The other day a co-worker strolled in wearing a scrub top festooned with furry, smiling teddy bears. On an adult cardiac floor...REALLY? On various adult units I've seen Looney Tunes, Precious Moments, rainbows and clouds, hearts, and yes...oodles and oodles of teddy bears.
I think these types of scrub tops look ridiculous unless you work in peds, in which case they would all be highly appropriate. On one hand nurses are striving to be taken seriously as professionals, yet with the other hand they are taking juvenile looking scrub tops off the hangar.
I'm a guy and pretty much have to wear solid scrubs if I don't want to look like a freak. But I am not motivated out of jealousy to kvetch about print tops on the ladies. If women want to pizazz up their uniforms, I have seen tons of very tasteful, very professional looking print scrub tops coordinated with solid pants.
If I were director of nursing of the world, I would ban dorky print scrub tops.
So I have no "tweetie bird scrubs" and I thought that my uniforms were professional. I dress professionally. Humbled that this has been such as issue. Personally I don't think dull scrubs that are green, blue or grey are going to win our pts over. Sad but that's life. Will do it and again thankful for job. Thankful to care for my patients. sigh.
i've liked hello kitty since elementary school, when my japanese-american friend introduced me to her. i like to say that i liked her before she was "cool" and sold herself out! i have a hello kitty scrub jacket my mom got me (she thinks i'm still 10). i wear it sometimes & my older patients seem to get a kick out of it ("oh, my granddaughter loves her!"). it's the only "cutesy" scrub item i have, and it doesn't make me feel unprofessional. hopefully my patients still take me seriously!
...but i wouldn't be caught dead in chambray scrubs or capris. blech.
Those who are hating comic scrubs- look into Koi scrubs. Very sweet and love them. Not the plain white/blue/green scrubs. I had a top that I loved- with simple white top and apricot ribbon. Very professional and I will miss color. Darn it. Hate to admit but as nursing professor, identity was in dress. I did best to dress the part. Ok off soap box.
I am very sick of this topic, if you don't like charcters then don't wear them, but don't judge me because I love them! and no I don't work with kids, I work on an adult unit and have had absolutly NO negative comments about my "eeyore" tops or my "teddy bears", or what ever!! Why? Becuase what I wear is like my skin color, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MY ABILITIES!!! My clothing is nothing more then the outer layer. And don't give me the ol its "the first thing you see" thing, my clothes and person are always clean and neat.
I hated the all white look, I don't think it was professional, I thought it was an oppressive reminder of yester-year, when we as nurses were nothing more then doctors hand-maids. I am not going to stop wearing my teddy bears or my eeyore but I love them, and they brighten my day. If I am happier then it will be easier to bring that same cheerfulness to my patients.
I'm new then my patients have not complained about my professional manner or my ability to care for them, to critized your co-workers by be-coming the fashion police is going to do nothing for the nursing profession. Yes you don't agree with their style choices, but what about there ability to care for their patients, what of yours? Would you be a better nurse if you spend less energy worring about what peope wear, and more time on more important things? Just food for thought.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
to the op, and others who think like him
i am very sick of this topic, if you don't like charcters then don't wear them, but don't judge me because i love them! and no i don't work with kids, i work on an adult unit and have had absolutly no negative comments about my "eeyore" tops or my "teddy bears", or what ever!! why? becuase what i wear is like my skin color, it has nothing to do with my abilities!!! my clothing is nothing more then the outer layer. and don't give me the ol its "the first thing you see" thing, my clothes and person are always clean and neat.
i hated the all white look, i don't think it was professional, i thought it was an oppressive reminder of yester-year, when we as nurses were nothing more then doctors hand-maids. i am not going to stop wearing my teddy bears or my eeyore but i love them, and they brighten my day. if i am happier then it will be easier to bring that same cheerfulness to my patients.
i'm new then my patients have not complained about my professional manner or my ability to care for them, to critized your co-workers by be-coming the fashion police is going to do nothing for the nursing profession. yes you don't agree with their style choices, but what about there ability to care for their patients, what of yours? would you be a better nurse if you spend less energy worring about what peope wear, and more time on more important things? just food for thought.
