Can nurses wear skirts?

Nurses General Nursing

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Are female nurses allowed to wear skirts for religious beliefs?

Have you ever seen anyone out there do that?

Specializes in Diabetes ED, (CDE), CCU, Pulmonary/HIV.
why not? nurses used to wear skirts all the time:wink2: make them long(but not so long that you trip over it) and you won't even need to wear horrid panty hose with it! it has never been an issue wear i work.

at the hospital where i work, if you wear a skirt, you have to wear the white stockings too! no skirts for me. in my department we can wear street clothes, but i prefer scrubs.

Specializes in LTC, Subacute Rehab.

I've never worn anything but a dress... pants don't seem to fit well with my body shape, so I wear http://www.bestbuyuniforms.com/view.asp?id=222-C to work. With stockings, though, because I feel kindof naked without 'em :uhoh21:

I'm so glad to see this thread. I love skirts. I have this big issue with being feminine and I know when my father is in the hospital he whistles at the nurses who look feminine. I just read an article on some hospitals changing dress code for women to wear dresses or skirts so that it makes the patients happy. Patients consider dresses or skirts more professional and more 'Florence Nightengale - like'. They say it raises the mood of the patients to see 'pretty nurses'.

I have to say, I'll feel much better in a skirt that pants any day. I start LVN school soon and I wish they would let me wear a skirt, but they won't. They said I had to get used to scrubs even though my friends who are nurses wear skirts all the time at large hospitals. The Dir of nursing said that I would be bending over....well, to me bending over in a skirt is much better than pants. I don't wear pants - not even hiking....

Specializes in ER/Trauma.
What is Mennonite? is it like Omish?
The Amish are a split from the Mennonites (when Jacob Amman couldn't resolve differences with the Mennonite Church).

The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after and influenced by the teachings and tradition of Menno Simons (1496-1561). As one of the historic peace churches, Mennonites are committed to nonviolence, nonviolent resistance/reconciliation, and pacifism.

There are about 1.5 million Mennonites worldwide as of 2006[1]. Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from old fashioned 'plain' people to those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from the general population. With a few notable exceptions, Mennonite experience in Europe and North America has been, and continues to be, predominantly rural. The largest population of Mennonites is in Africa, but Mennonites can also be found in tight-knit communities in at least 51 countries on six continents or scattered amongst the populace of those countries.

Mennonites have an international distinction among Christian denominations in disaster relief and place a strong theological emphasis on voluntary service. Mennonite Disaster Service,[1] based in North America, provides both immediate and long-term responses to hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. Mennonite Central Committee provides disaster relief around the world alongside their long-term international development programs. Other programs offer a variety of relief efforts and services throughout the world.

source: WikiPedia.

I work for a not for profit Mennonite institution.

cheers,

Specializes in High Risk In Patient OB/GYN.
\I have this big issue with being feminine and I know when my father is in the hospital he whistles at the nurses who look feminine. I just read an article on some hospitals changing dress code for women to wear dresses or skirts so that it makes the patients happy. Patients consider dresses or skirts more professional and more 'Florence Nightengale - like'. They say it raises the mood of the patients to see 'pretty nurses'.

I'm sorry, but are you joking? You mention that about your father like it's a good thing, and not the disrespectful, rude, inappropriate action that it is.

I'd like a link to that article (or a similar one). I call BS. :uhoh3:

(FTR-I work nights-12 hr nights. I sometimes--rarely--work three 12s, then an 8hr shift all in a row. When I'm on that 8...my 4th shift...and I'm doing over 68 hours in that week...there isn't a skirt or dress on this planet that could make me look like a 'pretty nurse'.)

What a disrespectful post-both to nurses and women in general.:nono: :angryfire

I'm so glad to see this thread. I love skirts. I have this big issue with being feminine and I know when my father is in the hospital he whistles at the nurses who look feminine. I just read an article on some hospitals changing dress code for women to wear dresses or skirts so that it makes the patients happy. Patients consider dresses or skirts more professional and more 'Florence Nightengale - like'. They say it raises the mood of the patients to see 'pretty nurses'.

