I have a quick question/complaint....I just started at a new PRN position in the ER at a hospital in St Louis. They have a dress code for RN's. Okay....but it is white shirts and navy bottoms. White? in the ER?
The last time I wore white in the ER, a drunk pee'd all over and I had to go change...
I mean....what about activated charcoal? I know it will stain dark as well as white, but it can be hidden better....
I told them, I will not wear white.....I am going to see how far this rebellion gets me!!!
I do have a beef with dress codes!!! But, if it wasn't white, i would prolly go along!!
What do you guys think? Am i just being difficult?
I would discuss this with your manager before not wearing white. I would not wear white in the ER either...but I would not recommend just showing up for a shift in white. I do not think you are being unreasonable at all. Sometimes things don't change until someone speaks up.
I'm guessing you're coming to work with me at John's. Don't even bother going against the dress code. It has been in place for over 4 years and really isn't that big of a deal. Charcoal stains anything, and of course you're going to change your scrubs if someone pees on them. Management has no problem with us calling the OR and getting the hospital scrubs if you get even a spot of blood on your top or bottoms. I actually like the dress code because everyone looks professional and you can really tell who everyone is....techs wear green, housekeeping royal blue, RT dark green, and transport maroon.
Seriously, it isn't such a big deal that you should get your panties in a wad about it. If you don't want to wear white/navy then you shouldn't work here. Do you really think this hasn't been brought up? But with over 100 RNs in the ED, and more than 1000 in the hospital, one PRN person isn't going to "rock the boat". You're just going to get fired. Our department management is awesome, so just go with the dress code and enjoy working with us. We have a really great group of nurses, and everyone (for the most part) works as a team.
Seems to me that if they want to be stricked with a dresss code they should supply scrubs. I don't care what color they want me to wear but they better wash them for me :)
Actually at one facility we wear our own scrubs of any color and the other facility supplies them and washes them from a pyxis like dispenser.
I just started a travel assignment at a Level 2 trauma ed that requires all nurses to wear white head to toe, not even allowed to wear colored socks. I thought this was a rare situation but apparently white is on the rise again as the color for nursing. My only question is who is going to replace all the white scrubs that get ruined in this level 2 ed? i kind of feel like if they (admin.) are forcing me to wear white in the ed and it gets ruined in the ed (which it will) that i should be reimbursed for the scrubs or have them replaced.
I just started a travel assignment at a Level 2 trauma ed that requires all nurses to wear white head to toe, not even allowed to wear colored socks. I thought this was a rare situation but apparently white is on the rise again as the color for nursing. My only question is who is going to replace all the white scrubs that get ruined in this level 2 ed? i kind of feel like if they (admin.) are forcing me to wear white in the ed and it gets ruined in the ed (which it will) that i should be reimbursed for the scrubs or have them replaced.
They don't get ruined. Seriously. I've worked in this position (in a level I) for over 3 years and have worn the same white tops for almost that long. You just wash in hot water and use a little bleach. If you get them spotted with blood just grab some hydrogen peroxide and dab it on. Do people not have better things to do than whine about stuff like this? This is so small in the grand scheme of things....maybe we should worry more about staffing ratios and pay.
Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.
I feel your pain about a "dress code". Our hospital decided to change the dress code for RNs to all "Galaxy Blue" colored scrubs and LPNs to wine colored. The hope was to eliminate confusion as to who the nurses were. Only thing is our RT dept wears "Royal Blue", our CNAs wear "Navy Blue", and housekeeping and pharmacy wear Light Blue. So when asked, who is your nurse? How is a patient supposed to know the difference? "It was the one in blue". No higher thinking in the higher ups.
HOwever for PRN, suck it up. It stinks, but mostly wear I end up with crap on me is on my legs and feet anyway. And you said it's navy for bottoms, right?
Just invest in some hydrogen peroxide, bleach, and some extra tops to stuff in your locker and try to have a pleasant experience there.
i work in the ED and I almost always wear white. We don't have a dress code other than just wear scrubs...but I like the white and it makes me feel professional. Plus, white = nurse in almost everyone's mind and I feel its less confusing to pts. I don't generally get stuff on my clothes at work either. And what I do, comes out w/ oxyclean or RIT for whites.
It's part of the job. There are much bigger things in life to worry about than what color scrubs to wear.
And bucking the giant St. John's system isn't likely to get you anywhere but fired. They aren't going to change their way on this one. They like it so much in St. Louis that they are expanding their dress code for staff to ALL facilities they operate over the next 1-2 years.
Sure, I don't want to wear white in the ER, but I also want a job so I do what they tell me to do.
If it bothers you that much - perhaps finding another job might be in order.
Our management just changed our uniform to whites for shirts and blue for pants recently. If not because of the fact that I have resigned, I would have brought the issue up. I work in haemo, and I deal with blood on daily basis - with high chances of spilling and splashing. Stains going into clothing is not an issue, just the residue and the prominence of the leftover that bugs me. Plus cleaning and maintenance.
I personally almost ALWAYS wear a white top with colored bottoms (royal, red, pink, hot pink, celery-green, lilac, etc)... I think that with the stereotype of nurses wearing all white, most patients recognize me as a nurse with a white top (the big "RN" hanging below my photo ID badge doesn't hurt) -- basically I just like it because it's professional, and I don't like cheesy cartoony scrub tops. Our ED used to be strictly "Royal Blue and White" -- any combination of those two colors. Now we can wear "whatever" as long as they are scrub tops and bottoms.
As for activated charcoal, I shake up the tube, snip off the top, and have the patient drink right from the tip of the tube. This way, less mess, and patient doesn't actually see the nasty black liquid I'm asking them to drink. :) Get the stuff on my hands all the time, but have never gotten it on my scrubs. (Then again, if we have an overdose, I thrown on a plastic gown, so I'm prepared.)
This is so funny. So im a NS, and on the NS forum theres a girl complaining about the uniform for graduation. Everyone and their dead dog pretty much agreed she was being - for lack of a better term - narrow minded. Their argument was that she should respect the dress code, since its pretty much tradition.
And here we have everyone on the same page against white.
Why is one o.k., and the other isnt? Its just a white top, how often do you run into projectile vomit? Especially per diem, or PRN. Sorry just my
TX_ICU_RN
121 Posts
I would discuss this with your manager before not wearing white. I would not wear white in the ER either...but I would not recommend just showing up for a shift in white. I do not think you are being unreasonable at all. Sometimes things don't change until someone speaks up.