i am on a committee in our hospital that is looking at the dress code, specifically for nurses. as is, the policy states that nurses will wear navy, white or a combination of the two, pcts (cnas) will wear hunter green, white or a combination of the two, dietary wears cranberry, peds wears purple, etc. i don't think this policy is necessarily bad, there is just no enforcement. people have started wearing print jackets and tops, and/or different colored shirts under their tops. also to be addressed by our committee are the "crocs" shoes. we are looking for literature on dress code/uniforms in nursing. we want to put together a dress code that is appropriate yet enforceable.
a couple of questions:
(1) how is the dress code enforced at your facility?
(2) do you know of any literature addressing dress code or footwear in
nursing?
(3) do you find that, or know of any literature regarding, patient preference
First, my school cap hasn't been made at all. It's not flat, it's lace and fluted. You need a special tool to put it together and no manufacturer will even make them.
Second. What about the men? You going to make them wear caps, too? I doubt it.
What is it so difficult about keeping clean caps on hand? Get the flat kind that can be machine washed. Dip them in a thick starch solution and "paste" them to a refrigerator or a plate glass mirror to dry. No ironing will be necessary, just attach your racing stripe(s) and assemble them. A clean cap every morning, just like a clean head of hair!
Difficult? Let's see, hitting it on everything, demented pt. grabbing it, the pins coming off and it falls in the floor, etc. At that rate, i could go through a couple of caps a shift.
Not to mention it's very dated, and how many men have you seen wearing the cap?
With everything to consider that a nurse has to deal with, who really cares???
ok. i will grant the one exception to the canadian nurse who's staff weras see through scrubs complete with thong and belly piercings ;o)
but seriously now.
my hospital has a policy of who can wear what color based on what department you are in. and out name tags (ID basdge with picture ) must ALWAYS be visible , which states our name and position under a photo snap-shop. basically, you can't wear those green scrubs unless you're part of surgical.
now. you're trying to tell me that if i chose to wear a scrub shirt with sponge bob or rugrats because i work in ped's and it makes the kids happy to see it....you're trying to put a stop to that?
or that you want to reinstate the nursig hats that are so very archaic...when you have more and more men involved in nursing every day. and you can't bias between sexes. so they should wear them too.
please. when nursing has made so many strides foward, why force us to take on a symbol of the past, a time when nursing wasn't as respected and was considered "a woman's job" verses a professional career. i look at it as the fact we wear the same uniforms as doctors, PTs, ect. that its symbolic of is all being on the same team and working side by side as equals, each bringing different assets to the task.
i don't mean to come down on any one person's opinion, but please.....what bugs me more tahn ever is when people look for problems and amke a big fuss over something that in no way affects our quality of care provided.
here's an option. take it as a case by case basis. if you see thongs, piercings (just because pts. can grab them), bellies, ect. then say something. but leave the ped's nurse alone who wears a hello kitty scrub top just because one of her patients loves the cartoon character.
Sorry I can't answer any of your questions as I am not a nurse.
As we have already seen opinions will vary from one extreme to the other.
Personally from a patient's point of view: Do I think everyone wearing a specific color be nice? Absolutely, it looks great and very professional to me.
As the nurse: Would you want to be wearing a certain color (ie: white) all the time? Probably not. Even if it part of the job description you will always have someone who violates the dress code and unhappy people.
Best bet IMO........Forget about the color coded and DEMAND everyone wears a clearly visible and color-coded name tag vs. a uniform and properly introduce themselves to the patients. :)
My hospital has the unit coordinators wearing purple or turquoise green, the nurses wear royal blue and the EMT/Suture techs/PCAs wear the surgical green. We can wear any type of scrub top as long as it is appropriate for children (I work in a children's ER)
I have worked for years where the only dress code was clean, neat, and professional. No colors are demanded. I can only state, like many others on here, it seems impossible for some employees to get neat and professional correct. I do think a person should be given a chance, but after say 3 times of coming to work looking like a jogger, a hooker, or worse, the HN should talk to the offender and it should be placed in their file. I don't like the price of uniforms anymore than the next employee, but it is in my best interest to look professional. Patients have fewer complaints if the nurse taking care of them look professional and acts accordingly.
P.S. Never seem hats in OR, RR, PACU, XRay, but really don't mind them on the floor. Just a hang over from my early days.
i am on a committee in our hospital that is looking at the dress code, specifically for nurses. as is, the policy states that nurses will wear navy, white or a combination of the two, pcts (cnas) will wear hunter green, white or a combination of the two, dietary wears cranberry, peds wears purple, etc. i don't think this policy is necessarily bad, there is just no enforcement. people have started wearing print jackets and tops, and/or different colored shirts under their tops. also to be addressed by our committee are the "crocs" shoes. we are looking for literature on dress code/uniforms in nursing. we want to put together a dress code that is appropriate yet enforceable.
a couple of questions:
(1) how is the dress code enforced at your facility?
(2) do you know of any literature addressing dress code or footwear in
nursing?
(3) do you find that, or know of any literature regarding, patient preference
regarding dress code in nursing?
any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!
1) at my last hospital, it wasn't and some nurses looked like they'd embraced the grunge style.
2) and 3) yes, here is a reference list to get you started:
dion, m. (2003). rn: the past, present and future of nurses' uniforms.
chronicle, 17, 3, 7.
kohrn, f. (2002). nurses' uniforms. psychiatric bulletin, 26, 156.
lipley, n. (2000). dress codes may interfere with nurses' human rights.
nursing standard, 14, 4.
mangum, s., garrison, c., lind, c., thackeray, r., & wyatt, m. (1991).
perceptions of nurses' uniforms. image: journal of nursing
scholarship, 23, 127-130.
simpson, c. (2003). cybertalk: should nurses' uniforms be scrapped in
favour of 'scrubs'? nursing times, 99, 18-19.
smith, m. h. (2003). body adornment: know the limits. nursing
management, 34, 22, 24, 52.
pearson, a. (2001). contemporary nurses' uniforms: history and traditions.
First, my school cap hasn't been made at all. It's not flat, it's lace and fluted. You need a special tool to put it together and no manufacturer will even make them.
Second. What about the men? You going to make them wear caps, too? I doubt it.
No caps.
The problem i have with nurse caps is that according to some research I have down they were based off the caps that MAIDS wore. I am not a maid to the patient, I am a healthcare professional.
I read in AJN not too long ago about an initiative for nurses to get the "RN" patch on their uniforms. Sounds good to me. (When I graduate I'm getting an RN tattoo) (No it won't show when I am in uniform)
At one of my jobs, the NP's wear nice clothes, lab coats optional. We MA's decided together that we will all wear purple scrubs. Not a problem.
At my other job in the ED they are talking about dress code by colors but it apparently has been discussed for a long time and never comes to any resolution.
I personally think that nurses and nurses only should wear white pants and whatever scrub top they want. I see the white pants as a symbol of modern nursing moreso than the caps.
Katnip, RN
2,904 Posts
Nope. No caps.
First, my school cap hasn't been made at all. It's not flat, it's lace and fluted. You need a special tool to put it together and no manufacturer will even make them.
Second. What about the men? You going to make them wear caps, too? I doubt it.
No caps.