The hospital where I work is instituting color coded uniforms for all staff (except MD's) in patient care areas (RN/LPN-royal, PCT-teal, Radiology-black, Transport-brown, etc) to help patient's be able to identify who is who. Tops and bottoms are the same color. They are providing all staff with a ONE TIME only stipend toward buying the new uniforms. Full-time staff will receive $100, part-time $60, and per diem $40. Staff will be required to buy the scrubs online through the hospital and there is one brand (Cherokee) with 6 styles to choose from. If your scrub order costs more than your stipend, you pay the difference. The scrub prices range from $12-$24 each piece with the unisex being on the low end and the more fashion forward and maternity scrubs being on the high end. You will not be allowed to go to your local scrub store and buy another brand of scrubs, even if they are the correct color. If you choose to wear a shirt under your scrub top, it must be the same exact color as your scrubs or black, no prints. Also, no jackets are to be worn over the top.
Currently the hospital provides scrubs to the OR staff at no charge and will continue to do so. They also provide uniforms to the environmental staff at no charge and will continue to do that. If they are limiting our attire to one specific brand and specific styles and we have to purchase them from the hospital that seems like a uniform and not a dress code and the hospital should be providing them like they do for the other departments wearing uniforms. As far as I know, other companies outside of healthcare that require uniforms actually provide the uniforms.
I, like many of my coworkers, am fine with the required colors but am upset that I have to use my own money to buy the scrubs and can not even buy what fits me best. I wear tall length Koi cargo scrub pants, they are available in royal blue (I own 2 pairs) but I can not wear them. Instead I must buy pants I don't like for $24/each, because that is how much the tall length pants are through the vendor. My other option would be to buy the cheaper regular length scrubs and have them be 2 inches too short or buy the unisex pants and worry about my butt showing every time I bend over or feel gross and unprofessional because the crotch is sagging halfway down my thigh. According to the head of the uniform committee, staff should feel lucky though that they did not dictate what type/color shoes we must wear.
For those of you that work in hospitals with color coded scrubs, can you buy whatever brand fits you best as long as it is the right color? If your hospital does require a specific brand/color, do they provide you with the scrubs or do you have to purchase them from the hospital?
Obviously I am going to suck it up because I love my job and certainly am not going to quit over something like this, I just needed to vent my frustration and also wondered if this was the norm.
We are not only limited to brand and color at my place, we are limited to a few styles as well. And the material is the itchiest cotton-poly blend I have ever encountered. Thin fabric that itches. Yeah. Also I love cargo pants and the pockets on these are horribly placed and lacking in quantity.
If the hospital was buying these scrubs for me I would not complain. Its the fact that we are being told with little notice to buy something in order to keep our jobs that we do not like. Plus the current hospital policy (updated january 2014) states that any employee of xyz health that is required to wear a uniform for their job will be provided 3 uniforms each year that the employee is responsible to launder. It goes on to say that if the uniform is damaged or the employee needs a new size that the old uniform may be turned in prior to the year for a full replacement at company expense. So it is like the hospital decided they want to do uniforms for patient care staff but don't want to foot the bill so they are taking back their previous policy that has been in effect for other uniformed staff for years. I printed out the old policy (its still in the online policy manual) and am thinking about asking about it but am not sure the best way to do so.
Fyi since a few have commented about the fact that the hospital is dictating who we by the scrubs from, apparently a bunch of distributers were given the opportunity to bid on the job and the hospital chose the one offering the best price. They say they chose cherokee because they offer a promise to keep these specific colors in their brand forever. The hospital is calling the new color requirements standard attire NOT uniforms and I think that is how come they are trying to force employees to pay. In my opinion we still should not be forced to buy this brand IF its just a dress code and not a uniform. I wont even get into the fact that RN/LPN/MA are all the same color. An RN is not the same as an MA just like a pct in the ED is not the same as a pct on the inpatient floors. Our pcts start IV's, draw blood etc which the floor pct's are not trained to do.
We are not only limited to brand and color at my place, we are limited to a few styles as well. And the material is the itchiest cotton-poly blend I have ever encountered. Thin fabric that itches. Yeah. Also I love cargo pants and the pockets on these are horribly placed and lacking in quantity.
They are only offering 6 styles of tops and bottoms for us to choose from too, all are itchy. I also ordered a black jacket with dept logo FROM THE HOSPITAL 2 months ago that cost me $65. Everyone wears them, it gets chilly in the ED. We will no longer be allowed to wear them as of August 1st because they are not royal blue. Why did the hospital put out the brochure and say orders were due Feb 15 if they were starting this new dress code? I do not believe they didn't know before then that they would be doing this.
the places i have been at that transitioned into color coded uniforms did either give us a set for the number of shifts we typically work per week (2,3,4,5, etc); or another place gave us some amount of cash that would cover some of the cost one time.
are they having the hospital name embroidered on the top or anything? that would further your case that it is not a scrub top you could wear anywhere else in the future.
can you believe that someone did studies showing patients liked the uniforms because they would be able to differentiate roles of persons entering the room to provide care? half the time they assume the cna is a nurse too, even though the uniforms are obviously different colors. some also assume all men are doctors and all women are nurses. and agnecy wears whatever they want, even if they basically work full time with one hospital. once the "system" is unreliable, why would the patient rely on it?