I have to say, I'll feel much better in a skirt that pants any day. I start LVN school soon and I wish they would let me wear a skirt, but they won't. They said I had to get used to scrubs even though my friends who are nurses wear skirts all the time at large hospitals. The Dir of nursing said that I would be bending over....well, to me bending over in a skirt is much better than pants. I don't wear pants - not even hiking....

me things you may be confusing feminine, with sexual....and if female nurses dressed as did Flo...there wouldnt be any whistling going on....

I'm so glad to see this thread. I love skirts. I have this big issue with being feminine and I know when my father is in the hospital he whistles at the nurses who look feminine. I just read an article on some hospitals changing dress code for women to wear dresses or skirts so that it makes the patients happy. Patients consider dresses or skirts more professional and more 'Florence Nightengale - like'. They say it raises the mood of the patients to see 'pretty nurses'.

I have to say, I'll feel much better in a skirt that pants any day. I start LVN school soon and I wish they would let me wear a skirt, but they won't. They said I had to get used to scrubs even though my friends who are nurses wear skirts all the time at large hospitals. The Dir of nursing said that I would be bending over....well, to me bending over in a skirt is much better than pants. I don't wear pants - not even hiking....

Oh, my...you are going to get skewered for this post. Not because there's anything wrong with wanting to wear skirts to work, but with the notion that being a "pretty nurse" is what is of priority. Or that making patients happy by wearing sexually-charged attire is what's important. Clearly, wearing a loose-fitting, comfortable skirt isn't what your Dad has in mind when he talks of wanting to see nurses in skirts....and I'm more than a little shocked that this is something that you'd like to emulate for men (like your father). It's hard enough to erase the sexual imagery of nurses that's out there in the public eye, but when you (as a prospective student) feed into it, well....it makes it worse.

Perhaps Dad should buy a video of Naughty Nurses and stop whistling at the ones in the hospital who are trying to work AND be professional (and not that kind of profession, thank you).

As for the Florence Nightingale reference, I'm with morte....I doubt seriously that your Dad and his friends would be all charged up to whistle at a woman wearing that garb. They'd prefer miniskirts, methinks....

Another thought: you said you have an "issue" with being feminine; I think it's time you realized that being feminine has very little to do with whether you are wearing a skirt or slacks. It's presentation and demeanor. Beyond that, I think you're going to find out very quickly, if you do pursue nursing, that there is little that is "feminine" about hospital nursing! We sweat, get sticky smelly stuff on us, and have to touch things that will make you feel in NO way "feminine". It's not a job for wimps ;)

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

From RNsRWe: "I think it's time you realized that being feminine has very little to do with whether you are wearing a skirt or slacks. It's presentation and demeanor. Beyond that, I think you're going to find out very quickly, if you do pursue nursing, that there is little that is "feminine" about hospital nursing! We sweat, get sticky smelly stuff on us, and have to touch things that will make you feel in NO way "feminine". It's not a job for wimps "

Excellent post! I totally agree. I would sincerely doubt that Sweetface will be posting like this once clinicals get started. You are so right that nursing is not for wimps.

I"n not confused at all. And I'm not a feminist either. My father is a hoot and the nurses laugh at him. If you would be insulted by an old man thinking your pretty, you've got issues. Time to see the nut cracker/shrink because your taking it way too personal. I'd rather an old man whistle at me and have his spirits high than to call me foul mouthed names.

I've read here that nurses disrespect eachother and I think when nurses take things soooo personal like my thread it show's just why nurses aren't bonding. If a nurse is feminine, the other ones put it down? That's only feminism at work. I'm a woman, I love being one and I love dressing like one. I like the tailored look, not the fru fru, lacy Paris Hilton dress, so please ladies, put your assumptions aside and just read what posters write isntead of taking it to heart that someone just MAY be a sexual person? Well of course, we all are.... and I'm not going to become unisex or dress like a man to avoid the whistles. I could care less if a man whistles at me...I don't have issues with it at all, and right now in my life if a man whistles it's a compliment, nothing more. If compliments make your skin crawl thats your own issue and it has nothing to do with competancy - but maybe jealousy.

