goodness knows what other super-germs all over, I think that hospitals should launder clothes for staff.
And will this new all-white rule apply to those who work in the OR? I would love to hear the comments of the OR staff there. All white uniforms is an antiquated notion of being a virginal handmaiden. Maybe the Docs should be the ones to wear all white uniforms for a while and see what they say.:Snow:
:Snow:
Patti 2nd gen RN
100 Posts
WERE used--tht was then--this is now!!!!
when hospitals assign scrubs--like in OR, or L&d--they are certainly not ironed-- and in todays day and age, white is NOT the only color the patients can identify with--and staph will grow even on white uniforms that are not bleached--many people cannot wear bleached uniforms--or even scrubs cleaned in the hospital because of the harshness of the cleanser still left on the clothes-----and if someone is the kind of person to wear the same uniform several days in a row without washing--what makes you think they wouldn't do the same with white--and just iron it so it looks clean???
we left behind the caps, and even the blue capes--it doesn't make us less professional!!