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.
white may be the traditonal colour in the usa for nurses in the uk its blue with navy for senior nurses/midwifes.
we wear unifroms supplied by our employers either tunics or dresses, scrubs only in the ER colour coded, or OR. Some ppl still can't tell nurses from PT, OT, radiotechs etc and with the nursing assitants but howver in genearl they can.
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
I've only read a few pages of this thread, but white is very powerful as a patient. I am just starting nursing school and I do have enough experience to know white has power... Why? Because I've been a patient. If I have been in distress and in need, I wasn't looking for "Jane Doe RN" on her jacket, I was looking for someone in white. White does have power. When it comes to men in white, I remember getting allergy shots as a kid and the male nurses wore white pants and shirts. When I think of men in white, it's certainly not One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest or the Ice Cream Man.
I don't take it personal at all that white is subservient or whatever else I have read here. Our job as nurses, from what I can see, is that we are there for the patients, not ourselves. We are in servitude, period. If wearing white gives the patients more security, then so be it. When I see nurses wearing psychadelic scrub tops, it reminds me of pajamas and it's not professional, but it seems to be hip these days.
Mind you all, I'm 36 and used to be a hippie girl, doing yoga 8 hours a day. I love the 'be free' movement and womens choices, but white does give respect and power. It doesn't take long to know which RN knows her stuff and which one doesn't... but wearing white still gives respect, in my neck of the woods anyway..
YOU may consider yourself to be 'in servitude" but I don't consider myself or any other nurse I know to be in servitude. We are professionals NOT servants. We are not there to wait on the patients or doctors...white,red,pink,scooby doo.....doesn't matter what you wear, it matters what you DO and THINK and how you act.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
i've only read a few pages of this thread, but white is very powerful as a patient. i am just starting nursing school and i do have enough experience to know white has power... why? because i've been a patient. if i have been in distress and in need, i wasn't looking for "jane doe rn" on her jacket, i was looking for someone in white. white does have power.
with all due respect, sweetface, you're just starting nursing school. the experience you're relying on to give legitimacy to your argument is, by your own admission, experience as a patient. not as an educated healthcare professional. furthermore you've only read a few pages of this thread -- you don't even profess to have read and understood all the arguments against wearing white.
to argue that all nurses should wear white because you looked for wearers of white when you were a patient is an argument that at the very least lacks legitimacy.
i don't take it personal at all that white is subservient or whatever else i have read here. our job as nurses, from what i can see, is that we are there for the patients, not ourselves. we are in servitude, period. if wearing white gives the patients more security, then so be it. when i see nurses wearing psychadelic scrub tops, it reminds me of pajamas and it's not professional, but it seems to be hip these days.
first, you admit you haven't read anywhere near all the arguments against wearing white even in just this one thread, let alone everything else there is to read.
second, you're just starting school and you don't have a good clear idea yet of just what constitutes the nurse's role. to say that we're subservient is a blatent idicator that you just don't get it. as you progress through your nursing program, you're going to look back at this quote and shudder in horror at your ignorance! we've all been through it, and most of us had our eyes opened at some point about just how not subservient a professional nurse is!
wearing white is something that patients were conditioned to expect from nurses in the past. but that's in the past. if, when you finish school and start working as a nurse, you choose to wear white because you believe it makes you look more professional (or more virginal or more beautiful or whatever) be my guest. but please remember to wear the appropriate (and appropriately colored) undergarmets with your whites and make sure they're pristine.
mind you all, i'm 36 and used to be a hippie girl, doing yoga 8 hours a day. i love the 'be free' movement and womens choices, but white does give respect and power. it doesn't take long to know which rn knows her stuff and which one doesn't... but wearing white still gives respect, in my neck of the woods anyway..
if you base your respect on the color of a nurse's scrubs rather than on whether she knows her stuff, you're missing the boat again. but i'm hoping that as you progress through your program, you'll "get it."
good luck. and please let us know how you're doing.
Are you not serving a patient by helping them get better?
Are you not helping or serving a doctor by following his orders?
I attend hospitals where a good % of the nurses are nun's. They do have an attitude of servitude and their attitudes are impeccible. Being a professional is fine, but your still in the service of another and getting paid highly for it. Doctors are also in servitude. They serve the sick patient. The whole medical staff is in service to sick patients.
If you don't follow the doctor or help the patient get better, aren't you written up?
with all due respect, sweetface, you're just starting nursing school. the experience you're relying on to give legitimacy to your argument is, by your own admission, experience as a patient. not as an educated healthcare professional. furthermore you've only read a few pages of this thread -- you don't even profess to have read and understood all the arguments against wearing white.
********** i read all the posts till 2am last night. my opinion still stands. i also read many elderly nurses who seem to follow the same thought.
to argue that all nurses should wear white because you looked for wearers of white when you were a patient is an argument that at the very least lacks legitimacy.
first, you admit you haven't read anywhere near all the arguments against wearing white even in just this one thread, let alone everything else there is to read.
********** i read more than you are assuming.
second, you're just starting school and you don't have a good clear idea yet of just what constitutes the nurse's role. to say that we're subservient is a blatent idicator that you just don't get it. as you progress through your nursing program, you're going to look back at this quote and shudder in horror at your ignorance! we've all been through it, and most of us had our eyes opened at some point about just how not subservient a professional nurse is!
