I think cutsey scrub tops look ridiculous on adult units

[AZO49008]

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.

Okay...talk amongst yourselves.

[pinkiepie_RN]

I work on an adult psych unit and while I have some solid scrub tops, I love my print tops, including butterflies, Curious George, Hello Kitty, and flowers. I usually get all sorts of great comments from my patients and I think they mostly get a kick out of it. I think I can get away with them being young and all, but I figure if I get to pick what I wear to work, it might as well be fun.

Just my $0.02.

[leslie :-D]

hmmm... i 'think' there's sometimes a fine line between "cutesy" and humorous/light-hearted.

i personally despise anything that consists of butterflies, hearts, rainbows and all that sappy stuff.

since i sew, i did make a scrub top that consisted of miss piggy on the back, and i appliqued one of kermit's legs, hanging out of miss piggy's mouth.

that's my way of lightening up.

sometimes our jobs are such, that wearing something to elicit a smile/chuckle from ourself or others, is perfectly appropriate.

and as a poster stated, anyone will see a "professional" when i'm in action.

so while i don't like artsy-fartsy stuff, it doesn't make me believe that any one is less capable or professional.

now, about those nurses with 30 bangle bracelets, 2 inch fuschia nails (with matching lipstick), and a glaring butt-crack...

leslie

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

People can wear what they want but don't come a crying when people don't take us seriously. Perhaps it is because I worked in a different profession before nursing but I am not the only one who takes a mental step back from someone in cartoon scrubs. My sense of humor is perfectly in tact.

I tell you what -- when the doctors and pharmacists start wearing cartoon scrubs in adult care settings so will I. I am certainly not going to wear them in a geriatric setting either. They are old not children.

[cardiacmadeline, RN]

Professionals should want to dress in a way that says "I expect you to take me seriously as a professional." I'm sorry...you can be the best nurse on the unit, but if you are wearing Tweety scrubs and bright yellow crocs I'm not going to respect you as a professional. I'm going to look at you as a walking, talking example of someone who contributes to the "just a nurse" negative stereotype.

Agreed. Tweety scrubs and yellow crocs-now that would be quite the outfit!

I tell you what -- when the doctors and pharmacists start wearing cartoon scrubs in adult care settings so will I. I am certainly not going to wear them in a geriatric setting either. They are old not children.

Maybe there's a reason doctors and pharmacists don't wear cartoon scrubs-they are not professional looking. The pharmacist's at my work are always dressed very nicely. Same with the docs and the dieticians and social workers. They look like health care professionals, not the nurse wearing a sponge bob top. Nurses want to be seen as professional, then start dressing like a member of a professional health team.

[Sarah010101]

OP, you need some chickens on your scrubs.

ahahah... sorry this comment just made my day. I would like some chicken scrubs please. Then again i work on peds.

[eske99]

As a nursing student I totally agree with the original post! We are going through all this schooling and getting geared up to become medical professionals, then we go into the hospital and see someone wearing a goofy Winnie the Pooh scrub top! Takes the prestige right out of you. You think, "Wow, did I really make the same career choice as someone who made that wardrobe choice?"

I read articles and see interviews all the time about how the nursing profession needs to be more esteemed and respected - and then someone walks by in a Looney Tunes scrub top!!!

[GadgetRN71, ASN, RN]

They don't bother me..I think one of the problems in the nursing profession is the fact that people get hung up on silly things like this. In the OR, I have to wear blue scrubs but we have leeway with cloth scrub hats, jackets and shoes. I have many scrub hats and they have teddy bears, various cartoon charcters and one I call my "pirate" hat, with skulls and crossbones on it. I have more of a problem with unkempt nurses..you know, those who look like they just rolled out of bed, long hair flying everywhere, long and nasty fingernails.

I believe that patients respond more to professional behavior than to anything else...:nurse:Oh, and the surgeons and anesthesiologists wear the funky stuff too..I knew an orthopod who wore a bugs bunny scrub hat and no, he didn't do peds. The reason we aren't taken seriously as a group is because we attack each other over the miniscule stuff and don't have each other's backs on the important stuff. Just my 2 cents.

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

Cartoons do not inspire confidence.

[caliotter3]

I just got a compliment on one of my tops yesterday. It made me feel good. And since I don't receive professional wages, I don't worry about "looking" professional. I won't begrudge myself one of the pleasures available to me from my job. Gosh knows, there are so few.

[ProBeeRN, BSN, RN]

"I believe that patients respond more to professional behavior than to anything else..."

This. If your scrubs are clean, not a wrinkled mess, you talk and act professionally, etc, I think you'll be realized as a professional. Even if you have a silly scrub top.

If you are wearing solid navy scrubs that look like they sat in the laundry basket for a week, and flick your hair around while popping your gum and gossiping loudly at the nurses station...well, you will be perceived as unprofessional.

That being said I prefer scrubs with prints, but more subdued ones. My favorite is one with what looks like painted-on (not cartoon) prints of a tropical island. I like to wear it in the dead of winter (in Buffalo NY, with 3 feet of snow on the ground) and tell patients that I'm bringing some sunshine to them. They love it. :)

[Lovelee82]

I dont own any cartoon scrubs but I do have a variety of colors. I have gotten tons of compliments from patients/staff on wearing something other than blue, black, grey on our unit (Adult med-surg). They have said that I brighten the place up. I think sometimes it adds to the depression when your nurse is in all black ( there is one nurse on my unit) It can get confusing with so many medical staff in different colors and its nice when folks where different colors if you are looking for them on the busy floor.

But what about the Docs that wear those ugly ties with cartoons?

[Cat_RN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I think the hospital's uniform requirements are a way of controlling what the OP is complaining of. With-out pointing fingers and creating lots of discrimination drama, they can making sure everyone's uniforms are professional and appropriate. Instead of telling Mary she cannot wear her Winnie the Pooh or Rubber Ducky scrub top in the ICU, they simply enforce a hospital-wide uniform to ensure everyone is the same. I think it looks very neat and professional actually, as long as it's not RED.