Do nursing students still wear caps?

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I found out yesterday that we wear caps. I thought those were obsolete. I thought they carried germs in and out of the hospital so nurses stopped wearing. Any other schools wear caps?

Specializes in Junior Year of BSN.
Again, I disagree. Formal military dress is a skirt for women and pants for men. Yes, women have pants as part of their military uniforms but the most formal version of the uniform, requires a skirt.

As far as the hats, the military follows traditional etiquette. Both men and women wear hats, however, during the Pledge of Alliagence and the National Anthem, women keep their hats on, men remove theirs. I think that there is an exception to this rule if they are at certain types of ceremonies at attention. Same goes for entering a building, women are not required to remove their hats, men are. Again, same thing at military funerals. If you have ever been to England, they follow this same practice.

Until very, very recently, most major banks and major companies like IBM required women to wear skirts. They didn't stop requiring it for discriminatory purposes...these companies stopped requiring it because they gave a clothing allowance every year, and wanted to stop the practice.

The nursing school that I am attending, it was only 6 years ago that they stopped requiring female nursing students to wear either a dress or a skirt. Again, no discriminatory reasons, other than they just dropped the practice. They are threatening to bring it back with the class starting 2008 because since they switched to scrubs, they are having major issues with too many students showing up like they just crawled out of bed.

A company, can legally require any dress code that they wish, as long as they are consistent, skirts or not.

The only exception is the reverse...if women wish to wear a skirt for religious reasons, then a company is required to do so.

As far as the nursing caps go, I agree with the OP...I thought that they were done away with for infection control reasons. My school does them for pinning and other photos, but it's a token decoration. I can't imagine having to work in one of those things.

What type of military were you in? When I was in the Army if you entered a building EVERYONE wore their hats off. In most settings near buildings like hospitals, or brigade/division buildings there were no hat zones. I worked in the motorpool, that is a designated no hat area so if you are outside inside the motorpool you did not wear a hat. The Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem or passing of colors everyone is REQUIRED to stand at ATTENTION. That does not mean remove your hat and place over your heart, that is ONLY done when NOT in uniform.

The whole 6 yrs I was in the Army I NEVER wore my skirt with my class A's/B's. I just got out the Army Sept 07 and they are now going to dress blues and no longer wearing the pickle greens. I was NEVER told there was a difference in the way guys and girls wore hats, so I have no idea where your getting this information from. I wore pants with my Class A's/B's and that is YOUR choice. Usually the commander or 1sgt put out that she/he wanted people to wear pants in my unit to be more uniformed. UNIFORMITY is a BIG thing in the Army. If you need any information regarding uniform wear in the Army look at AR 670-1 http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r670_1.pdf .

The school I will be attending require's nursing caps and has dress or shirt and pants as the uniform.

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Specializes in Oncology, OR.

The school I will be attending require's nursing caps and has dress or shirt and pants as the uniform.

Hi Cherish, actually, the school just got rid of the nursing caps as of this past spring semester. I believe we will still have them for ceremonial purposes but no longer in the clinical setting. One of the reasons cited was infection control. And lucky you, there are new uniforms too! Haven't seen them yet, hopefully they are a little more stylish and comfortable than what we previously had, but still the choice of a dress or pants and shirt for women, and then of course pants and shirt for the men.

I had mixed feelings about wearing the cap, I felt it would get in the way during clinical and also, I can't stand wearing stuff on my head. Then the decision to do away with them came down during the second week of classes so that was that. But during the course of school, I came to appreciate what the cap signifies, so I'm glad we'll still have a chance to wear them in what I think is a more appropriate setting (black banding, graduation).

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Specializes in LTC , SDC and MDS certified (3.0).

YES!! I just graduated last month and wore my cap for 2 years. spot wash and iron when needed. After pinning give to anyone who wants it or throw it away!! But accept it. The patients love it.

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Wow! Thanks zookeeper, I didn't know what they looked like either. My school doesn't use them for anything so far as I know. All you guys that want to wear one? You're welcome to them. How does it even stay on your head like that? I think I'd rather take another semester of pharm than figure taht out... Very happy they're not required anymore. I don't wear heels (OK, once, at my wedding, and I switched to flip flops immediately after the actual ceremony ended), I rarely wear a dress, and one of the many great things about nursing is I never have to learn how to do any of those things.

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Specializes in LTC.

Zookeeper--thanks for sharing the pic!!!!!

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Specializes in Home Health Care.

We were not allowed to wear our caps during clinical, I think it would have sure helped us out by differentiating us from the kitchen staff in our chef smocks if we were allowed to. If you click on my public profile under my highlighted username, you can see my cap, or click here (I hope the link works :uhoh21: )

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v686/Tanzanite/?action=view&current=dc24afd4.jpg

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Wow - this is such an interesting thread! I had NO idea caps were still being worn out there. I guess I can see both sides; I wouldn't particularly want to wear one, but I can see how they would help to distinguish the RN from the aide, etc. I've had trouble myself while in clinical trying to figure out who's a RN, LPN or CNA. I couldn't always see the nametag clearly, and I didn't want to go around staring at everyone's chest trying to make out their title! But the bottom line is, no caps for us, or any of the other nursing schools around here.

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Specializes in LTC.

Hi all. I just graduated from LPN school May 30. Our program had a strict dress code. Cap was to be worn but only after capping ceremony if you made the min. grades to continue to 2nd year. Hair could not touch collar and had to be pulled back from eyes into a bun. They were put on with white bob pins. These were to be worn in all clinical settings except home health, OR, OB and Peds.We could not wear them outside hospital under no terms. We were required to have a dress for pictures and capping. These were all the same. The males wore a specific uniform to match. At pinning (graduation), Males wear white slacks and jackets with tie of specific color and we wore a specific uniform which consisted of white dress, white hose,white nurse shoes, full slip, and of course our cap in which we received our navy stripe.

It may be just me being older, but I love my cap. It represents an accomplishment and a source of pride.

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Specializes in LTC, Medical Day Care.

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It may be just me being older, but I love my cap. It represents an accomplishment and a source of pride.

I share the same sentiment and hold the cap in very high esteem. If you look at the history of nursing you see the cap being worn far beyond victorian times and the times of Florence Nightingale. It really is a matter of preference. I was looking at photos from the college i plan to graduate from and was very disappointed...no cap..at least i didnt see them in the photos. Not to say they were not issued, but i didnt see any.:o

I feel like if there are enough students in the class interested then they should be given the option to do so..but then you have the issue of "uniformity" you know...either all or none.

A previous poster had a link to her graduation photo w/cap..very nice!! You should be very proud...on every level.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Wow. I had no idea the cap was actually still being used in nursing schools or by working nurses still. I sure am glad I didn't have to wear one. Actually, as petty as it sounds, I think it might have affected my decision to go to nursing school if it was a requirement. For whatever reason, I have a deep hatred of those hats.

Police hats, military hats both seem totally fine to me.....but those nurse's caps just rub me the wrong the way.

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My LPN school wanted to make us purchase hats and pins for our graduation. I didn't want a hat and a pin; so I just "forgot" to order one. But I didn't go to graduation, either, so there you have it. My RN school does not require a cap for pictures or graduation; not that I will go to that graduation, either (I'm not the sentimental type).

If an area school made students wear caps (or skirts or dresses for that matter) that school would be marked off my list in a hurry.

I've never even seen a nurse or a student in a cap around here.

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Specializes in cardiology.

I miss wearing a cap, honestly speaking.... but given the fact that nursing is undeniably active worldwide, some countries (muslim countries) don't wear caps (head is covered by hijab).

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