Is there power in the color white?

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Dec 14, 2006

Yes, I think white has power. Where I work the nurses are required to wear all white every day except Friday. We are not even allowed to wear designs on our jackets. I have had so many compliments on how nice the color white looks on nurses. Familys have said at least they know who the nurse is.

:yeahthat:

I've been wearing white since I started working as a nurse, all of five months ago. I can't tell you how many patients and families have commented favorably on it. If you want them to go really wild with happiness wear polished white shoes, a dress, and stockings.

They don't need to read a badge, find my initials, ask my name - they see me and know they can call, "Nurse!" It relaxes them, too. They KNOW a nurse is on the job at a glance.

Yes, it's a little more bother to launder whites and I have less freedom of expression. But I'm not dressing for me.

rn/writer, RN · Dec 14, 2006

People also like to see nuns wearing the old habit (an extreme rarity these days) but their garb was had problems, too.

No one is stopping the nurses who want to wear white. But for those of us who find it impractical, immodest, and unflattering, having the option to wear other colors is a real boon.

I DO think that some go overboard with cartoon scrubs (unless working on a peds unit), but for the most part, the nurses I work with look great. And happy.

For the record, until last summer, the hospital where I worked had separate colors for each discipline. They finally scrapped this restriction when they did a survey and found that patients couldn't remember the color code, didn't or they knew who their nurses were without the code. When the dress code was relaxed, there were a lot of happy employees and a couple of local uniform stores that made a bundle.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 14, 2006

[quote=rn/writer;1969478no one is stopping the nurses who want to wear white. but for those of us who find it impractical, immodest, and unflattering, having the option to wear other colors is a real boon.

that pretty much sums up my feelings as well. if you want to wear white for whatever reason, wear it with my blessings. but i don't choose to wear white, and i find it aggravating that so many are pushing for an all white nurseforce. wear your white -- but please don't try to force me to wear it as well!

Katnip, RN · Dec 14, 2006

To some cultures, white symbolizes mourning.

wefdm21 · Dec 14, 2006

Okay this is getting long, but I will say. I don't like white uniforms for the simple fact that while in nursing school I had to make sure that I had a black pair of panties (sorry if too personal) to wear for everyday of clinicals. I love to wear my white nurses jacket though with some black scrub pants and a black turtle neck.

GingerSue · Dec 16, 2006

Is it possible for you to go back to wearing them?

In answer to your question

I will wear uniforms that look professional.

and I will continue to purchase and wear clothing that fits.

The things that don't fit or that look like pyjamas, I will not wear.

(The issue for me isn't "white" - because I had one job for 10 years in which the required uniform was navy (and that was fine except for the fabric - so I, like others, purchased our own navy items - the blazer was ridiculous (didn't fit, etc - I never wore it - waste of money).

Busybusy2 · Dec 16, 2006

I think that RN's should go back to the color white- today it is very difficult to distinguish between an RN from anyone else. I think that we need a way to set ourselves apart, whether its wearing white or some other obvious distinction.

Hi all. I'm looking for some opinions on whether you believe that returning to wearing all white uniforms might give us back some power.
Now let me explain power. I've been an RN for 21 years and we (the profession) seem to have gone from "thank you nurse" to being treated less than a house keeping staff (and their role is important in hospitals too). I just find patients, their families, government, even our own supervisors do not treat "hands on" nurses with the respect we deserve.
Please be bluntly honest.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 16, 2006

i think that rn's should go back to the color white- today it is very difficult to distinguish between an rn from anyone else. i think that we need a way to set ourselves apart, whether its wearing white or some other obvious distinction.

if the issue is distinguishing rns from everyone else, then perhaps "everyone else" should be required to wear a certain uniform or a certain color. or perhaps rns should wear a big, bright badge that says "rn" on it in letters at least four inches high.

while i certainly wouldn't prevent anyone from wearing white if that was their choice, i really don't want anyone trying to force me to wear it.

manettohillnurse · Dec 18, 2006

:yeah: :yeah: I personally do not think that white uniforms gives us more power. I do think that it does identify you as a nurse in a hospital setting where everyone is wearing a different color. I was recently hospitalized and the nurses who did wear white stood out.

Power - who needs it? As long as you believe that you are doing a good job and at the end of the day you know that you've made a difference with a kind word or fluffed pillow, then you can be satisfiedwith yourself

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Dec 18, 2006

God, no white.

If I could have influence over anything in the nursing profession toady, it would be to ban the words "white nursing uniform" from this board forever. Wear another color, wear caps, a patch, a pin. a bleeding beanie cap with a propeller, but don't make me wear white.

I'm actually serious about the propeller, NO WHITE!

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Dec 18, 2006

:yeah: I personally do not think that white uniforms gives us more power. I do think that it does identify you as a nurse in a hospital setting where everyone is wearing a different color. I was recently hospitalized and the nurses who did wear white stood out.
Power - who needs it? As long as you believe that you are doing a good job and at the end of the day you know that you've made a difference with a kind word or fluffed pillow, then you can be satisfiedwith yourself

No offense, but if all you expect from yourself and your nursing education is to say a kind word and fluff a pillow....that's turning the clock back 50 years when nurses DID wear white and did much of nothing.

The 'power' we get is from what we DO and what we KNOW not how we dress.

weirdRN, RN · Dec 18, 2006

ewwwww Yuck! Fluffed pillow and a Kind word? I do so much more than that everyday. I often feel like hotel staff, not a nurse b/c of the way that I am treated by residents and families. Constantly fetching and carrying turning and wiping and getting pills and applying bandages and wound care and breathing treatments.....ewwww gross icky stuff that actually conveys caring or comfiort is no longer a part of my behavior because of the rudeness to which I have been exposed in response to my soft heartedness.

Let's face it.

Nurses NEED a more professional looking uniform. I do not look my best in white or a cap either for that matter, but at least people know what I am when they see me, even from a distance. I think that we get a certain amount of recognition and a certain amount of respect from being recognized as a Nurse by our dress.