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.
I totally understand why hospitals was uniformity, but just let nurses pick scrub styles that are comfy and flattering. I'm just more bothered that they won't let me wear shoes other than white...hurts my justification to my husband on why I NEED more Danskos lol
My hospital is also color coded. Navy and/or white for Nursing, Black for ED, Purple for L&D, Royal blue for the lab.. so on so forth. However, we are not limited to brands or locations in which to shop. Cherokee scrubs do not fit me well at all. I have several brands and I prefer Dickies or Wink. I must have lots of pockets. I do know of another hospital in this area where nurses were mandated to purchase directly from a hospital approved vendor and their uniforms were all embroidered with the hospitals logo and I am not sure how I would like that.
I really don't understand why the color coded scrubs in the first place. Sure if you work there you know by uniform color what department somebody works in, but for pt and family unless they know the code what good is it?
I work in LTC and we went mandatory scrubs a few years ago, then of course changed it so I still have a bunch of scrubs that I don't like and can never wear. At least as long as the color is right they don't care what brand/style we get. It's not too bad, except the residents with mild dementia can't tell us apart and family members occasionally complain that there are no more "fun" uniforms.
What I don't understand is why it's so all fired important for everyone to look uniform.
Because people complain that they dont know who is who. Like the BIG RED RN on my name tag doesnt tell you my position. Soon it will be people are complaining that none of the nurses wear fun print scrubs and suddenly the dress code will change once again.
Because people complain that they dont know who is who. Like the BIG RED RN on my name tag doesnt tell you my position. Soon it will be people are complaining that none of the nurses wear fun print scrubs and suddenly the dress code will change once again.
Or they will complain that they cant tell which nurse is their nurse because they are all dressed alike.
The people who complain they don't know who their nurse is ( after their nurse introduced themselves) are still going to complain they don't know who their nurse is (after their nurse introduced themselves and explained that nurses wear royal blue)
I believe you can write it off on your taxes. That's what I did.
I give it 1 to 2 years and the uniform policy will relax enough that it will be to the point of where it will be any color equal to this color will be fine. It just takes some before the people back off enough.
Our psych no longer wear scrubs and instead wear regular street clothes but no jeans. I have seen khaki cargo pants before by one of the techs. The psych nurses complain that the psych patients do not know who is staff and when the staff identifies themselves as staff, the patients do not believe them.
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
At least you got to pick scrubs that fit you. If I am going to spend $25 on a pair of scrub pants I want it to be something I like and can wear if I ever leave the company. I forgot to mention that the scrubs will have the hospital name embroidered on them so if you want to work a second job or leave the hospital you will need different scrubs. I would have thought there was a law against that. Grrr
I feel your pain. I'm tall, and Koi is the ONLY brand that fits without crotch sag and are long enough.
The last time I tried to go with Cherokee, I tried on both an XL and Large. The XL was way too big around the waist and the crotch sagged midway down my thighs. Now if I had a pannus to shove in those pants, I would have been golden. The large, fit well in the crotch and waist, but they stopped mid ankle.
Thankfully, our small hospital is off the radar for color coded nurses. However, our organization color codes (royal blue) the RN's in their other hospitals, but they get to buy their own as long as they are royal blue with a white top underneath.
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
My hospital did this. Employees wailed, the union filed grievances, everyone freaked out.
It was one of the best changes I ever saw implemented. I was a patient at a facility owned by my employer and I knew the role of every person I ran into. Bonus: Not one Medical Assistant tried to pass herself off as a "nurse."
We were given a one time stipend to buy new scrubs. Embroidering with company logo was included if you wanted. You can wear any color undershirt, but it has to be a solid color. You can buy from any manufacturer, but the color has to be solid a pretty close match. It has worked out great.
I don't think anyone would really care about the color coding, IF they could buy from a brand that fits their own body type.
Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.
My hospital pays for my flight suit, helmet and boots (flight nurse here) with that said, if they didn't, I'd be happy to buy it myself, no reason anyone should expect the hospital to pay for your cloth. You are still dressing up to go to work and would have to buy cloth anyway. Most people just get upset about being told what to wear. In my case I could not care less.
I bet you would if the crotch hung down to your knees, or your butt crack showed every time you bent over!
Ruby Vee, BSN
17 Articles; 14,051 Posts
What I don't understand is why it's so all fired important for everyone to look uniform.