*I* didn't bring that topic up, so yes....it WAS irrelevant to what I was saying. Responding to something isn't the same as "bringing it up". It was already there, NOT brought up by me.
At this point, I'm inclined to shrug and say "whatever". You only seem to want to argue, and I'm just not interested.
Have a good day.
I understand I am being confrontational; but it is not simply to argue. I apologize if I attributed some of the topics brought up in the thread you commented on to you.
Many of the arguments against standardized colors for RNs just don't fly. It is certainly not demeaning or unprofessional, as shown by examples of other professions that wear uniforms.
Over two years have passed since standardized colors were implemented by my employer and no one, not a single coworker expresses they feel demeaned or unprofessional. And believe me, when my coworkers feel demeaned, they whine and carry on about it for freaking ever. Just try and get them to shut up.
Standardized uniform colors are beneficial to patients, families, coworkers. I greatly appreciated them as a patient and I have witnessed patients and families picking up on the standardized colors pretty easily.
In Rapid Response and code situations, we no longer have to interrogate each other for job roles. I can look into a room and easily discern the role of the person with my patient. This is extremely helpful when your patients are being visited by PT/OT, RT, Phlebotomy, Techs, etc of all kinds.
None of those benefits are demeaning or unprofessional in any way.
Yes, it costs some money when first implemented. I have made about 70k a year since becoming a nurse; I could afford to buy the new uniforms and the color was readily available in the brands I wear - Landau and Cherokee.
There are lot of rumors and innuendo in the thread about the employer being "in bed" with the uniform vendor. The same rumors and accusations were leveled against my employer and they all turned out to be hogwash. However, if you work for a hospital or healthcare organization that is truly implementing standard colors for financial gain, then quit.
Standardized colors work extremely well in practice without being demeaning to nurses or the nursing profession. Perhaps the OP's coworkers could ask their employer to widen their brand options as long as the color matched.
I used to work for a facility where the uniform was all WHITE. I don't miss that. We wear royal blue and white or a mix of the two at my current job. Brand and style doesn't matter. I won't complain.
Yes, it costs some money when first implemented. I have made about 70k a year since becoming a nurse; I could afford to buy the new uniforms and the color was readily available in the brands I wear - Landau and Cherokee.
Good luck all.
I have made at least 70k a year since becoming a nurse too. I also have a mortgage, bills, a family. I have vacations planned this summer and the extra money I have, I planned on spending on activities I would enjoy this summer not scrubs that do not fit me properly and are itchy. Maybe I wouldn't be so bitter if I got to buy any brand I wanted in royal blue and find a store with a good price. I have royal blue scrubs that match the royal blue company required scrubs at home already. I have the right to be upset. The scrubs are not even available for purchase until june and we need to start wearing them soon after. We were notified this month so two months notice to buy new uniforms. Lucky for you that you got to buy brands you actually like. Its not like. I am starting a new job I have worked for the hospital and this was just sprung on me.
the places i have been at that transitioned into color coded uniforms did either give us a set for the number of shifts we typically work per week (2,3,4,5, etc); or another place gave us some amount of cash that would cover some of the cost one time.
are they having the hospital name embroidered on the top or anything? that would further your case that it is not a scrub top you could wear anywhere else in the future.
can you believe that someone did studies showing patients liked the uniforms because they would be able to differentiate roles of persons entering the room to provide care? half the time they assume the cna is a nurse too, even though the uniforms are obviously different colors. some also assume all men are doctors and all women are nurses. and agnecy wears whatever they want, even if they basically work full time with one hospital. once the "system" is unreliable, why would the patient rely on it?
Yes we are required to have them embroidered with the company name and logo
In my hospital we are provided with scrubs but two pieces per year:laugh: and these two pieces have very comprised stuff and also unfit for you. So we have to buy scrubs for us and on this our CNM is checking us why you are wearing different colors. Really i am worried on this issue that they are not providing sufficient amount and material of uniform and on the other hand they are checking us, so what they want to look us untidy or to feel that they are very poor.
We have to wear ceil blue, facility will hand you two sets upon hire, by coincidence, they are Cherokee brand as well. Each year after that you get another set. We can buy our own as long as they are ceil blue. Long sleeve shirts can be worn underneath and are supposed to be ceil or white, but they've never yipped if we wear gray or black. Scrub jackets have to be blue or white. But again, I see nurses wearing patterns and no one ever gets written up.
SunDazed, BSN, RN
189 Posts
We are not only limited to brand and color at my place, we are limited to a few styles as well. And the material is the itchiest cotton-poly blend I have ever encountered. Thin fabric that itches. Yeah. Also I love cargo pants and the pockets on these are horribly placed and lacking in quantity.