color coding staff

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 30, 2004

The housekeeping staff where i work wear scrub-like outfits. The pants look like ordinary cotton pants and the shirt is a collared button-down of a lighter color. And also they wear one of those front-pocket smocks that matches the pants. They are VERY strict on making sure that they wear the appropriate colors, so they are supposed to bring the clothes into work if they are new and show their boss what they bought before they wear it in, to get it approved.

Dietary wears solid green shirts and black pants. Except for the cooks, they are required to wear solid white.

cjkes78 · Aug 30, 2004

i worked in a ltc facility as a cna and their dress code was horrible. rns could wear "street" clothes as long as they were nice and business-like (which i thought was pretty cool). lpns, cnas, and dietary wore white scrubs :stone . but the cnas had to wear thick navy blue smocks (those things make you so hot) :angryfire and dietary had to wear teal smocks. housekeeping wore burgandy scrubs.

i worked at one facility that let everyone wear their normal, everyday clothes. i wore my scrubs. :wink2:

RNonRun · Oct 6, 2004

My facility wants to color code the RN/LPN's. Our choices are: black, green, navy blue, white (yuck), burgundy. Some nurses are angry. I really don't care...old private school uniform person here. Any opinions on favorite color choices from the mentioned list?

One of the hosp here in Louisville had the Nurses wear white or Periwinkle blue. CNA's wear Purple housekeeping something else.

Come to think of it I was just there last week for removal of my sexy gall bladder... Think the floor I was on was wore a blue green shade. I don't care. It made no diffference to me as a pt. They introduced themselves but I was so drugged up I couldn't tell without the names on the board.

Never understood no matter what I did my name badge went the wrong way, some like that, I prefer it to show correctly. I also wear RN pins or lanyards too.

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Oct 6, 2004

I've just started a job and the nurse is supposed to wear white pants but the top color is up to individual preference. I'm not sure what everybody else is meant to be wearing. As I've never come across color coding before, it will be interesting to see if the patients/public see any difference. I hope they do because it's really difficult to find white scrub pants that don't show your underwear!

RNonRun · Oct 6, 2004

I've just started a job and the nurse is supposed to wear white pants but the top color is up to individual preference. I'm not sure what everybody else is meant to be wearing. As I've never come across color coding before, it will be interesting to see if the patients/public see any difference. I hope they do because it's really difficult to find white scrub pants that don't show your underwear!

LOL!! Having HAD to wear white for the aforementioned hosp and many agencies, Old lady breifs in white are the safe for me!!

and as I am not teeny tiny I wear my tops OUT which helps cover my bum.

CSLee3, ASN, BSN, LVN, EMT-P · Oct 6, 2004

If Color Coding works, AND every unit and person complies....great. Probably not going to happen. Then there is the legal case-law out there....about being forced to wear something...the employer has to purchase it.....?

Next best thing....

NICE, Photo IDs with RN or LVN or CNA in bold print. Employees hiding their nametag or not wearing it could be disciplined and that would probably resolve itself. A Major Hospital in Temple Texas color codes their Name Tags with the same kind of color discussion mention in the numerous posts. Thier patients are told when admitted "Blue nametags are RN's" The only bad thing about that is that LVNs and Respiratory, Physical Therapy are all Green...Considered Auxillary people...the same as the kitchen or other vital jobs......can you believe that! Of course Doctors have their own color, BUT have to wear a nametag, and we are talking about 300 doctors....They actually comply (as far as I have seen) and wear their nametag.......go figure.

purplemania, BSN, RN · Oct 6, 2004

We are implementing a program where all nurses will wear navy/white scrubs in any combination or style. Lab coats are optional, as long as they are navy or white. Other disciplines will have their own color scrubs. Pedi nurses can add pedi-patterned lab coats to navy/white scrubs. We are changing our badges too. I think our picture will be on both sides and our names in bolder letters. I know I HATE to go around the hospital and not be able to ID people properly.

RNonRun · Oct 8, 2004

If Color Coding works, AND every unit and person complies....great. Probably not going to happen. Then there is the legal case-law out there....about being forced to wear something...the employer has to purchase it.....?

Well when I was at that hosp as an employee I wore Purple after 2 months, cause I like it (and got behind in the laundry). The House Super came up and gave me a pair of scrubs. With a warning.

As much as I don't like Periwinkle I would have gladly worn the srubs everynite but I was told upfront when I started about the dress code.

Silly me to rock the boat.

--leslie

MZachry · Oct 8, 2004

I wouldn't mind wearing white (I will earn that right upon graduation!), or another standard color which all RN's in the hospital have to wear. I think LPN's should wear a distinguished color, and CNA/CMA's should wear yet another color. These seem to work out in every hospital I have been in, with a poster located in each room to allow the patients/visitors to know who is who with the staff just by a glance. (Of course you should always state your name, and position to every new pt./visitor in a room you go in.)

I don't understand those posts where I am reading about some employees not complying. You either comply, or you get written up....you get written up too many times, it's your job. That's my theory.

I do not think anyone except patient care staff should wear scrubs. Housekeeping, and food service personnel need to wear matching polo shirts. (Of course, each dept. being a different color.)

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Oct 9, 2004

I don't understand those posts where I am reading about some employees not complying. You either comply, or you get written up....you get written up too many times, it's your job. That's my theory.
I do not think anyone except patient care staff should wear scrubs. Housekeeping, and food service personnel need to wear matching polo shirts. (Of course, each dept. being a different color.)

Keep in mind that not everybody there is an employee of the facility. Agency and travelers are usually not expected to adhere to facility-specific dress codes because it could become quite ridiculous if they worked at several different facilities (or changed assignments every 13 weeks) and had to adhere to a different dress code at each place. That uniform bill would add up pretty quick - those things are expensive to not look any better than they do, IMO.

Personally, I would think that management would have more important matters to concern themselves with. If they do not, perhaps I should dust off my resume and apply for one of their positions.

I agree it would be nice if non-patient care folks did not wear scrubs, but you have to keep in mind that they sell scrubs at Wal-Mart these days. I have walked up to a baby's bedside and seen someone wearing scrubs and questioned who they were (and just WHAT were they doing at MY baby's bedside??!!). What is going through my mind at the time, of course, is whether this is mom's nurse (is something wrong with baby's mom?), is this an imposter (should I call security? quick count the babies - do we need to call a code pink?)

Of course, it would usually turn out to be baby's grandma - oh no she's not a nurse, but she likes to run around town looking like one...she likes when people ask her what hospital she works at... :rolleyes:

NurseFirst · Oct 9, 2004

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that one of the major nursing journals a few months back had an article on the nursing uniform. In addition, they advocated for RNs to wear patches, that reminded me of the patdhes that the public service personnel wear (you know "EMT", "PARAMEDIC", "POLICE")--except it was smaller, red and white, and designed to be worn on the front of the uniform.

Weariing of lab coats of varying lengths by some hospital personnel drives some docs crazy -- long vs. short coats used to be the way they told between the residents and the attendings.

boulergirl, CNA · Oct 9, 2004

I wish we were allowed to wear scrubs. At our ALF, nursing assistants have to wear red polo shirts with the company logo, khaki pants (no shirts, not even in summer) and white shoes. At Quiktrip convenience stores they wear the same uniform. Plus the outfit makes me look like Humpty Dumpty. :imbar

When I was a CNA in LTC, we had to wear any combination of burgundy and white scrubs. I loved wearing all white, but stopped because I felt that this privilege was best reserved for nurses. (Turns out lots of nurses HATE white! Shucks...)