Dress code

[sugarsmom]

My current hospital has felt the need to implement a new dress code. Currently we are allowed to wear whatever we want as long as it's not all red or black. Starting in June the RN's will be required to wear some sort of blue (can't really remember the name of it) and LPN's will have to wear cranberry. My issue with this is we also have RT that wears a shade of blue, housekeeping wears a shade of blue and the CNA's wear a shade of blue. How are the patients going to identify us from any other person they come in contact with? What is the general feeling out there regarding having to wear a certain color (have a dress code)? Because my hospital is saying that patients say they feel more at ease when everyone wears a certain color.

[RNforLongTime]

We had that for generations -- white uniform, white hose, and (gasp!!!!) caps -- everyone knew who the nurses were in a healthcare setting, and we were well-respected by physicians and the general public. Then nurses decided caps were demeaning, white was impractical, and we wanted to be able to express our personalities with our clothing at work ... Are we really better off now than we were? :)

White IS impractical especially if you work in ICU, Labor and Delivery, ER, etc. I work ICU and am exposed to all kinds of things....ever been projectile vomited on by an overdose pt who was just charcoaled? I have, it AINT pretty! And if I had white on, those scrubs would be RUINED by that charcoal.

This debate has been going on for a LONG time and I have yet to see anyone come up with a good answer.

I am lucky in that I can wear whatever color scrub I want...and so can the secretaries, respiratory therapists, phebotomists, nurse aides.

[babiesRmylife]

Our hospital has a dress code but we can only wear 1 color of uniforms (RN, LPN's), nurse techs wear another color, as does RT, & X-RAY, etc etc. Each "job" has a different color. Not exactly my cup of tea, but you do what you gotta do. And our hospital's theory on is so patients will "know who their nurse is." Sorry but when they are admitted do you give them a color code chart?? :)

[Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

We had that for generations -- white uniform, white hose, and (gasp!!!!) caps -- everyone knew who the nurses were in a healthcare setting, and we were well-respected by physicians and the general public.

My personal belief is that nurses didn't lose respect by simply changing out of a white uniform. I think there's much more to it than that, in my respectfully honest opinion.

We wear whatever color of scrubs we like.

[elkpark]

My personal belief is that nurses didn't lose respect by simply changing out of a white uniform. I think there's much more to it than that, in my respectfully honest opinion.

I agree with you that there's a lot more to it than just that. Don't get me started ... :)

[ZootRN]

We had that for generations -- white uniform, white hose, and (gasp!!!!) caps -- everyone knew who the nurses were in a healthcare setting, and we were well-respected by physicians and the general public. Then nurses decided caps were demeaning, white was impractical, and we wanted to be able to express our personalities with our clothing at work ... Are we really better off now than we were? :)

I hear it over and over that nurses were respected by doctors back in those days when they wore white caps and white hose. How come nurses were expected to stand up when doctor walked into the room? So much for white hose and respect.

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

I wear hospital scrubs but wear my own cloth scrub hats and warm up jackets. So, I think I have the best of both situations...I don't have to go out and buy my own scrubs, so I spend that money on a good pair of shoes and some more cute hats!

I think a lot of problems can be solved if people introduced themselves to their patients, I'm talking about my area mainly. I always make a point of meeting my patient in holding and saying that I'm witchyRN and I'm the nurse who will be with you in the room.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I've got a bucketful of cash invested in my scrubs at this point, and the hospital would be owing me some of that back if I could no longer wear them. OTOH, if my hospital deemed it more important that I wear a specific color than retaining me, well, I imagine I know the outcome of that! There's plenty of employment options that DON'T require me to throw away a ton of clothing first, and they'd welcome those of us who'd be leaving by the truckload from Fashion Hospital :)

I agree with whoever said that introducing yourself gets rid of the "who is the nurse" problem. My patients know I'm their nurse, period. If they are so confused that they can't recall this fact over the course of my 12 hours with them, well, I don't think wearing ceil blue that day is gonna matter, do you?

[Woodenpug, BSN]

I do not honestly care one way or the other about dress codes. Still, it should be said - the purpose is not to help the patient identify the health care worker. It is to help everyone identify the people who are not wearing a uniform. "ooh, you have a badge and no uniform, wow! you must be important!"