*********** my two best friends are nurses. i hear it all the time. over time and having hard days they can get idignant attitudes but really all in all, you are helping a person recover. you can be a doctor doing that or god, but it's still a service.
wearing white is something that patients were conditioned to expect from nurses in the past. but that's in the past. if, when you finish school and start working as a nurse, you choose to wear white because you believe it makes you look more professional (or more virginal or more beautiful or whatever) be my guest. but please remember to wear the appropriate (and appropriately colored) undergarmets with your whites and make sure they're pristine.
*********** i've heard about the undergarments....but virginal is your issue not mine. i would appreciate it if you held your pettiness in check. i can only imagine what your coworkers have to bear in dealing with your assumptions. when you assume so much you create alot of drama. white has nothing to do with a virginal status as i could care less. you are an incredibly rude woman and i would hate to work with you.
if you base your respect on the color of a nurse's scrubs rather than on whether she knows her stuff, you're missing the boat again. but i'm hoping that as you progress through your program, you'll "get it."
good luck. and please let us know how you're doing.
oh i get it ruby, more than you you know. for some reason those who are conservative and like tradition threatens you. my opinion counts as a patient as well as a to-be nurse. my good friends who are rn's don't like white but they don' take it personal or go off like a loaded gun in defense of wearing psychadelics.
one thing i am getting from this forum in general, is that nurses back stab eachother, assume petty things without really hearing what a peson is saying and then react in a rather immature way. i sure hope you don't do that with your patients. what color you wear or what color another wears or why it should threaten you, rv. but it sounds like it does. my opinions are my own, but i'm not making you wear white, so give it a rest.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Realistically, I just don't see the younger generation of nurses coming up being willing to do the "white" thing. I am glad. Pick any dark color if it must be conformist, but white sucks.
I think the younger generation of nurses will be so in demand to care for all the baby boomers they will be able to demand more than any previous generation.
In ancient Rome, only those of the upper classes were allowed to wear an all white toga. Therefore, I would suggest that all nurses wear a white lab jacket over civilian clothes. I do not like wearing an all white uniform. However, a white lab jacket has, as per the above, positive implications as to the status of the wearer (nurse or doctor). While an all white uniform has a negative implication for the wearer implying a servile status (like a maid).
I couldn't/wouldn't wear my street clothes to work. Scrubs are much easier to launder and cheaper.
White is "nice" but why force every nurse to look like every other nurse. IMO this takes away our individuality. And as I've said before, knowledge and practice based on science is what makes nursing professional.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
oh i get it ruby, more than you you know. for some reason those who are conservative and like tradition threatens you. my opinion counts as a patient as well as a to-be nurse. my good friends who are rn's don't like white but they don' take it personal or go off like a loaded gun in defense of wearing psychadelics.
one thing i am getting from this forum in general, is that nurses back stab eachother, assume petty things without really hearing what a peson is saying and then react in a rather immature way. i sure hope you don't do that with your patients. what color you wear or what color another wears or why it should threaten you, rv. but it sounds like it does. my opinions are my own, but i'm not making you wear white, so give it a rest.
i'm so sorry you're having such a bad day. no one went off "like a loaded gun" except, perhaps you. i'm sorry you've developed such a negative opinion of our forum -- but perhaps the backstabbing, pettiness and immaturity are in the eye of the beholder.
backstabbing, pettiness and immaturity happens in EVERYWHERE, not just in the nursing field. As far as the uniforms, I am an HHA and have to wear all white...I am not too fond of having to do this and cannot wait until I am able to put a little color into my wardrobe.
Well, all I have to say is yay for peds nursing! It takes all the guesswork out of this debate for me.
Last week clinched my love for bright colours and prints. I was taking care of an irritable 13-month old little boy, and had him on my lap to try and soothe him whilst doing my assessment. He all of a sudden got really quiet, and I felt little fingers poking me. I looked down as he was systematically going over my whole shirt, poking each one of the neon lizards' heads. He even ended up standing up to get my back, and we were firm friends for the rest of the day. I somehow doubt that would have worked if I were in all white.
RubyVee, as usual, you are right on. I appreciate your insightfulness and experience and enjoy your posts.
I, too, think that non-nurses, whether students or otherwise, will change their frame of mind once they get out in the real world of nursing.
I remember once upon a time when I was a student and judged the experienced nurses. Of course, I kept my comments to myself but I can see now how off the mark I was.
I think every nurse out there had those thoughts when they were students. And almost every nurse changes their way of thinking when they gain experience. To think all experienced nurses are wrong and the judgemental nursing student is right is extremely narrow minded.
Just ask any 5 year and over veteran nurse if they are "subservient".... and then duck.
I'm going off what my other RN friends say as well. They feel there is power in white as well.
What I think is odd is that the elderly nurses on this thread think there is power in white and some others, but if a student nurse agress she is all of a sudden out of touch, inexperienced or judgemental. I think the reverse is quite possible, that RN's who have loads of experience can be arrogant towards someone with a different opinion. We all have opinions, whether we have an RN or not. No one said 'only those with RN degrees can reply'. I do think there is power in white.
Also, subservient is different that providing a service. Subservient is an attitude and providing a service is something else with an entirely different attitude. I've never met a nurse who goes to work thinking their patients serve them. It's the other way around. Medical profession is a public 'service' so I'm not sure where the denial is coming from or that bad attitudes from RN's.
ayla2004, ASN, RN
782 Posts
white may be the traditonal colour in the usa for nurses in the uk its blue with navy for senior nurses/midwifes.
we wear unifroms supplied by our employers either tunics or dresses, scrubs only in the ER colour coded, or OR. Some ppl still can't tell nurses from PT, OT, radiotechs etc and with the nursing assitants but howver in genearl they can.