i am taking finals for my first semester next week so i am admittedly inexperienced. i am very curious about a post i read in the "eww white uniforms" thread, claiming that complaints were disrespectful to the "veteran" nurses. throughout my semester there has been a huge emphasis placed on the image of nursing. multiple lectures by different professor (all rns that went to school with the caps and all) have all stressed that the typical uniform creates a negative stigma on the profession. they all feel that the all whites dresses, shoes, caps, etc that they were forced to wear, all have a negative impact on the profession. is this not a commonly held belief? i'm curious because it's been such a theme in my program. in one class my professor put on her cap and paraded around to prove the point that it was absurd for a "professional" to wear such a thing.i also attended the california student nurses association convention, where this theme was heavily stressed as well.i would love to hear other views on this topic. i’m also curious if this opinion may differ between the different entry to practice routes that one takes to become an rn. my program is bsn.
danh3190 510 Posts Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac. Has 4 years experience. Dec 16, 2007 I don't know about the effect of white on the image of the profession. But I did notice that in our first semester they spent a whole lot of time fretting about the image of the nursing profession and very little on how to be a good nurse. Happily once we got into the clinicals they stopped talking about image and spent all their time on how to be a nurse.
jackson145 598 Posts Dec 16, 2007 I don't like the idea that an "image" needs to be presented. If you want to be viewed as a professional, act like one. Whatever happened to "don't judge a book by it's cover"? To me, when I see a NS that spends time preaching about the "professional image" it makes me wonder if they put as much emphasis on the actual skills that will make one "professional". It's the same as all the time spent on bed making. The state of the sheets will not help a patient heal. When I'm in a bed, I can't tell if the corners are mitered or fluttering in the breeze and I can't imagine a sick patient noticing something so superficial. I think it's the superficiality that bothers me most. At my hospital, our best nurses appear ragged and stained because they have spent their whole shift (and then some) giving 150%. They don't need a starched white outfit or perfect beds to make them "appear" professional and competent. Their patients have confidence in them because simple observation of their actions will show that they are exemplary nurses. Our Docs don't wear the white lab coats either. They wear scrubs like all the other workers because they are there to save lives; not present a "Doctor image". I don't mind different colored scrubs to differentiate between categories of staff. It makes sense for patients, their families, and even other employees to be able to quickly identify who is most likely to be able to help them with the particular need that they have. Sorry so long, I just feel very passionate about this. :)
krenee 517 Posts Dec 16, 2007 They never addressed any such thing in my program. Odd. And it would never have occurred to me that white was somehow an issue.Kelly
FuturoEnfermera 144 Posts Dec 16, 2007 thanks everyone, for your opinions. yeah, we don't have clinicals until next semester so it's just been a bunch of boring filler so far. i'm excited for next semester to start! i just assumed, mostly because of the cnsa convention i attended, that this image thing was a big deal across the board. i've heard a ton of complaining about it and not so much about what they think we should actually do about it. that really bugs me!
nikki_nurse 69 Posts Has 1 1/2 years experience. Dec 16, 2007 I think that it is important for nurses to portray themselves in a professional manner, no matter what they are wearing. I know that my nursing instructor has said that she would love to wear white scrubs but doesn't because of the fact that they get dirty easily. I never knew that there was such an issue about white scrubs until just now. Our school lets us wear whatever color or patten that we want to. On another side point of nurses displaying themselves to be professionals, a whole bunch of nurses at my school wanted to go out for some drinks to celebrate being nurses and they were going to wear their scrubs. Then we decided that it would not be a good idea to wear our scrubs while drinking as it would give off a wrong image. We have had issues with the local newspaper stereotyping nurses so we opted to just go out as a group of nurses without our scrubs. It's sad that nurses can get so stereotyped so quickly, that we really have to be careful of the image that we our portraying. Sorry I kind of sidetracked there. :offtopic:
kangashere 18 Posts Dec 19, 2007 there have been lots of conversations regarding the white uniforms at our school. in fact they are looking at changing the color. the biggest reason being that white is not a practical color, everything shows up and undergarments show through. the arguments for keeping the white color are not so much about looking "professional", but about being easily identifiable among healthcare staff. i personal would like to be able to have any color other than white. as a cna, i never wore white uniforms. i know i will never where a white uniform as a rn.
UM Review RN, ASN, RN 7 Articles; 5,163 Posts Specializes in Utilization Management. Dec 19, 2007 Here's a poll on the topic:https://allnurses.com/forums/f118/whites-colored-scrubs-232698.html
GingerSue 1,842 Posts Has 20 years experience. Dec 19, 2007 On another side point of nurses displaying themselves to be professionals, a whole bunch of nurses at my school wanted to go out for some drinks to celebrate being nurses and they were going to wear their scrubs. Then we decided that it would not be a good idea to wear our scrubs while drinking as it would give off a wrong image. We have had issues with the local newspaper stereotyping nurses so we opted to just go out as a group of nurses without our scrubs. It's sad that nurses can get so stereotyped so quickly, that we really have to be careful of the image that we our portraying. Sorry I kind of sidetracked there. :offtopic:just to add - I wouldn't go out in public wearing either scrubs or white uniform (or any uniform) - that's just me (I feel dirty at the end of any day - that includes my clothing from work) and all I want to do is toss them in to the laundry - so I wouldn't go out in public or for a drink wearing any uniform (I change clothes at work upon arrival and before leaving)
madascanbeRNtobe 129 Posts Dec 19, 2007 At my school, it was stresses that nurses wore dresses and caps back in the day to portray a certain image even though they were impractical to the daily activities of a nurse. It is more important for nurses to be able to do thier job without hindrances, which is why we have left the stereotypes behind and moved to scrubs. Only time we talk about the image of nursing is in relation to inaccurate portrayals in the media.
