Nurses wearing white

[rnmaven]

The hospital has decreed that all nurses will wear white in the near future. Despite a petition to administration voicing the opinions of the nurses that overwhelmingly the majority of nurses working at the bedside do not want to wear white, the policy has stood firm and the deadline to change to white is rapidly approaching.

My quesion is......do you think that nurses should be forced to wear white? Do you think nurses should all wear the same uniform?

I finished nursing school in 1977 so I actually wore white uniforms (no scrubs) and a cap. It didn't take long to lose the cap and slowly, the trend to wear colored scrubs evolved.

The thought of wearing white all the time just really turns me off. I find it totally impractical and over time, it will gray and stain and tend to need more frequent replacing.

What do you think?

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Some bear repeating lol.

[Fiona59]

Tax write offs for uniforms??? People to wipe the vomit off the floor, omy gawd, you don't know how good uv got it!!!!

If it hits the floor after 1600hours, in theory whoever finds it, cleans it!

[SmilingBluEyes]

:deadhorse :deadhorse :smackingf :smackingf

[UM Review RN, ASN, RN]

Oh very well then, what should we talk about?? ADN vs BSN's choice of uniforms?:sofahider

[SmilingBluEyes]

lol sure

[smk1, LPN]

Gee, painters wear white!

i always thought that was ridiculous as well!

[RN2Bn2006]

OK, I know this is a touchy subject (obviously) and I am just a student who is forced to wear GREEN:uhoh21: BUT the hospital I am doing clinicals at requires all nurses to wear white, the pcp's wear royal blue, TLC's wear yellow, and the janitors wear a color (can't remember what) Now I am not saying that I want to wear white - one of the things I have been excited about is all the cute scrubs I can wear when I become a nurse, BUT since working at this facility, I feel it is a good idea for the nurses to wear white. I no longer have to wonder around looking at people's name tags to see what they are before I ask a question. When you see someone in white you KNOW they are a nurse. It sets them apart from everyone else. It's like a priviledge to wear the white. I do realize it's not a practical color, and it takes the variety out of life. but I see the advantages of it. The last clinical site, they wore whatever, and I seemed to have to wonder around and ask two people before I ever found a nurse. Sometimes I hate the green we have to wear, but when we are working on a floor, we are readily identified by all staff as a student. I think that is a good thing.

Just wanted to share my observation. If when I get out of school, I am dead set against having to wear white, then I will look for a job where I can wear what I want.

PB

[allamericangirl]

i always thought that was ridiculous as well!

FYI tidbit: The historic reasoning behind painters wearing white: The original idea was that most surfaces that were painted, were painted white. That was true in the earily years when the uniforms were first conceived. As trends progressed to adding color to the decor on interior walls and building exteriors, "professional painters" continued to wear white, priding themselves in that, if they were professional painters they got the paint on the walls and not on their white painter's overalls. That is how it came about. The white has been preserved as having pride for the tradition.

There are very expensive, top quality professional painters who wear white on their projects every day and take great pride in the fact that they do not get paint on their clothing. I have seen them start their days bright white, clean, starched and ironed, and seen them at the end of the day looking just as fresh as they started. I worked for a professional paint manufacturer that had an abundance of very old school, high quality painters who were considered (and they were) artisans. That is how I know about the history of painters wearing white. These guys were really amazing and were truly high level craftsmen. LOL :rotfl:

[Redgirl101]

I'm a student, at one of the best hospitals reputation-wise around. All the staff wear whatever they want. I thought the PT was an MD the first day I was there, and the only people who we could tell were together were the students who were all dressed the same. Some of the nurses wore scrub bottoms with whatever little T shirt they wanted. Most were professional-enough (ie no skin showing, not too tight) but some went a little far (ie bending over could reveal more than you bargained for since the shirt was so small.

I don't care if its white or whatever, we just really need to have all the nurses wear one color, the PTs something else, etc. If I can't tell who's who, how can the patient? THe RN on the tag is big (sort of) but you certainly can't read it until you are up close and about to look nosy for getting that close to someone.

[desperado8156]

if ya wanna wear your pajamas, why bother going to work. Patients need to know who the nurses are.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

if ya wanna wear your pajamas, why bother going to work. Patients need to know who the nurses are.

Who is wearing their pajamas to work? I wear scrubs, i have to wear scrubs, and that makes me no less a professional just because someone deems it fit to refer (in an insulting manner) to non-white scrubs as pajamas.

My patients know who their nurses are when i (or someone else) says "Hello Mr./Ms. ________, my name is _______, i'm an (LPN or RN) , and i'm going to be one of the nurses in your room today. ________, an RN and ________, also an RN, will be out here to meet you in just a moment. Is there anything i can get you or help you with? Please let us know if you need anything or have any questions."

[~Kitty~]

well water can reek havoc on a white uniform wardrobe.