How many uniforms should I buy?

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Hi,

Can anyone tell me how many uniforms I should buy for the first semester of the nursing program or maybe how many you go through in a week? Is there any other supplies I will need more than 1 of?

Thanks

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How many days of clinicals do you have per week? I have 2 clinical rotations per week, so I bought 2 sets of scrubs, and then 1 extra "emergency" set to keep in the trunk of my car (just in case I need to change mid-way through a shift). Also, the extra set gives me a little wiggle room if I can't get to my laundry when I need to.

I also bought a couple long sleeved white shirts to layer underneath my scrubs since I'm always cold during the winter.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

When I attended an LVN program five years ago, I had three clinical shifts per week, so I had three uniforms. It worked out fine.

When I attended an RN program last year, I had only one clinical shift per week, so I only really needed one uniform. However, the school that I attended issued the students two pairs of uniforms. That arrangement worked out fine, too.

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My school makes us where our uniforms during class and clinicals. I had class/clinicals 4 (and sometimes 5) days a week and have 3 uniforms. I usually will wash my uniforms a couple times a week, but it seems to work out fine with just 3.

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I only have clinical once/week so I only bought 1 set. Even if I had more clinical days I probably would still only have bought 1 set...they're expensive.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I had two sets of uniforms. After clinicals, I usually ran a load of laundry that evening, so I never had a problem of not having a clean uniform ready.

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1 set is enough for me--we have clinicals twice a week. I wish I could buy more but those are not that cheap, I can use that money for something else.

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We are required to buy 2 sets. I'm told by a former student to plan on buying new white tops every semester as they have to be crispy clean and white. And, we have our patches on the sleeves so they can't be bleached.

Also, to the poster who said they had to wear them for class, WOW! I was just reading our handbook and we aren't allowed to wear our uniforms ANYWHERE or ANYTIME except for during clinicals.

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Specializes in ER, progressive care.

First figure out how many days of clinical you will have/week. During a regular semester mine are once/week but when I took a summer class we had clinical 3 days/week.

My school has these ugly polos with our school's patch on the right shoulder - I wish we had actual scrub tops! We have solid navy and solid white ones - the white ones are meant for our Community Health rotation but now it doesn't even matter - you can wear the white one to any clinical, really. I bought 2 navy polos and 1 white one, 2 pairs of navy blue scrub pants and 1 navy warm-up jacket. Of course now I have a ton of uniform tops/warm-up jackets because both of my roommates just graduated and gave me all of their stuff :)

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How many days of clinicals do you have per week? I have 2 clinical rotations per week, so I bought 2 sets of scrubs, and then 1 extra "emergency" set to keep in the trunk of my car (just in case I need to change mid-way through a shift). Also, the extra set gives me a little wiggle room if I can't get to my laundry when I need to.

Let me clarify, the scrubs are a bit expensive and the only reason I have a 3rd set is because my mother-in-law bought them for me. Otherwise, I would've stuck with 2. I definitely needed two, though b/c my clinical shifts are 12 hours, 2 days in a row. I know that I will not have the time or energy to run a load of laundry at night after a 12+ hour day. It all depends on when your shifts are and how many you have a week. Oh, also, look for a uniform outlet near you. That's where I bought mine and was able to save some dough.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency Medicine, Flight.
We are required to buy 2 sets. I'm told by a former student to plan on buying new white tops every semester as they have to be crispy clean and white. And, we have our patches on the sleeves so they can't be bleached.

Also, to the poster who said they had to wear them for class, WOW! I was just reading our handbook and we aren't allowed to wear our uniforms ANYWHERE or ANYTIME except for during clinicals.

yeaw for my school we have to wear them all the time. except for some clinicals we wear business attire with a white lab coat

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Specializes in Junior Year of BSN.

Wow seems like some schools are requiring you buy the scrubs from them because solid color scrubs are not expensive. My school doesn't care where you buy the scrubs as long as it is Royal Blue. So you can buy it online, at a uniform store or Walmart, they don't care. The logo though you do have to go to the uniform store for that and that's $4 which includes the sewing. Scrubs are really not that expensive especially if you buy them as a scrub set from online there like $14-16 (that's how much my Dickie and Urbane scrubs cost online) that's the same price as flip flops. I wouldn't buy your uniforms from the school suggested uniform shop buy your scrubs online like Amazon which has free shipping for Prime members or Walmart ($8-$12) save some money for the more important stuff for school. :twocents:

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