Professional cartoons

Jeffthenurse · May 16, 2008

On a pediatric unit, loud funny scrubs would be acceptable because the kids respond to them positively. I actually find scrubs to be sloppy for home care nursing but comfortable and professional in an ICU.

The most absurd article of clothing I ever saw in a hospital was

a t-shirt worn by a cashier in the cafeteria.....it had a skull and crossbones on the front and said something about the food (can't remember exactly what) but I remember looking down at my food tray and wondered if I should eat it! I asked her how she could wear that and not expect people to see it and she eventually stopped wearing it.I've had students (nursing school) wear t-shirts to class saying, "What's a good girl like me doing in a place like this?" and I've had to tell them it was inappropriate for them to wear that shirt and they stopped.

I don't like wearing uniforms and I think nurses should have the right to wear street clothes like other professionals can wear but that right will be taken away from us if we don't act accordingly.

Katnip, RN · May 16, 2008

I've seen loud prints all over the hospital, including Dora the Explorer in adult ICU. Peds, fine. But some people have no clue how ridiculous they look.

Why is it allowed? Because people complain about the right to self expression at work. Nevermind, they don't understand how it looks unprofessional.

SCUnursie06 · May 16, 2008

I too work in a peds office so I of course wear sponge bob & others but some days I just wear plain scrubs with no design cause I get tired of the loudness. I definetly think you should wear scrubs for your "area" of work. Wearing cartoons in an adult ICU seems just out of place for me. Of course I have issues with people that are not nurses wearing scrubs anyway. (didn't mean in offend)

BlueRidgeHomeRN · May 16, 2008

when setting the dress code for our home health agency, we also thought long and hard about this. we finally decided on plain white or blue scrubs for all nurses, just to maintain the professional image (especially since we're out in the community daily, and driving a company car).

have to agree that cartoons should be limited to peds'. just an observation of mine........ but the louder and more outrageous the scrubs i see walking around walmart, the higher the chances that the wearer is a nursing assistant, vet tech, or personal care attendant. maybe i'm just a cranky old fart, but our elderly patients seem to understand that white=nurse! :nurse:

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · May 16, 2008

I'll add my voice to the "cartoons belong in the kiddie unit" group. I've said this in a number of posts on a number of threads (on allnurses, we sure do like this topic!).

There will be plenty of people who will speak in favor of those kinds of outfits, and as long as they're produced, people will buy them. So, it really just comes down to what kind of image you'd like to project, and whether you are ok with the the kind of response you may get for looking like that.

When I wear all whites, the patients like them. When I'm in my solid colors, the patients like them. And when I'm wearing bright prints, they like them too. I like to think they're responding to the professional wearing them, rather than whether they prefer the floral prints or the splashes of color, or the monotone look.

Thing is, in order to be treated like a professional, the patient has to assume you ARE one as you approach. I've posted this elsewhere....how can you expect to be thought of as a medical professional automatically, when they see you coming at them wearing Winnie the Pooh?

By the way, I wear my white lab coat on occasion, too, and smile when I correct the occasional patient or family member who thinks I'm a doctor. But I'd much rather be thought of as a professionally dressed doctor, and correct that, than be thought of as someone who wore her 12-year-olds pajamas into work that day!

KaroSnowQueen, RN · May 16, 2008

I think anyone who nursed back in the old days (early 1980's) and had to wear a white dress and cap to work will understand how appealing the colored scrubs are now!!!

I hated wearing white anything (I'm busty and a slob -- wearing my lunch on my WHITE shirted chest did NOT look professional!!). And that cap, oh good Lord, caught it on everything.

I personally like scrub tops with colorful prints, but I have noticed I don't do animal prints. Or cartoons -- but I do have one Rudolph and one Christmas Pooh, I mean come on, Christmas is for kids!!! But in my usual work I like botanical prints, maybe a geometric or two, no cartoons.

I don't like seeing Sponge Bob on a grown man. Or woman for that matter. Unless they are in Peds and only Peds.

PaRN210 · Oct 29, 2008

I am an RN who works in an ER and I tend to wear colored tops, seasonal tops and cartoon tops. The cartoon tops are appealing to children and their parents as they are a distraction when I assist with suturing, splinting, etc. A lot of the older patients understand the cartoons and they don't mind the bright colors. Helps them to "pick" out their nurse a little easier due to vision problems and forgetting the nurses name.

caliotter3 · Oct 29, 2008

The employee handbooks of the home health agencies I have worked for have specified the acceptable uniform. Bluejeans have been excluded, but that doesn't change the fact that on the first orientation I went to, the nurse was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. The only time this topic came up at work, I reminded them that I worked at night and jeans or other street clothes made me feel safer in the neighborhoods I went to. Our DON came out and said that blue jeans were acceptable if one is working night shift. I like most of the cartoon character and other themed tops and own several. However, I tend to go more toward solid colors now because the others make me feel less professional. I don't have mostly peds clients now like I used to. So from now on, I'm sticking with the solids.