Hi all. I'm looking for some opinions on whether you believe that returning to wearing all white uniforms might give us back some power.
Now let me explain power. I've been an RN for 21 years and we (the profession) seem to have gone from "thank you nurse" to being treated less than a house keeping staff (and their role is important in hospitals too). I just find patients, their families, government, even our own supervisors do not treat "hands on" nurses with the respect we deserve.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i just wish there was something that would make the nurses stand out from everyone else wearing scrubs. much of the general public believes that everyone wearing scrubs is a nurse. (i'm still trying to teach my husband this isn't true.) i believe this is a big part of what is making nurses seem less professional...the unprofessional people being perceived as nurses. (not saying that everyone who wears scrubs and is not a nurse is unprofessional...far from the truth; but a large percentage are.) although wearing white doesn't seem very practical, if that is what takes to separate the nurses from the others, i am definitely for it.
again i say: scrubs are what nurses wear. everyone else should not be wearing them.
Scrubs originated as in-house operating room clothing, did they not? Grab a set from a bin before shift and toss it in a laundry bag after shift. Baggy to fit a variety of shape and sizes. Reversible so no need to care if right side out or in. People found them comfy and took them from the OR (or wherever else the hospital provided them). Some nurses took to wearing them on the floor. Nursing uniform designers noticed this and started designing outfits using the scrub cut. And printing them in a variety of colors and designs.
We have a facility policy now that only those involved in direct pt. care may wear scrubs (except PT people, they were a polo shirt and khakis with the hospital's name on it).
This has eliminated a lot of the confusing-the-cook-for-the-nurse (which is what got that policy suggestion started.
We have a facility policy now that only those involved in direct pt. care may wear scrubs (except PT people, they were a polo shirt and khakis with the hospital's name on it).
This has eliminated a lot of the confusing-the-cook-for-the-nurse (which is what got that policy suggestion started.
That's a great policy. At my hospital, just about everone (including the computer technicians) wears scrubs.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
again i say: scrubs are what nurses wear. everyone else should not be wearing them.
what about nurses' aides and surgical techs?
i don't think surgical techs are the problem -- how often are they out wandering the floors for patients to confuse them with someone else? pcas are another story. they do direct patient care, they should be wearing scrubs. and if there's a real issue telling them from the nurses and someone needs to be forced to wear a certain color or style of scrubs, that would be the place to start. not with the professionals who have years of education to earn their licenses.
As a patient, I often mistook the PCA/NA as a 'nurse', often embarrassing them (and myself) by asking personal care questions they were not able to discuss with me; I did have a nurse who wore 'modern' whites (pantsuit type, with her nursing pin) and oddly felt reassured when she was around. Working in a LTC setting, everyone wears the same scrub-type apparel. The bigger picture though, is this. Instead of needing recognition/validation from others, or feeling resentful for not being recognized after years of education/service, maybe the question is "How do we feel about ourselves as nurses"??
All the frustration that comes from a lack of respect from patients, doctors and peers is something that comes from within each and every individual. We (should) know that we choose to be frustrated, or we can ignore the ignorant. If you truly believe that what you are doing is where you should be, then the only validation/respect you need is looking at your life and how you affect others. Every job on this planet has its share of toxic co-workers, administrators, and clients. Whether or not one is willing to put up with it because one cares about how they do theirjob is the relevant question; not whether the uniform makes the person more valuable.
It's really sounding , to me anyway, that patients that are a little older, or maybe LTC/SNF residents really do dig the white. Maybe nurses in that line of work might be more inclined to wear it. Different types of work wear for different types of nursing.
Food point. And not just different types of work, but different communities, too. Different groups of people will have different impressions of your uniforms.
hi this is my first post but thought I could put my 2 cents in anyway. I work with geriatric psych patients and while white would be nice, it is way to easy to get dirty from cleaning up messes from the top to the bottom. I wear a scrub jacket but it doesn't always cover what it needs to to keep me from getting messed up at times. When the uniform gets unwearable at work what do we get but scrubs to change into?
I certainly never thought "power over our patients". I'm speaking of the broader sense of the word.
Nurses have the ablitiy, the power, to affect change in the health care (how it's done) and the health care system on a world wide scale. Not gods, not dictators, but we are in a unique situation where by what we say AND do can make huge differences in the health status of the world.
Think on that point.
Wendy
G'Day again.
I find 'power' to be a negative rather than positive word. The first part of your sentence says it all: "Nurses have the ABILITY". Yes, we have the ability to do all you mentioned and more because of our unique situation. I still do not believe we have nor need power.
rudopal
6 Posts
I meant, just my two cents worth...ooops, my bad!