Is there power in the color white?

[bbfw2]

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.

Please be bluntly honest.

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

As a student I dont feel qualified to talk to "what gives power" or "professionalism" in nursing.

When I was in the military though, every once in a while someone would pull out the "professionalism drum" and beat it. What I learned in fairly short order is when they said professionalism, what they really meant was appearance. It wasnt until I had 15 or 16 years in and was a senior leader though that I learned that there was an entire world of incompetance that some people attempted tohide with a snappy crease in their pants and a good shoe shine. From that point forward my yardstick for measuring professionalism is "how professional (knowledge, demeanor,drive etc)does this person appear. You can teach a monkey to dress up fancy and shine his shoes. My thoughts,

aloha

Jim

We had a phrase for that in the military: screw the mission, clean your position.

And I agree: semantics (we should change our name from 'nurse') and window dressings (let's all wear white) are not solutions, they are simply symbolism over substance.

The only real way to BE professional is to actually be professional.

Respect is earned, it isn't creased, pressed, or starched.

~faith,

Timothy.

[casualjim]

We had a phrase for that in the military: screw the mission, clean your position.

I like that, my favorite was:

"work it may, shine it must."

aloha

Jim

[JMBM]

It seems to me that folks are mixing up several concepts. First, there is the "if we wear white, patients will know who is the nurse" concept. I work in a busy ER. I always introduce myself and show my name tag when I come in and then again when I finish my assessment and turn to leave. With the exception of patients with altered levels of consciousness, I've never had a patient fail to grasp that I was the nurse. Even if that weren't the case, any color scrub, so long as its consistent, would equally identify the nurse. There is nothing unique about white for identification purposes except the "old days" of the pillow-fluffing, "eat all your vegetables", bedpan carrying stereotype.....Okay, if the patient already knows who the nurse is, will white make us more respectable? Not without attitude. You could wear white, purple, pink, BDU's or a moon suit and if you act like a doormat, you'll get treated that way. In contrast, we've all seen that overweight, short grandmothery RN with big hair and little glasses in teddy bear scrubs who can wade into a chaotic code and in five minutes have it straightened out with the doctor asking her how to proceed. As cops say, its all in the eyes and tone of voice. Okay, if the patient already knows who the nurse is and the nurse has a professional attitude, will a uniform help make us more respectable? I haven't seen any studies, but from my experience (in white-required, certain color required, no restrictions), white had zero effect over navy or royal scrubs and I can't feel any difference even over printed scrubs. Now, if wearing white helps you feel more professional, by all means wear it. Mine went into the donation bin.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

I don't wear white frequently because I feel it gives me power. I earn that myself by striving for my best every day. I wear it frequently because I like the comfort it seems to give to many of my patients and their families. You can argue that "white doesn't make the nurse recognizable" all you want, but I disagree. It makes us the most visible of all. That doesn't mean you can't wear teddy bear scrubs and NOT be recognized as "the nurse". It just means that you'd have to first explain you're not there to get their lunch tray, rather than have it taken automatically that you are, in fact, their nurse.

However, I do admit to not wearing my whites when I know school clinicals are going to be in. All the local programs, both RN and LPN, wear whites, in different styles. And I worked too hard for too many years to get mistaken for someone in her first month of school!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Mine went into the donation bin.

And mine went into the bonfire at our after-graduation party nine and a half years ago. Haven't worn whites since. They make me look like the Pillsbury Doughgirl.........hardly what I'd call a professional appearance!

[ZASHAGALKA, RN]

What does the U.S. Navy demand in the way of uniforms for their nurses?

The military is different. To the extent that the Navy has a 'white' uniform, it is worn by all service members so it is not a good example of setting apart RNs.

Besides, and a Navy Nurse can correct me if I'm wrong, but such uniforms are 'dress' uniforms and are not necessary worn for duty.

For the purposes of this discussion, and the perceived goals of wearing white, it's apples and oranges.

~faith,

Timothy.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

And I agree: semantics (we should change our name from 'nurse') and window dressings (let's all wear white) are not solutions, they are simply symbolism over substance.

The only real way to BE professional is to actually be professional.

Respect is earned, it isn't creased, pressed, or starched.

Amen.

[casualjim]

Nurses, both active duty Navy and civilian (yep there are both) at Navy clinics and hospitals wear pretty much what all nurses wear, scrubs. Navy nurses are officers. In the Navy officers and Chief Petty Officers and above can wear the Khaki uniform pretty much year round for working purposes. If you find a Navy nurse in a "real uniform" it'll probably be Khaki. Junior sailors ,corpsmen,(Petty Officer 1st class and below) will probably wear scrubs if they're doing direct patient care or whatever the seasonal uniform of the day is. Typically blues in the winter or whites in the summer. Like Timothy said though it's not the same whites we're talking about here. It's a universal uniform worn by all sailors, not just medical personnel.

aloha

Jim

[banditrn]

NO - my power is who I am, my respect is how I perform.

In the LTCF where I now work, we can wear print tops, so I've gotten several different pretty ones and the ladies love them. They comment every time I work.

[imenid37]

I want real power for nurses. Respect from patients, physicians, colleagues, and employers. Better staffing. Less "junk" paperwork and computer work from well-meaning, but poorly implemented govt. regs. The white uniform thing is, as Timothy says, window dressing. It is something some hospitals and facilities come up w/ every few years because they don't get it as far as what truly makes for genuine respect and a positive image of nursing. It is a diversion from many of the real issues out there. It is who wears the uniform (scrubs, whites, business casual, etc.) and how they carry themselves and perform NOT whether of not they look like a museum piece.

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

I work with a heavy geriatric population and they do verbalize a preferance for the traditional white uniforms. Personally I think as long as nurses maintain a clean professional appearance with "natual looking make up and hair color" the same professionalism comes across. I would like to see less characters on scrubs unless of course the nurse is working on a ped floor.

The residents of one of the long term care facilities I worked in were the ones who petitioned the management to allow the nurses to wear colored uniforms. They said they were tired of the 'hospital atmosphere'...management reluctantly agreed.

[piper_for_hire]

Yikes! The color white (is it really a color?) just screams "DON'T TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!"

My hospital has color coded nursing uniforms for the different units in the hospital and for certain non-nursing staff - like respiratory therapy. However, we're not required to wear the colors so it matters not. Still, sort of a nice idea if a) you actually wear the chosen colors and b) your color isn't a bad one - like white or pink.

-S