From RNsRWe: "I think it's time you realized that being feminine has very little to do with whether you are wearing a skirt or slacks. It's presentation and demeanor. Beyond that, I think you're going to find out very quickly, if you do pursue nursing, that there is little that is "feminine" about hospital nursing! We sweat, get sticky smelly stuff on us, and have to touch things that will make you feel in NO way "feminine". It's not a job for wimps "

Excellent post! I totally agree. I would sincerely doubt that Sweetface will be posting like this once clinicals get started. You are so right that nursing is not for wimps.

Even in the most messiest of circumstances a woman can still be feminine even if the job isn't. I just came from 16 years of engineering working with all men and that is NOT feminine. However, we all define feminity in our own way and beleive me, I feel feminine and so then, I dress it. Just because a woman is feminine doesn't mean she is a wimp.... hardly at all and just because she works hard and can stomach it just like the brutes on here doesn't mean she has to dress in unisex clothing to prove it. I'm an odd one, my father taught me to do carpentry work, but I was a ballet dancer too. You can be both tough and beautiful. You nurses are so hard on eachother. I can see all the back biting already. That will probably be the worst of nursing...although my friends who are RN's know me really well and know me as feminine but pretty tough. I love who I am and I will post more of these articles.

Riiiiiiiiiiight, I'm sure the nurses love your dad whistling at them. When I have some inappropriate old man like that, I usually smile benignly or ignore it, but then I go back to the nurses station and b**ch about the dirty old man in room 216. I wonder if he is one of those patients who gets to experience all the nurses, because no one wants to put up with his sexual harrassment more than one shift in a row?

Have you looked at some of the more modern scrub cataloges? There are a lot of feminine (even sexy, sporty, or boring) scrubs available. Jasco, Living (I think that is what they are called?), UA all have some nice things. If you want to wear a dress, that's fine. I find it disturbing when someone wants to wear a skirt to get whistles or to entertain their male patients, though.

When I'm hospitalized, can I get a male nurse in a g-string? No?

Oh, my...you are going to get skewered for this post. Not because there's anything wrong with wanting to wear skirts to work, but with the notion that being a "pretty nurse" is what is of priority. Or that making patients happy by wearing sexually-charged attire is what's important. Clearly, wearing a loose-fitting, comfortable skirt isn't what your Dad has in mind when he talks of wanting to see nurses in skirts....and I'm more than a little shocked that this is something that you'd like to emulate for men (like your father). It's hard enough to erase the sexual imagery of nurses that's out there in the public eye, but when you (as a prospective student) feed into it, well....it makes it worse.

Perhaps Dad should buy a video of Naughty Nurses and stop whistling at the ones in the hospital who are trying to work AND be professional (and not that kind of profession, thank you).

As for the Florence Nightingale reference, I'm with morte....I doubt seriously that your Dad and his friends would be all charged up to whistle at a woman wearing that garb. They'd prefer miniskirts, methinks....

Another thought: you said you have an "issue" with being feminine; I think it's time you realized that being feminine has very little to do with whether you are wearing a skirt or slacks. It's presentation and demeanor. Beyond that, I think you're going to find out very quickly, if you do pursue nursing, that there is little that is "feminine" about hospital nursing! We sweat, get sticky smelly stuff on us, and have to touch things that will make you feel in NO way "feminine". It's not a job for wimps ;)

I can see there were many assumptions made about my post. I was going to be a nun 6 years ago and so I wear A line skirts ONLY. My father loves women looking like women. Actually he makes the nuns at the hospital blush at times. I don't have issues with sexuality but I can see many do here. Just because an article says 'pretty nurse' doesnt mean MediaO NURSE and just because men appreciate a woman looking like a woman doesn't put them in a lower class. When my father flirts with a nurse, it's one in an A line skirt who acts feminine, but not like a bunny. Geesh..... can you now see all of your assumptions? Also, I was just quoting an article I read on the net and y'all thought it was my article. There is alot to be said about presentation of femininity, presentation is looks. Demeanor is also dignity and maturity so this of course makes a woman more feminine if she has these attributes instead of competitive, indignant attitudes..

As for me, I would rather be helped by a feminine looking nurse who was a good nurse than one who wore psychadelic patterns. I'm just a traditionalist and I have very conservative values and appearance. Try to remember Nurses, that just because a man values pretty women doesn't mean we have fallen back 100 years. Caveman is still caveman and they ALL respond to what is pretty, even pretty attitudes.

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