Nursing hat with ruffles required?

[Suninmyheart]

Literally - a round hat with ruffles all the way around and surrounded by a ribbon with a bow. Like I would imagine Florence N. to wear.

Has anyone ever seen this or work where it is required?

I was offered the job but am literally turning it down because of this.

It feels demeaning and ridiculous. How can I be taken seriously wearing this thing. No way! When I walked in for my interview I saw these hats and I just couldn't believe it.

Comments?

Sun

[snowfreeze, BSN, RN]

Hats on nurses are like ties on docs doing rounds, germ collectors that have no other purpose. No one washes either after every shift.

[ebear, BSN, RN]

Years ago, I didn't mind wearing my cap at all! I do think it separated the nurses from other hospital personnel. I used to work with a nurse from Johns Hopkins and that was their cap at that time. I think that when nurses stopped wearing caps, something was lost in the profession. Just my opinion... Nowadays, patients don't know a nurse from lab personnel, nursing assistants, respiratory techs. or anybody else.

ebear

[Rnandsoccermom]

Personally in my experience, wearing all white is quite effective in distinguishing yourself as the nurse. Even in all white scrubs. The caps/hats are a stereotype from a time that has past.

[JVanRN]

I have no problem being seen as a nurse in my scrubs. I've never been mistaken for dietary or housekeeping. But it is definitely a problem with non nursing personnel being mistaken for nurses (housekeeping ect...) I don't really see the caps as demeaning, just not very practical and a little dated looking. I would not want to wear one.

[LNDis4ME]

Do male nurses have to wear a cap also? This is a new millenium, they need to stop living in the '50's. While I haven't graduated yet and still earning my right to wear a cap, I don't think you should have to wear one to signify you're a nurse. I don't have a problem with whites, but if you ask me to put on a white dress with stockings and a nursing cap we're going to have problems. To be totally honest it sounds like some male fantasy (sorry guys).

Steph:nono:

:yeahthat:

Seriously, is this a Nursing Home or a Hospital and where are you located??? I do agree with above poster....my understanding was that if you did wear a cap, you always wore your own school's cap, not the hospital's or a generic one. I hope this is just a nursing home who is trying to please residents, and not some crazy new trend. If I were you I'd tell them "Let me welcome you to the year 2007"!!!!

[pedsnurze1]

They're caps, not hats, and the one you're describing used to be referred to as "the Bellevue fluff" (isn't that a great nickname for it?? :)) because it was originally the cap of the Bellevue Hospital (NYC) school, one of the first three legitimate, Nightingale model, schools of nursing in the United States. (However, lots of other schools have adopted the same cap over the years.) It has a rich and proud history.

However, I've never heard of a hospital requiring all its nurses to wear a particular cap -- it's schools that have official caps, and, if you're going to wear a cap, you should be wearing the cap of your school, not your employer ... I had no idea there were any hospitals left that still required caps (let alone, a hospital that dictates which cap you must wear!)

I am, apparently, one of the last nurses in the country that doesn't have a problem with caps -- I've worked in psych most of my career and have generally worn street clothes but, to this day, if I'm in a situation that calls for wearing "whites," I wear my cap.

As do I

[loricatus]

Who says you have to wear it on your head? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I would pin it elsewhere (not saying where, so use your imagination)

[leslymill]

If nurses want a head symbol back, please don't bring back the caps. Hair confining vails that can be washed daily like a bandana. Disposable showercap like those used in surgery, isolation or by food handlers are more appropriate.

[rn/writer, RN]

For those who miss the bygone days of caps and starched white dresses, what's stopping you from wearing these things if that's your preference? I've heard nurses complain about the current fashion trends (and a few really are worth carping about), but if you have free rein to go back to the old attire and you don't, there must be other factors that outweigh the attraction.

We don't all have to trade in our comfortable and practical scrubs for those who want to wear the old whites to have that choice. If you really miss the old ways, stop pining for the past and start showing up for work in your white dress and cap.

No disrespect intended. I'm just trying to point out that no one is robbing anyone else of the opportunity to "dress the part" if that's what they want to do.

[sharona97, BSN, RN]

My only experience of seeing mandatory "cap" wear was on a med-surg floor the NM mandated that her staff where their caps. That was in 1984. Texas. Everyone wore the cap of there school, and I remember seeing the ruffled cap on a few of the nurses and thought they were beautiful.

I agree with the posters on impossible to keep the hat clean.

[imenid37]

Hats on nurses are like ties on docs doing rounds, germ collectors that have no other purpose. No one washes either after every shift.

I totally agree with you. Some of the caps are very pretty, but they are not functional in today's world. Being a nurse is much more about knowledge and skill than that crisp, white starched appearance.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Women once wore hats and dresses for everyday streetwear. Nurses once wore caps and dresses(starched and white) for everyday workwear. Those days are gone.

I looked cute in my school cap. Some nurses looked camp. How do you look in a cap? Pretty cute or comical?