The Today Show

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Anyone watch this morning? Their medical expert was on giving tips to patients on how to prevent errors while they are in the hospital.

One thing she mentioned was that hospitals (nurses especially) need to go back to being more professional. She mentioned nurses wearing caps or at least going back to wearing white in order to be distinguished from other hospital staff. Matt Laur said he had recently been in the hospital and that nurses are dressing much to casually. Hmmmmmm.......................

Specializes in Long Term Care.

I occasionally wear my nursing cap. I work in a LTCF and when I do, the residents are just beside themselves with compliments.

It is most likely a good thing that I do not watch Daytime TV, if I did I would be constantly writing someone about something.

just astoundingly stupid. if dressing in white would make me able to provide safe care to the 30 plus patients i'm caring for (and yes, you just hope like hell nothing disasterous happens during your shift) i'd have a closet full of white uniforms. that's so dumb that it doesn't deserve comment.

now what we need are more families breathing down our necks (one of the biggest time wasters we have to deal with, making it much harder to give safe care).

is it a small wonder that the vast majority of nurses want to get a job that's off the floor? you're put in a position that you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. who among us hasn't made some sort of medication error? when you're giving out hundreds of meds a day, yes, there will be mistakes.

the media does a disservice to everyone with this type of sensationalized reporting.

my heart goes out to all involved. those poor overworked nurses will be carrying this around with them for the rest of their lives. the families are not the only victims.

Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg- Risk Mgmt.
Anyone watch this morning? Their medical expert was on giving tips to patients on how to prevent errors while they are in the hospital.

One thing she mentioned was that hospitals (nurses especially) need to go back to being more professional. She mentioned nurses wearing caps or at least going back to wearing white in order to be distinguished from other hospital staff. Matt Laur said he had recently been in the hospital and that nurses are dressing much to casually. Hmmmmmm.......................

I agree that it is the demeanor and ability to introduce yourself hospital wide that makes an institution a safer place to be. Our hospital is getting better at having everyone introduce themselves EVERY TIME they go in a room, so sick, confused or sensory overloaded patients can know what is going on. We also started a medication reconciliation form from ED to the floor so the MD must address routine meds a person is on at admission. As an aside, yesterday a woman walked into my patient's room, told me she was his cousin, then it turned out my patient wasn't really her cousin, she didn't recognize him in the bed! We as nurses aren't always the ones who aren't recognized. I did manage to get the cousin pointed to the right room after we all had a good laugh.

Specializes in LTC.

Why not get the non-healthcare employees out of scrubs and dressed appropriatly. Maybe then make name tags a bit more readable.

I don't think whites and caps are the solution to ANYTHING.

Ok... I don't even know where to begin...

This is making me so mad. First of all I don't even own a cap lol nor am I going to get one or wear one.. I will change careers before I wear all white and look like a giant marshmellow.

I work in pediatrics and I will admit sometimes the parents confuse me with the aide, however you have to look at the situation. If I am the first person in the room and I happen to do vital signs or change the diaper of the baby (yes even though there are aides I still do VS and clean pts) and then the aide goes in the room after me, and she/he happens to be older than me.. then yes the parents get confused... when I graduated I was 21 there are aides that are 30-40 on the unit I work... its an honest mistake, however I do when I go in rooms make it clear and introduce myself as the Nurse for the day. I can see how different colored uniforms can help, but how would it distinguish between nurses? Patients and Parents don't remember names/facial features...they remember the bears or frogs or whatever is on your shirt. I can't even begin to tell you how many patients I have been able to calm down or even made my assessing them less scary just by talking about the animals/dora/ whoever is on my shirt. I will not work in a pediatric place that does not allow nurses/nursing assistants choose their own clothes. Also I will not wear white... Do you know how many times I am peed on (little boys haha) and puked on by the babies.. Iwill never ever ever wear white again.. ew

My second pet peeve is also the double marking. Patients should not be marking their body without being told to! It leaves gapping holes for error!!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!? We mark one side with an Yes and one side with a NO....but god forbid the patient puts a mark themself.. it could definetely screw somethings up... I can see the problem and the huge room for error .

Ok I am done for now.

Specializes in ICU, ER, Hemodialysis.

I have to say that as a PCA, I do not agree with different jobs wearing different color scrubs. I do not agree with wearing white. I mean...they get messed up sooooo easy. How professional is a big tea stain from a drinking mishap? Yes, I have an ID, but the main thing is...whenever I walk into a room, I always say "hello, my name is Jay and I will be your Patient Care Assistant (I do NOT say "PCA"), I will be assiting the nurse with your care and if you need anything just let me know." Of course, if they ask for a med, I let them know that the nurse has to give them that and that I will go let him/her know that you are asking for ____. This is really a non issue. I don't need for every pt and family member on the floor to know that I am a PCA just the ones I am assigned to and the ones that I go into their room to assist another pca or RN.

Pretty much all our student nurses wear whites...so whites would be out for the staff. If solid colors became manditory we would be putting allot of uniform places out of business, at least those selling lots of print tops.

I'm not wearing the hat!

I didn't even get a cap when I graduated from nursing school! We didn't even wear white for our pinning ceremony. I think we need to bring the American public up to speed about what being a 21st century nurse is all about

Ok... I don't even know where to begin...

First of all I don't even own a cap lol nor am I going to get one or wear one.. I will change careers before I wear all white and look like a giant marshmellow.

Hi Lisa,

Before the internet and cell phones and all the other

modern changes....

When I was a child and young adult nurses were respected

and the professional uniform was white and a nursing cap.

Nurses worked very hard in those days.

Kindly do not degrade the attire of the hard working

nurses who have worked over the years in a nursing cap

while caring for their patients.

Nursing advanced to where it is today because of their

commitment to patients and their assertiveness to change

and advance the profession.

I actually like the idea of the white uniform or some kind of identifier. I worked very hard to become a nurse, and I was always proud to wear the uniform.

Maybe we could all get matching "grillz."

Specializes in Clinical Risk Management.
Anyone watch this morning? Their medical expert was on giving tips to patients on how to prevent errors while they are in the hospital.

One thing she mentioned was that hospitals (nurses especially) need to go back to being more professional. She mentioned nurses wearing caps or at least going back to wearing white in order to be distinguished from other hospital staff. Matt Laur said he had recently been in the hospital and that nurses are dressing much to casually. Hmmmmmm.......................

So, does Dr. Snyderman propose that male nurses wear the same kind of cap as female nurses? That, I'd like to see!:roll :roll :roll

Specializes in Acute Med, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology.

well....i watched the video. and i kinda agree with some of what she said.

i dont think she was saying that nurse's need to go back to wearing the caps. what she was saying was that the caps set nurses apart. it made them distinctive. and now there's nothing like that. she stated that it was important to read the name tags and ask the person who they were. as for the "dressing casually" comment that matt lauer made...well i can see his point. i work with some nurses that come in to work with their hair messy, scrubs are wrinkled, and who generally dont look professional. this is compared to another nurse who comes in, scrubs looking neat and tidy, hair looking clean and tidy...looking professional. it does make a difference.

also, i think the point she was getting at with regards to surgery was that it has to be clear what limb is being operated on. she didnt say that the patient should mark it themselves, but rather that the patient should make it clear along with the doctor, nurse, etc which limb. and one of them should be marked.

also, she did state that it was partially the patients fault that the emergency room is in such a mess. and that it s not a walk in clinic and shouldnt be treated as such.

i think i she did make some valid points. please dont flame me!! ;)

+ Add a Comment