If nursing caps looked decent, would you wear one?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. If nursing caps looked decent, would you wear one?

    • 9
      Definitely!
    • 11
      Maybe, if other people did.
    • 47
      No way!

67 members have participated

My school never issued nursing caps to us, only pins. Whenever I see old pictures of nurses wearing their caps I have this urge to want to find one for myself, if of course it looked decent.

Think about it...most nurses haven't worn them since the 70's, but it stands strong as a symbol of what we do and who we are.

I would definitely wear one, but I'm the least likely to start a trend. :chair:

Specializes in adult oncology, palliative, med/surg.

Umm..NO. The traditional cap is ugly. A ballcap is too un-professional. I cannot imagine a hat I would want to have on my head for 12+ hours while I am doing hard work that requires a lot of bending and lifting. Just..NO.

As for telling who is a nurse, my hospital has cards that go on your hospital ID, but they are longer. At the bottom says RN, or PCT. So you have your picture ID, a few other "reminder" type cards, then behind it but longer so you can see the letters hangs RN or PCT. I am probably not describing it well but it works! For resp, dietary, etc the color around the picture on the ID is different too.

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No. I remember wearing my cap at the beginning of my career. And one day it was in my trunk and a spare tire got thrown on top of it. Squashed like a bug and I never got another one. I would have liked to have that one as a momento though.:redpinkhe

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Well my cap isn't bad looking. I stopped wearing it when I went into ICU and started trying to hang myself by it from the tubes and wires.

Would I wear it again? Nah.

I remember vividly the last two nurses I recall wearing a cap all the time, circa 1986. They seemed a bit rigid at times but you sure knew they were nurses.

Do I think we've lost something? Yeah. Can we get it back. I think so. By wearing a cap? No way.

I had a discussion on this very topic while my Gma was in the hospital over Christmas. None of us could keep track of who was who; RN, CNA, girl bringing up the food trays? . When your not feeling well (and the mind isn't all there anyway) who's going to remember "Hi, I'm Teresa your nurse, and this is Clara your aide" at 7am shift change? Many don't even have family in the room that early to help remember what they said. There were times I had to run to the board and search for the name next to RN when Gma needed more meds. There should be some way to distinguish RNs on sight.

Heck, maybe its just me and my experience with patients who seem to have K.R.S.

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Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

Wore it in school. Never again !!

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Specializes in ER and Hospice.

Only if it was black with a pointy cone on top, and came with a broom.

Mine actually was white with a pointy cone on top. I already had a broom.

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no, no, no, If you ever had to wear one you would hate them to. they sucked 20 years ago and they would suck today.You are a nurse with or without it.Leo2

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Specializes in Home Health Care,LTC.

I have never worn a cap but I have no desire to wear one.

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ONLY IF THEY MADE ME, AND THEN THE GUYS WOULD HAVE TO WEAR THEM TO OR i WOULD LEAD A REBELLION!:devil:

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I would wear one. But only if I wasn't working in situations where it might get in the way. And I think special occasions all nurses should wear them. Also the elderly folks love to see nurses wearing them.

I love hats in general and always have but I think nursing caps should only be worn for special occasions. They are rather unhygenic and I've heard stories of them falling off people's heads and into patients wounds from nurses that had to wear them "back in the day."

I think it would be nice though if worn at job fairs or if a nurse passed away if their fellow nurses would wear caps at the funeral just like when police officers die and their "brotherhood" including females wear their hats. Sort of like a nursing honor guard.

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Specializes in Nursing Ed, Ob/GYN, AD, LTC, Rehab.

I would wear one and think about starting to wear one but perhaps I do not have the guts. I agree with other posters, there is something about tradition that makes it special, something you earn. I would like to be recognized for what I have acheived

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Specializes in ER, Infusion therapy, Oncology.
I had a discussion on this very topic while my Gma was in the hospital over Christmas. None of us could keep track of who was who; RN, CNA, girl bringing up the food trays? . When your not feeling well (and the mind isn't all there anyway) who's going to remember "Hi, I'm Teresa your nurse, and this is Clara your aide" at 7am shift change? Many don't even have family in the room that early to help remember what they said. There were times I had to run to the board and search for the name next to RN when Gma needed more meds. There should be some way to distinguish RNs on sight.

Heck, maybe its just me and my experience with patients who seem to have K.R.S.

At our hospital each department has to wear a certain color scrub. Nursing wears royal blue, CNA's wear green and so on. It is a pain not to wear anything but royal blue but it does look very professional when you walk through the hospital.

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I Did Wear One And I Can Tell you They Are A Huge Infection Control Issue As Well As A Huge Pain In The Ass. Best thing that happened was getting rid of them.

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