Nurse Campy Fancy Pants!

This silly article makes complete fun of us female nurses who think we look really cool in scrubs. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

Nurse Campy Fancy Pants!

Oh, come on! You know it as well as I do. I sometimes think that the reason "they" became nurses, other than a karmic fulfillment or the need to be needed, for example, is that "they" actually like the way that um, "they" look and feel in "their" scrubs. Campy, foot loose and freaking fancy free in their well-worn cotton, the fabric of our lives.

Ohh, if only that fabric could talk, it could tell a gazillion stories about what has been splattered/sprayed/spilled/leaked/expelled/projected/ejected/squirted/spouted and spurted onto and into the very micro fibers of...those scrubs, into the cellular memory of this holy garment. Seriously, these are more than just duds one wears to work.

Behold the reverence.

These leg coverings that reach to one's ankles with draw string waists are a living and walking testimony to the experiences of their hard core seasoned wearer. They tell an incredible story, with the right attitude and accessories, of course. (more on this later).

I call these chicks nurse campy fancy pants. For now, I will refer to them as NCFP's.

Usually, in higher acuity settings such as NICU, ICU. CCU or, er, etc., the scrubs are less pretty, if you ask me. That's how I have perceived it for the last couple of decades, anyway. No flowers, hardly a Looney Toons cartoon scrub to be found. Betty Boop? Fuggetaboutit. We are talking industrial quality- distressed - militant street-wear, the road warrior's identifier clothing. Nothing cute about it. This is serious, and everyone in the NCFP's vicinity will perceive it as such.

You have your hard core cobalt blue that fades into a soft sky color, and the bright green that over a few hundred launderings have literally "stood" witness to life, death and beyond, which morphs into the standard tile color of the bathroom in a 1945 sanitarium.

Not to mention the texture ... wow! Soft and molded to the body, worn. I'm talking practically see- through in all the "high friction areas".

Seriously, we all know what it's like to wear a new crisp pair of scrub pants. I am sure any "normal sized" woman has experienced chafing, especially if the pants were not washed before wearing. (coincidentally, there is a DSM-IV code for this diagnosis which is referred to as PDWUWSS - premature desire to wear un-washed scrubs syndrome).

Anyway, one day, NCFP wakes up, throws her hair in a bun and slips on her favorite bottoms. Slips. She develops a bounce in her hard core nurse campy fancy pants (NCFP) step, completes her hygiene and grooming regime, climbs in the car, and proceeds to her shift. In terms of accessorizing, in her ears are a pair of twinkly sparkly silver dingle dangle earrings which she enjoys as a part of her whole look. Ohhhhh!!! She cannot wait until later. The shoes, the revered clogs are worn. They perfectly caress her pounding and striding tootsies like a glove and add a bit of personality to her step, as they slightly "clog" on the floor. Did you know that? High heels make a clicky sound, and clogs make a cloggy sound. Get it straight.

Suddenly, it happens. Her hair, while the majority of it remains loosely in the bun atop her pretty little fancy campy dome, begins to softly whisp from the top and the sides, a clear indication, a medal of valor, really, which sigh..gives ultimate permission to have the 'tude. Later hath arrived.

The slipping on of the pants clearly is the reward of many intense shifts and act as the indication that, well, they are finally as well worn as she is. The dingle dangle sparkles at the ends of her delicate lobes are the perfect juxtaposition, the perfect comparison, the perfect complement to the whisp situation while the campy fancy pants are soft, so soft, so used, so experienced, and perfectly cover the planks that are supported by the clogging of the clog. Herein lies, her story. The story which is titled, "I am a nurse. A nurse campy fancy pants", nurse. Long may we twinkle, whisp, clog and shine.

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Doc Lori, R.N.

About Doc Lori, R.N.

Private practice and consulting. A healer at heart and in spirit.

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Specializes in Oncology&Homecare.

