Nurses wearing white

LatinaRN · Feb 6, 2005

break out the whites!!!!!

i am 26 and i have been an icu nurse for 3 years. i do not find the whites to be "impractical." they are professional and the patients like that they can identify us more readily. if nurses went back to the all white uniform that would be great, but if hospitals are mandating this...they should pay for it. :coollook:

LauraLou · Feb 6, 2005

I work at a hospital where the nurses wear blue &/or white, techs wear maroon, respiratory green, etc. I don't think the nurses who wear all white scrubs look anymore professional than the nurses in blue scrubs.

We have one nurse on our floor who wears white dresses, white hose and white shoes every day. She looks very nice but the outfit just isn't practical. The last thing I want to worry about is if I have a run in my hose!

The color-coded uniforms are helpful for the staff. It makes it easy for us the tell who is who. As for the patients, they still think everyone is a nurse.

cannoli · Feb 6, 2005

well water can reek havoc on a white uniform wardrobe.

i have a well and have no problem keeping my uniforms white.

sblanchet · Feb 7, 2005

I don't really care so much about this issue except that you might think that nurse managers and so-called nursing "leaders" would have better things to think about than this! It hardly seems like the most pressing issue facing nursing today. Many at my hospital feel it is just one more slap in the face, i.e. you didn't fill out all your paperwork, you left two t's not crossed and four i's not dotted, Mrs Jones in 585 complained that she waited three seconds for you to answer her light, Dr. so and so said you were rude to him, the supervisor said you complain too much when the floor is short, and on and on and on. And now, we don't like the way you look either!! So there! I know quite a few people who are about ready to quit anyways because of all the hassles and this for some reason represents the straw that broke the camel's back. The whole thing is absurd. It is amazing to me that this is happening in so many places. It's always monkey see monkey do in nursing management. Anyone remember patient-focused care and what a fiasco that was? Another whim of nursing management that totally destroyed morale. At the rate things are going they're lucky anyone shows up for work. There are plenty of 9 to 5 jobs, no weekends no holidays at outpatient centers, infusion centers, insurance companies, home care, school nursing. Where are these people coming from? No doubt there will be big ad campaigns, "Garden Variety US Hospital:Our Nurses Wear White!!". Give me a break.

nurse_widgy · Feb 7, 2005

I work LTC and we are required to wear all white uniforms and shoes. And yes...we still wear the caps. On Fridays and Saturdays we can wear colored scrubs and dont wear the hat, yet still must wear white shoes.

I guess on the bright side I dont have to wear the dress that my nursing school required us to wear. I swear our uniforms looked like they had just escaped the 60s.

desperado8156 · Feb 7, 2005

who's on first,, whats on second ( old joke but it carries meaning of double talk) that is precisely

the point. Who cares if the other employee knows you are a nurse, it is the patients that matter. I remember being a patient before school, I couldn't tell a nurse from an orderly. Look professional and there won't be any confusion over who you are. I'm not advocating a skirt, pants are ok. Just make it a white nurse uniform. Hold your head high, take pride in the nursing white uniform. ( oh , I can't wait to see all the postings on that one, but they are just a bunch of complainers). Hey, How about all the policemen wearing shirts with sponge bob on them, along with pajama bottoms in pink with green stripes. Except on Friday, then they can wear speedo's and jungle boots

I work at a hospital where the nurses wear blue &/or white, techs wear maroon, respiratory green, etc. I don't think the nurses who wear all white scrubs look anymore professional than the nurses in blue scrubs.
We have one nurse on our floor who wears white dresses, white hose and white shoes every day. She looks very nice but the outfit just isn't practical. The last thing I want to worry about is if I have a run in my hose!
The color-coded uniforms are helpful for the staff. It makes it easy for us the tell who is who. As for the patients, they still think everyone is a nurse.

desperado8156 · Feb 7, 2005

right on latinarn

i am 26 and i have been an icu nurse for 3 years. i do not find the whites to be "impractical." they are professional and the patients like that they can identify us more readily. if nurses went back to the all white uniform that would be great, but if hospitals are mandating this...they should pay for it. :coollook:

~Kitty~ · Feb 7, 2005

cannoli:

I have a well and have no problem keeping my uniforms white.

Do you have a water softener? Ours is broken. Our water is very yellowing. I try to use Yellow Out periodically.

cannoli · Feb 7, 2005

cannoli:
Do you have a water softener? Ours is broken. Our water is very yellowing. I try to use Yellow Out periodically.

No, I don't use a water softener. Have never had any problem with whites, either dried in the machine or hung to dry. I do like to dry my uniforms out in the sun, I think more to have the ultraviolet kill any germs.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Feb 7, 2005

oh , I can't wait to see all the postings on that one, but they are just a bunch of complainers

Someone could be dressed head-to-toe in white, yet a person's attitude can ruin the whole "professional" image. Think about it.

akamom · Sep 24, 2007

The hospital has decreed that all nurses will wear white in the near future. Despite a petition to administration voicing the opinions of the nurses that overwhelmingly the majority of nurses working at the bedside do not want to wear white, the policy has stood firm and the deadline to change to white is rapidly approaching.
My quesion is......do you think that nurses should be forced to wear white? Do you think nurses should all wear the same uniform?
I finished nursing school in 1977 so I actually wore white uniforms (no scrubs) and a cap. It didn't take long to lose the cap and slowly, the trend to wear colored scrubs evolved.
The thought of wearing white all the time just really turns me off. I find it totally impractical and over time, it will gray and stain and tend to need more frequent replacing.
What do you think?

I went back to hospital nursing a little over a year ago after being in a physician's office for 13 years. Things had changed of course, including nurses wearing white scrub tops and either navy or white scrub pants. The tops are monogrammed with the hospital logo and your name. (The hospital pays for the monogramming).

Three times a year we have a uniform sale put on by the auxillary. We can buy up to $300 and have it deducted from our pay check in 4 installments (I call it the "easy pay" plan). They make it convenient for us, the uniform sale lasts for 3 days and always does extremely well.

I don't mind the white tops, I always wear navy pants and don't even own any white pants. You just have to get one of those Clorox Bleach Pens for the little stains you pick up (I keep it in my locker) - it works every time!

leslymill · Sep 26, 2007

Oh Boy! Do I ever agree with you. It is all about PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY.... not the individual I don't like it... look good in it... can't keep it clean ... kind of personal identity concern we see over and over here. It is about ONE easily identifiable image ... that also echos UNITY. There is strength in unity.

Maybe it isn't white, but unity. I have been browsing old nurse uniforms. Not many nurses wore white. Many were blue, but what prevailed in any of the photos is that all the nurses in the same facility ALL WORE THE SAME UNIFORM, be it white,blue,green or a mix.

http://dyk2.homestead.com/Index.html

I am not saying we SHOULD do that, but I do hear the voice of continuity, since it is just an image. Unfortunately first impressions matter.