Nurses caps!

I don't WANT to be anyone's "angel" in white.....I think that gets in the way of advancing our station in many eyes.....(yes elderly still associate nurses with white and caps I suppose)....but....

I DO very much want to be a professional RN...

I really BELIEVE this:

my professional BEHAVIOR will speak for me....how I carry myself...how I dress in scrubs (yes they can be clean, neat and professional)..how I communicate with doctors and patients/families.......how I DO NOT wear long nails, loud makeup and perfume and don't stand aroung gossiping at the nurses' station-----

those will speak far more clearly for me than a cap on my head will ever do.

A CN where I did an assignment, rode in the 4th of July parade, in the small town where I was. She wore her cap, and white uniform! The crowd cheered when she came by, and later several people asked her why nurses don't dressed like that anymore. This gave her the idea of putting a bug in administration's ear about all of the staff nurses wearing white, and their caps.

There is a hospital in Bellingham, WA I'm told, that still requires their nurses wear caps and whites. I came into nursing when you could wear white pants uniforms, with either a navy blue sweater, or a white one, with your cap. If you didn't have your cap you were out of uniform. Most nurses kept a very nice white dress for meetings, interviews for new jobs, and such., and it had to come to a certain length. Your shoes were always clean and polished, or you were looked down on.

I remember the caps bags nurses carried when they left work, or either left their caps in their lockers, and took them home when they needed cleaning. I don't know for sure whether it's a good idea to go back to caps and whites or not. But the more I travel, the more shocked I get, when I see of the stuff folks wear to work! I have been embrassed for them!!

Yes I can remember seeing nurses with dirty or stained caps, or dirty white sweaters, and others things like bikini underwear or others colors, they shouldn't have. But it looked a lot better than some of the stuff I have been seeing lately!

Originally posted by Brownms46

................I don't know for sure whether it's a good idea to go back to caps and whites or not. But the more I travel, the more shocked I get, when I see of the stuff folks were to work! I have been embrassed for them!!

Yes I can remember seeing nurses with dirty or stained caps, or dirty white sweaters, and others things like bikini underwear or others colors, they shouldn't have. But it looked a lot better than some of the stuff I have been seeing lately!

I totally agree with the "shock value" applied when seeing some of the clothing that hospital staff comes to work in. Many don't seem to bother combing/brushing their hair either as many a head I've seen lately looks like they just climbed out of bed.

Wrinkled scrubs, mixmatched wrinkled scrubs, dirty shoes, unkempt hair, dirty fingernails, see-thru pants showing some awful looking underwear........the list is pitiful!

SOMETHING needs to happen! Here we are adults, and I am all for the hospitals assigning a dresscode again because some folks are plain ol' getting too carried away and too sloppy in their appearance. I wouldn't want a sloppy person taking care of me. If they dress sloppy, they probably live sloppy lives in their appearance and in their attitudes. APPEARANCE DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE NURSES! :)

I do think nurses should wear clothing that signifies to the patients and other staff throughout the hospital who the RNs and LPNs are over and above the other patient care staff and other departmental folks working at the hospital. A vote needs to be taken on a set dresscode for the nurses vs. other nonnursing staff.....IMHPO.

You know Cheerful I could've sworn I have never been to your hospital, but what you describe is exactly what I have seen during my travels! And YES they looked just like they rolled OOB!!! And you know what??? These are the very same people that I saw, who gave sorry care also! Funny thing is , they were always finished before anyone else, but don't go behind them:eek:!

I can't say much for the hats because of being a guy and all, but I do agree about professional dress. I much prefered the heavier cloth that wasn't see through. As for scubs, they can look OK but I frankly fill like I am wearing PJs. Dress codes where I have worked were more about colors for different floors or titles. I felt like we were products on an self and adm just wanted to see us as such. Not to mention being part of a committee with people wearing suits and dresses while you are dressed head to toe in royal blue looking like papa smurf.

If I could make one law it would be no dairy cow prints in 2X. It's just not right.

Brownie....I have had the unfortunate opportunity of following behind "sloppy work" on many a shift. I sure hope I never leave sloppy work for someone to have to clean up. :)

norinradd...your hospital actually makes the staff dress according to "title"? Such as.........?

We didn't even have the option of buying a cap for our pinning ceremony when I graduated in '96!

Originally posted by Caseyshere

We didn't even have the option of buying a cap for our pinning ceremony when I graduated in '96!

Any nurse who wants to don the nursing cap has every legal right to do so. On http://www.kayscaps.com are caps that you can select from if that is your wish to have one. One of the caps (the one I purchased from kayscaps) is called the "legally regulated cap" and is 2 1/4 inches (I think?). :)

I graduated in 1982 as an LPN and wore my cap proudly! It fit well and looked very professional. We wore the white uniforms, hose and shoes. I always thought it was so neat that each nursing school had their own style of cap that designated their school.

In 1988, I graduated nursing school again this time as an RN. Hated the cap this time, it didn't fit well and I didn't like the look at all. But I was still proud to wear it! I always kept mine in my locker in one of those plastic cap holders (I still have it with both my caps in my closet!). That's when we wore the white pants and colored tops.

The styles have changed and I really don't like all the wild print stuff that is out there now. I do think nurses should dress professional and act professional. I saw a nurse the other day who was pregnant and wearing a tight crop top and low cut pants and she was working. Call me old-fashioned, but please if you want respect in the nursing profession (or any other profession), dress the part!!

I didn't like wearing my HUGE cap at my graduation, so wearing it on a daily basis? No. First off, I had short hair at the time, so I looked ultra ridiculous. Second, I was really angry that the female students were FORCED to wear them at the ceremony and males didn't. I think that was sexist and unfair.

DO you remember how much your cap cost from Kays???? I just saw one on Ebay that auctioned for over 5O bucks!!!

Now I really want to get one just for the shock value at work!!! Will check out the Kays cap site!!!

I went to the Byman school for Medical Assisting in 1978 in Phoenix Az. When we graduated we had a pin and a great BIG cap.We had to wear it all through the clinicals. I felt like a fake. Then In Practical Nursing school we had another cap that we took our pictures in. Either way- I worked my but off for both and wear neither.