I have a personal bias against scrubs especially the "campy fancy pants". Everyone and their cousin who works in a medical facility wears scrubs. A patient cannot distinguish the nurse from the cleaning person. Scrubs used to be confined to the O.R. or the I.C.U. They were worn only in the hospital and were blue or green. Betty Boop indeed. Call me a fuddy duddy Doc Lori but I cannot wax poetic on the subject of scrubs!:rolleyes:

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Starting my RN program this fall, I've just received my scrubs in the mail. I keep looking at the box with a deep reverence. First tangible marker of my career to be. Or as one of my friends said, "at least you get to go to work in your pajamas"

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Specializes in ER, cardiac, addictions.
I have a personal bias against scrubs especially the "campy fancy pants". Everyone and their cousin who works in a medical facility wears scrubs. A patient cannot distinguish the nurse from the cleaning person. Scrubs used to be confined to the O.R. or the I.C.U. They were worn only in the hospital and were blue or green. Betty Boop indeed. Call me a fuddy duddy Doc Lori but I cannot wax poetic on the subject of scrubs!:rolleyes:

My hospital addresses the problem of telling the nurses from other personnel by having the nurses wear white scrub tops, and any (solid) color pants. It's a pretty good compromise, I think. Not everyone is crazy about wearing white tops, but most people seem to be fine with it.

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Specializes in ICU.

Thank goodness we don't have to wear those caps anymore!! As for earrings, all it took was one confused patient to rip one out of my ear, so I never wear jewelry of any kind, except a watch, to work. I also don't wear clogs; I like tennis shoes that tie, so I can run to a code. I agree with the poster who said patients can't tell housekeeping from nurses; I find that if you are a male nurse or a male respiratory therapist, the patient automatically assumes you are a doctor. I have known some male therapists that would wear white coats, and never correct the patient who called them doctor! I have also found that some patients think the female doctors are nurses. I don't wear looney-tune scrubs; I want to look professional.

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Specializes in hospice, corrections.

What a fun polarizing subject. We certainly have a "love-hate" relationship with scrubs/shoes/stethascopes/pens (and hats!). I am all for being able to quickly identify the nurse vs housekeeping vs doctors and anyone else that wears scrubs. Heck, even at my vet the receptionist and other techs were scrubs. But, get a group of nurses together and try to decide what the "uniform" for their floor/unit/hospital will be and no 2 people can decide on 1 type of scrubs.

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Specializes in med surg ltc psych.

Kudos to you doc lori RN for taking such a drab subject and weaving a colorful short story into an overlooked subject. Getting ready for your shift is such a ritual as we have to stick to a repetative garment routine. Love how you describe what happens to the pre-shift bun. Out of the whole lot of multiple scrub sets I have, there's only one pair I have that are soft as suede and when I wear those it seems like the whole night just goes better!

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Specializes in Dialysis,M/S,Home Care,LTC, Admin,Rehab.

newtress...I hear you about the suede scrubs making the whole night go better...you totally understood what my point was :)

You get the award ahaha!! Take care and thank you!

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

There's something satisfying about the time it takes for something scratchy and stiff to become faded and soft. You know that took a whole lot of hours and many washes. If they made "pre-washed" or "distressed" scrubs-- not gonna buy 'em, nope. I love your style, Doc Lori!

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Specializes in Dialysis,M/S,Home Care,LTC, Admin,Rehab.

ditto! ;)

thank you!

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Specializes in nursing home.

I worked in animal care for years, and still have scrubs from those days. For fun, at Nursing school, on lab days I would wear my "...... Animal Hospital" monogrammed scrubs with my name. I find fun in the smallest of things.

My mom was an LPN in the 70's and became an RN in the 80's...she wore white polyester-type dresses with white pantyhose, the cap, and all leather white shoes (we would have to air them out every night...haha!). I would not be able to do pantyhose everyday, and the white pants are bad on "certain days".

The white scrub top is a good idea. It is hard to tell who is who, esp. when those nametags flip around, I would be at a clinical trying to peek at a flipped nametag, so I knew the name of who I was working with.

As far as caps go, I have a pixie cut, so bobbie pins to hold that rascal on would be a problem!

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Specializes in med surg ltc psych.

Doc lori RN, a little snipette on the history of the "suede scrubs" we all love Elvis Presley's tune about blue suede shoes. Gotta say that must of been awsome to don a pair of them in the day. These scrubs of mine usually were worn on Mondays, like black monday. Ironically a whole bunch of other employees seemed to wear black on Mondays also. But mine were dandy. I live in the south and I have a pair that has the Chrimson Tide Alabama logo on mine. Black and chrimson on the pocket with the big red chrimson A. But I have yet to understand why why these polyester cotton blend similar to my others have a powdery soft quality to them that others don't. I could wax a car with these. Kid glove material. So by far these are my fav-orite scrubs fo all time, and because they lay nice on the skin I think that is why they make a night go by so good. Plus I feel like I am making my daddy proud being from Alabama wearing scrubs in Louisiana!

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