nursing caps

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm in a RN program and it is required for us to wear our caps.

We hate it What do you think?

Did you have to wear one? and What year was it?

Specializes in Geriatrics.

A Nurse's cap is called her "Dignity", I for one would be proud to wear mine for something other than graduation. It sits in the closet gathering dust, kinda sad that a big part of our history is religated to storage.

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The caps to me signify nursing as "ladies" work, and medicine as men's work. They are a throwback to a very sexist era, and one that I would like to fall farther into the past.

Old-fashioned nursing caps are rooted in nuns' habits and servants' uniforms. Check out http://www.civilization.ca/hist/infirm/inevo01e.html --it offers some interesting history on nursing caps.

I think that if caps are required at a particular facility, both men and women should have to wear them.

As I see it, caps are no longer relevant. I also think white as a healthcare uniform is not sensible. I see that patients are aware that folks on the floor have varying titles and responsibilities. Personal patient boards orient the patients very well as I see it.

EXCERPTS FROM SITE MENTIONED ABOVE:

Some nurses' caps resembled, in modified form, the nun's coif, to signify the respected tradition of Roman Catholic nursing and service to humanity.

Some hospitals chose for their uniforms the current fashions worn by domestic servants, including cap and bibbed apron.

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Specializes in LTC.

I just graduated from LPN school about a month ago and when we had our pinning ceremony we were presented with caps and pins. We never wore them to clinicals or anything.

There was this one nurse, however, who was very old-school and wore her hat and all whites everyday. One thing is for sure, everyone knew she was a nurse.

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This director, btw, also said that, if he had his way, we'd all wear dresses, white stockings, and the old-fashioned shoes. I thought the handful of men in our class would look pretty funny in that getup.

So would the women.

It's actually a bit sad to see that people think that the cap signifies education. That very notion points to ignorance of history.

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Specializes in school nursing, ortho, trauma.

I was a little sad not to have a cap when i was in nursing school. We had a "pinning" ceremony at the end and all wore our uniforms. I wish the caps would come back if nothing else for nostalgia's sake.

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i find it very interesting that something as simple as a cap can bring about such a wide range of strong feelings...

i've really enjoyed reading this thread :)

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Graduated in 1980. Yep we wore caps , infact there was a guy in our class, he could be considered a "hippie", he insisted on being capped like the rest of us. If there was something to be radical about he found it. But any way , it was halarious. We all loved him dearly, and enjoyed every min of it. Cause , non of us liked to wear them. (as we said in the day, he stuck it to the man).I wore it as required for graduation, folded it up put it away, havn't worn it since. They are a pain to wear. They always remind me of the days that nurses got out of their chairs for dr's. Although, I must say there are many nurses who come to work looking less than professional.. Wrinkles etc. I always think we should have clean white shoes, pressed uniforms and lab coats out of the dept. (The hospitals should supply all of it.) The better nurses look the better the hospital is represented.

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Nurses uniforms have followed the general trends in streetwear. When skirts were long, nursing uniforms were long. When miniskirts were in fashion, uniforms were shorter. When women switched to pants for every day wear, pants were worn to work. Women once wore hats when they went out. Hats are rarely seen now, and caps went away too.

To see caps again would seem a little too theatrical, too camp. Too bad, I looked really good in my cap in nursing school.

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Specializes in Adult ICU/PICU/NICU.

I still wear my cap. In my day, it was something that you worked hard for and were proud to earn.

Many of the young girls (and guys) who are new grads ask me very candid questions about my cap. They think...as some of the posters do here...that its sexist or a symbol of women being subserviant to men. For me....it obviously does not mean any of these things. For me its a symbol of my calling to take care of the sick to the best of my abilities. As each nursing school has its own cap....it also is a symbol of pride for the school that I trained at.

The cap is ingrained in the history of nursing and will always be. Don't want to wear one? Fine....but respect the older generation's right too.....and respect that knowledge of history is best learned by living through that period of history vs reading about it in a weblink or textbook.

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In the stoneage or now? LOL jk. Uh, I would burn the cap. . .LOL

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Specializes in Community, Renal, OR.

I have really enjoyed this thread.

We wore caps during nursing school, each year you got an extra stripe, but I have only worked at one facility where you were required to wear a cap as an RN.

I have a cap in my cupboard that I wear for international nurses' day, as well as my old cape. I must get a white uniform to finish of my outfit!

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, Home Health, Oncology.

I have enjoyed reading the posts in this thread.

I, like many others, wore a cap thru nursing school and thereafter.

In the 1970's sometime, we stopped wearing them at my Hospital. It was mainly an infection control issue.

We did have one older Nursing Supervisor on the night shift who continued to wear her cap. In the 1980's sometime, Administration told her she MUST STOP wearing it because it was too intimidating to the younger nurses!!

Go Figure!!

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