Does anyone else here have to dress up like Nurse Rachett for graduation?

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Specializes in Geriatrics, pediatrics.

Help!

I'm working my butt off and doing great in my class; and we'll be done in June. :D

Graduation will mean the world to me, but we have to wear those awful white dresses with the silly paper nurse caps for graduation!! Throw in those white hose and ugly white shoes and I'm tempted to skip the ceremony.

They keep saying "it's tradition"... well, so is sexism and underpayment. The males only have to wear white pants & shirts.

Am I off base here? What does your school require for graduation attire??

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Specializes in Various.

I think we are wearing caps and gowns.

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Sorry. I think you are being completely rude. It is an honor to graduate as a NURSE and so I think you should put on your cap and be happy about it. Later you'll be complaining that people don't see you as a 'real' nurse cause your not an RN. Give me a break.

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Specializes in Hospice.

:yeahthat:

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My class was given the choice between caps and gowns or dress whites.

Dress whites won out without a squabble. We all recieved our caps and were told to wear them to the ceremony. The males were given the option (it was a joke because no-one expected them to). But they had all their classmates sign their caps for a souvenir.

And for what its worth, they are made of starched cotton.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Sorry. I think you are being completely rude. It is an honor to graduate as a NURSE and so I think you should put on your cap and be happy about it. Later you'll be complaining that people don't see you as a 'real' nurse cause your not an RN. Give me a break.

I guess I'm beyond rude because I didn't even go to my pinning. Yes our class wore those horrible dresses also. No worries though, I've never complained about not being seen as a "real" nurse.

:chuckle

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ok so i graduate the 18th of this month (april) yay me!!!! but i'm not going. not because i'm rude but because i am so broke that i can't afford to buy the dress, shoes, and all that jazz. i am at the point where i'd rather buy food than go to the ceremony. i didn't want to tell my classmates because i know they'll offer to pay for me. i really don't want that so i had to lie and say i was leaving town as soon as i finished. so i guess my point is that although i would probably look silly in my dress and cap i would love to be able to have those pictures and get my cap signed by all the people who helped me get through this year and frame it with my certificate. so just think about it that way. it might be a good memory later.

good luck

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Specializes in Geriatrics, pediatrics.

so i guess my point is that although i would probably look silly in my dress and cap i would love to be able to have those pictures and get my cap signed by all the people who helped me get through this year and frame it with my certificate. so just think about it that way. it might be a good memory later.

good luck

that's a beautiful way to look at it! thank-you!

i'm not at all surprised you can't afford to buy all that stuff you'd probably never wear again (unless it's halloween). so many of us are totally broke by the end of the course.

i think that people who aren't bothered by by the ugly getup are people who may not be aware of the strides we've made as nurses since florence nightingale wore her 19th century long dress and apron. the history of nursing is part of our curriculum...

did you know f.n. only had 3 months of training? now lpn's are expected to jam 2 years worth of training into a year or less. imo, having to dress up like a 1940's nurse just to graduate is just perpetuating that stereotype. on the other hand, it might be fun to see ourselves all dressed up like "real" nurses. we have to buy the dresses, but the school provides these round paper caps that look like maid's caps.

i believe that as progressive nurses we should think for ourselves...i don't apologize if people think it's rude to question it. my instructor said every year there are people who complain about it, and i think eventually they will change their "tradition".

i think that as nurses we should be emphasizing our progress, not hiding it.

whatever i decide to do will be my decision alone. i could take a stand for nurses everywhere and protest against the stereotyping; or just grin and bear it. (i'm leaning toward the latter.) but, whatever happens is my business and i don't need anyone to give me a slap on the wrist. i'm a big girl now.

thanks again!:redbeathe

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Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

My class voted and we wore caps and fugly white uniform dresses-we all strutted like peacocks.I would NOT trade that night for anything.

Our school has a uniform closet-I donated everything after graduation (our clinical uniforms were rather fugly,too) For the poster who can't afford to attend graduation check into this.Maybe your school has something similar.

To the OP-.I think accusing traditionalists of being unaware of the strides we have made in nursing is an unfair remark.Tradition is important to alot of people-not just the ignorant.

As for "Whatever I decide to do will be my decision alone. I could take a stand for nurses everywhere and protest against the stereotyping; or just grin and bear it. (I'm leaning toward the latter.) But, whatever happens is my business and I don't need anyone to give me a slap on the wrist. I'm a big girl now." So WHY did you post on a message board if you did not want to hear others opinions? :banghead: I just don't GET it....

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My union will be striking next month. I'll be wearing full dress whites and cap as I walk the picket line to enforce that holding an LPN's licence makes me a real nurse.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, pediatrics.

I thought we could have an open exchange of opinions and some feedback on graduation attire. Not this:

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I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
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I think that people who aren't bothered by by the ugly getup are people who may not be aware of the strides we've made as nurses since Florence Nightingale wore her 19th century long dress and apron. The history of nursing is part of our curriculum...

I'm as big a fan of the "free and open exchange of ideas" as anyone, but did you honestly not realize when you wrote the above how blatantly insulting and condescending it is to the many nurses on this site who happen to, for whatever reasons of their own, disagree with you? I guarantee you I know a heck of a lot more about the history of nursing than you do (guess what, the history of nursing was part of my school's curriculum, too!), as well as "the strides we've made," and I don't have any particular problem with whites (not scrubs :uhoh21:), white hose, or caps. On the rare occasions when I'm in a "uniform" situation (my specialty is psych, so I've worn street clothes most of my career), I even wear them.

You are welcome to feel however you like about whites, but please don't assume that the only reason anyone would feel differently is ignorance!!

(Also, thanks for offering but I don't need you to "take a stand" for me against stereotyping; I'm perfectly capable of standing up for myself, as I believe most nurses are.)

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