I need two people to respond to this question about nurses and attire.

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I'm doing a general survey for one of my nursing classes and I need the input and opinions of 2 adults in regards to nurses and their attire.

Do you prefer a nurse wear:

-Starched white uniforms

-Street clothes with a lab coat

-colorful print scrubs

Choose one and give me the rationale behind it please. Also, if you don't mind, state your age as well as this factors in to the survey.

Thanks.

Specializes in Case Manager.

Wow, received WAY more than enough feedback. Guess I'll have to take 2 contradicting posts and use them to present in m class tomorrow.

But yeah, all the factors such as location of practice, cultural norms, etc... play into what should be worn.

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I'm doing a general survey for one of my nursing classes and I need the input and opinions of 2 adults in regards to nurses and their attire.

Do you prefer a nurse wear:

-Starched white uniforms

-Street clothes with a lab coat

-colorful print scrubs

Choose one and give me the rationale behind it please. Also, if you don't mind, state your age as well as this factors in to the survey.

Thanks.

I never wore a "starched white uniform," ever. I wore white uniforms, comfortable pants and tops made of soft fabrics. I liked them and regret that they are nearly impossible to find now. I also wore white pants and colored tops with lab coats, and liked that too. I think scrubs are ill-fitting and badly made for daily, all day wear. Affordable scrubs are cheaply made from flimsy fabrics and are uncomfortable to wear, while better made scrubs are ridiculously expensive and, though made of somewhat better fabrics, still uncomfortable and not quite right-fitting. There are some attractively decorated scrubs, but the cartoon-festooned ones are preposterous looking and inappropriate unless the wearer is working in pediatrics. I will not give you my age, but I will tell you that I graduated from nursing school in the 1980s and have never ever worn white hosiery to work.

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Specializes in Psych.

Im 30.

In my experience, my patients ( both LTC and Psych) loved the bright tops. I love Scooby Doo, and do have a scooby doo top, and tinkerbelle. Those are the tops the patients tell me they like the most. They say it fits my personality, which when asked didnt mean that I was acting immature. I think you can have fun with your scrubs and still be professional. If anything it gives them a safe topic to start with when they want to talk, but dont want to dive right in to the heavy stuff on their mind.

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I think solid-colored scrubs are best/most professional. I can't stand the plain white ones. I think bright colored or "fun" scrub tops are absolutely acceptable for Peds though! I am 22.

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Specializes in ER, cardiac, addictions.

Well, a lot more than the requisite two people responded, so I guess I'll respond, too.

I like the way we do it in my hospital: the RNs wear white scrub tops, and any solid color scrub pants. (Pediatrics nurses can wear print tops, and of course some units---for example, OR and cath lab----wear hospital issued blue scrubs.)

It works well. The patients can tell at a glance which employees are nurses; but the nurses themselves have some choice about what they wear.

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Specializes in OB, L&D, NICU, Med-Surg, Ortho.

Hello. I am 36 and have been a nurse for almost four years.

I think whites are best. In the hospital setting, there are so many different types of employees. (Techs, Nurses, Transport, Lab, Radiology, Housekeeping). In one place I worked, EVERYONE was allowed to wear scrubs. Even though we wore different colored PANTS and WE knew the difference, I often wondered if the patients did.

Half the time, the doctors didn't! They would start listing orders to someone and they would say "Um, I'm housekeeping or I'm the tech, I can't take orders."

White (for me), is crisp, clean and I personally always think of a nurse when I see white uniforms. I think techs and other hospital personal should wear khakis and polos. Well..maybe the techs could wear solid blues or tans.

Why not busy prints? Because many hospitalized patients are elderly. I personally am blind as a bat without my contacts. I know what it feels like to have fuzzy people approaching you and the only thing you can truly make out is the color of their clothes. Also, I have seen nurses where cartoon-y goofy scrubs when taking care of adults. Seriously. Spongebob? I'm not five years old and I don't want my nurse wearing spongebob.

I do believe pediatrics and NICU should be allowed to wear kid-friendly prints to help them appear less threatening to children.

Street clothes are simply unprofessional. I've had doctors come in on the weekends in their jeans and t-shirt with a wrinkled lab coat thrown over them and I can't help but wonder what patients think.

There are two people I expect to be more professional than myself: my doctor and my lawyer.

~Sherri

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Wait, I wanted to make a distinction here, because I am reading a lot of comments about the lack of professionalism in "cartoon" scrubs - the OP stated "colorful print scrubs." What if the print is flowers, or some sort of geometric design? I am totally with you about the cartoons - They have their place in Peds, but I always think it strange when I see adults wearing Tinkerbell or Tweety Bird in an adult care setting.

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Specializes in OB, L&D, NICU, Med-Surg, Ortho.
Wait, I wanted to make a distinction here, because I am reading a lot of comments about the lack of professionalism in "cartoon" scrubs - the OP stated "colorful print scrubs." What if the print is flowers, or some sort of geometric design? I am totally with you about the cartoons - They have their place in Peds, but I always think it strange when I see adults wearing Tinkerbell or Tweety Bird in an adult care setting.

In the hospital setting, I still like the whites. They seem more professional to me. They just seem to say "NURSE" when I see them. For some reason, I think "sterile" and "professional" when I see whites. Plus..it helps those elderly patients when you walk in the room. They might not be able to see your face, but they can see those white scrubs and they know it is the nurse. Floral and geometric prints will differ from person to person. Different uniforms on each nurse can make it hard to tell who is a nurse. I like standard uniforms for ALL nurses in the hospital.

In the LTC setting, I feel differently. Those patients are "residents" and the goal is to make them feel as if the facility is their "home". Floral prints or patterns that are not loud or obnoxious would definitely be acceptable. :) Most of the residents there are aware of who the nurses are and who the techs are so there is a smaller chance of confusing your patient :)

Hope that clarifies :)

~Sherri

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One of the hospitals where I now work used to color code the staff. That changed when one of the colors (teal) became hard to find AND research showed that while staff knew what the colors meant, the patients really didn't.

We can now wear solid pants with solid or print tops.

I agree with others who have said that prints don't need to be cartoonish or juvenile.

I also agree with those who stated that starched whites are a thing of the past. White shows every spot and blemish (not to mention your unmentionables) and makes many people look drained and pale. If you have hard water, it isn't long before whites become grayed or yellowed.

I do wish manufacturers would offer a line of elegant, understated prints that would look a little more dignified. I'll bet they'd find a lot of interest.

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I'm 23, in a hospital setting I would prefer either solid colored scrubs of my choice or printed scrubs of my choice. I prefer prints because they hide stains, well and I generally got a lot of positive feedback from pts. The colorful printed tops seemed to cheer people up or so they told me :). I like scrubs for hospital work because of the numerous pockets, flexibility with movement, and they distinguish my role as a nurse. At my hospital the nurses wore scrubs and we almost never had techs)

I work in telephone triage so currently I wear business attire and I'm quite happy to do so.

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Specializes in LTC Family Practice.

'72 grad here and I HAD to wear the white cap, hose (no panty hose at the time) and a DRESS uniform. I hated it, impossible to stay clean, countless ruined uni's from leaky pens, betadine ect. try doing correct body mechanics in a dress:uhoh3:.

I like dark clothes so I prefer dark scrubs, not a fan of prints no do I have any street clothes prints (I'd look more than fluffy in them).

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I'm 37 - I think it depends on my assisgnment for the day. When I'm doing home visits I wear scrubs. You never know what you're going to run into at a home. In the clinic, I wear black dress pants, nice shirt, and labcoat.

I do like how in hospital settings the nurses wear Navy Blue and techs were Burgundy.

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