It looks unprofessional and cheap. Imagine a lawyer wearing a suit with teddy bears on it in the corporate world...
Imagine me wearing a business suit while wiping a butt, dropping an NG tube, or squatting next to the bed to empty a foley. The dry cleaning bills would be CRAZY.
When I used to work in a Nursing home we would wear all different types of silly shirts to work and hats...we would also go around singing and smiling (this is the nurses and nurses aids, not just the lifestyle team).
The residents would get a kick out of it and I had a few non speaking residents reach out and play with my shirt or headband and smile a HUGE smile :-) Made my day.
However I agree that there is a time and place...what someone said before, I don't think it looks appropriate to be coding someone for example, wearing a shirt with smiling faces or rainbows on it.
Specializes in Retired OR nurse/Tissue bank technician.
When I was working, I was in the OR, so puke green was the only colour we wore. I had a few bonnets made up with flowers on them and in one case, a pink bonnet with yellow ducks; I'd wear that on tonsil days.
This past spring, I spent a week in hospital with necrotizing fasciitis and another 10 days in hospital a few weeks later to repair the residual damage. I personally liked the bright colours and prints some of the nurses were wearing; it brought a bit of cheer to my day and a boost to my mood.
I don't know I'd like Precious Moments or Sesame Street, but Tweety Bird and bears in scrub tops were just fine with me.
It looks unprofessional and cheap. Imagine a lawyer wearing a suit with teddy bears on it in the corporate world...
I can identify with this statement ... that would never fly! I was actually admonished by a judge once (he was such an ass!) for wearing just a dress shirt and slacks to court when I once appeared at a hearing with a client (um, it was a very last minute appearance, I was nowhere near home, and deviating for time to go get into a suit would have caused us to miss hearing and have an arrest warrant issued to client - SO, in hindsight I still feel I did the right thing considering my client's charge was dismissed anyway :) ) ... if I was wearing teddy bears, I would have had another lawyer go for me ... but anyway, I am glad those days are over for me ... oh, and the fool that thought his Looney Tunes tie was going to be a hit at that white-shoe law firm I once worked in was oh-so-wrong ...
For nurses that need to color code their scrubs in their units, I personally think they should be allowed to maintain print scrubs that fall in the same color family. If nurses are blue scrubs for instance, then as long as the scrubs are predominantly blue, it should be OK. As an example in the same unit, this looks good and helps to distinguish that a nurse is in blue as opposed to another color:
This is of course assuming that the patients are not color-blind ...
I think the next time I go to volunteer @ my hospital I will hit the suggestion box. Part of my job is collecting them anyway
i have a hello kitty scrub jacket my mom got me (she thinks i'm still 10). i wear it sometimes & my older patients seem to get a kick out of it ("oh, my granddaughter loves her!"). it's the only "cutesy" scrub item i have, and it doesn't make me feel unprofessional. hopefully my patients still take me seriously!
... that would never fly! I was actually admonished by a judge once (he was such an ass!) for wearing just a dress shirt and slacks to court when I once appeared at a hearing with a client (um, it was a very last minute appearance, I was nowhere near home, and deviating for time to go get into a suit would have caused us to miss hearing and have an arrest warrant issued to client - SO, in hindsight I still feel I did the right thing considering my client's charge was dismissed anyway :) ) ... if I was wearing teddy bears, I would have had another lawyer go for me ... but anyway, I am glad those days are over for me 
... oh, and the fool that thought his Looney Tunes tie was going to be a hit at that white-shoe law firm I once worked in was oh-so-wrong ... 
oncnursemsn
243 Posts
So I have no "tweetie bird scrubs" and I thought that my uniforms were professional. I dress professionally. Humbled that this has been such as issue. Personally I don't think dull scrubs that are green, blue or grey are going to win our pts over. Sad but that's life. Will do it and again thankful for job. Thankful to care for my patients. sigh.