Do you wear different scrubs for psych?

[angelfire280]

.... As in, do you wear different colors or avoid certain scrubs when working in psych?

I just got my first nursing job as an LPN at a psych ward. One of the roughest in the area, actually. I am buying my first non-white scrubs (finally), but I wondered if the color you wear has an effect on your patients. For instance, I'm staying away from red, even though I love the color, because of all the negative feelings it's reported to provoke. I'm also avoiding pastels, even though I'm a girly girl, because I fear that the more uncontrolled patients might see me as soft or whatever.

I was aiming for green, navy, blue, and purple. Am I being silly here, or does this stuff actually matter?

[suzanne4, RN]

Most of the psych nurses that I know wear stret clothes with a lab coat over it. Best bet is to check with the actual facility, or other staff that are already working there.

[angelfire280]

Most of the psych nurses that I know wear stret clothes with a lab coat over it. Best bet is to check with the actual facility, or other staff that are already working there.

I wish I could do street clothes, but everyone was semi-in uniform when I went for my interview. Scrub bottoms and tops, or some had plain tees on. I'll find out monday at orientation, just wondered if the color theories were followed or not.

[jschut, BSN, RN]

During our Psych rotation, we wore street clothes.

All staff did...

[suzanne4, RN]

I wish I could do street clothes, but everyone was semi-in uniform when I went for my interview. Scrub bottoms and tops, or some had plain tees on. I'll find out monday at orientation, just wondered if the color theories were followed or not.

Definitely wait until they tell you.

[CharlieRN]

One of the perks of psych is "no uniforms". I have not worn "whites" in 20 years. However, my hospital does have a dress code and "scrubs" whould be too casual.

[Balder_LPN, LPN]

One of the perks of psych is "no uniforms". I have not worn "whites" in 20 years. However, my hospital does have a dress code and "scrubs" whould be too casual.

Do you mean to say you cant where scrubs in the hospital period? or just in psych?

[RNin2007]

We are not allowed to wear scrubs in the unit I will be doing my rotation in. Professional dress, casual clothing only.

~J

[Psychaprn]

I always wore professional street clothes, a lab coat and a name plate/ID. Just be honest, warm and trustworthy-be yourself-the patients are just humans like you-I don't think the colors matter. Do avoid long chains or anything around your neck, shoes you can't move quicly with and revealing clothing and you'll be fine.

[CharlieRN]

Do you mean to say you cant where scrubs in the hospital period? or just in psych?

I'm working in a private free standing psych hospital. So all we do is psych. When I worked the psych dept of a med center we wore slacks and a bottoned shirt, no jeans, shorts or sneakers. Female staff wore similar or skirts and nylons. When we left our area we wore lab coats.

Right now I'm at work wearing chinos, black leather shoes, a blue shirt and a vest. I'm the supervisor so I could wear a tie or jacket but I try to avoid ties. So far no one has asked me to wear one. Putting on a sport jacket can be an easy way to gain a little psych edge when dealing with difficult clients or visitors.

[TreeHawk]

When I was a psych tech the hospital I worked for had a no scrubs policy unless you worked on Geri, where it was really necessary as you could imagine. The DON said there was a no scrubs policy because it was a psych hospital and they thought that scrubs did not look professional and would perhaps frighten the patients d/t their "medical look". However she wished that they did have uniforms though, like a staff polo shirt and khakis to help distinguish staff from patient. I would have liked that..many patients had boundary problems and maybe a staff uniform would have helped with that, I don't know. Plus some staff wore some pretty inappropriate clothing to work...that hospital was a freaking mess and I'm glad I'm not there.

[hypnotic_nurse]

I have a second job doing psych. We can wear scrubs or street clothes (no jeans). Mostly I wear scrubs, but then again, I work nights.

I'd go with plain generic clothing or scrubs (color doesn't matter, really). Boring clothes means it's less likely someone with a psychosis will fixate on something you are wearing and connect you to one of their delusions (you should realize that at some point, someone will be delusional about you for some reason or another, but I always figured, why add any additional reasons?). I spent 10 years doing in-depth interviews with psychotic patients and I learned a lot (I also learned that I could not display my young child's scribble drawings without someone figuring out some hidden "meaning" to them).

I don't like wearing lab coats unless the patient makes me uncomfortable (and I do use a lab coat when that happens). I find it distancing, but that's just me. I'm more comfortable on the unit without it. Plus I get too hot in a lab coat.