anybody know why most psych nurses wear street clothes? the places i am looking at are REQUIRED to wear them vs scrubs and I am just curious why that might be. this is not their problem but I have been a nurse for SO long that I have no clothes . i only can think of the milgram experiment where people seemed to respect (ah too much) the medical situation and thought it almost might be more therapeutic - not just cuz I dont want to buy new clothes :).
so i'm about to start my first nursing gig at a psych facility and I was told we could wear either scrubs or civilian clothes. my question is, wouldn't consistency be an important consideration? I think it's strange it's an "either/or". I think it would be confusing if some staff were in scrubs while others weren't. how does that play out where you're at?
Where I am at, it doesn't seem to be a problem.
However, when someone sees a staff in scrubs, most will assume they work geri, though that is not always the case.
It's just the quirkiness of the psych hospital culture, I guess, but the pt's just seem to accept it.
When I float to another unit, I may be the only one in scrubs. Only once has a pt commented on that to me, personally. They weren't bothered by it, but they were just curious as to why I had on scrubs.
Sometimes, we even do a half and half thing and wear scrub pants and gym shoes with a nice t-shirt and maybe a stringless warm-up jacket... again not a problem as long as you look tidy and ready for action.
My rules for myself are:
1) Hair up
2) No nails
3) Tidy and ironed
4) No scruffy shoes
5) Socks (!!!!)
6) No strings, scarves, lanyards, necklaces
7) No dangly earrings
8) Shoes I can run in
9) Shoes that won't let spills in (read:urine)
And speaking of strings, I have even found I have to watch the tie-backs of my pretty scrub tops, as I have been yanked by those by my sweet little geri ladies wanting my attention
Sorry, I got off topic.
Consistency might be nice, but I don't don't want to blow it for those who dress appropriately but prefer different things... I'll keep my mouth shut.
They're easy to clean and impervious to fluid. I get ribbed about wearing boots, but I really don't care. I wore them in a previous life, and have three pair to make use of, lol. You may find them for about $140 online and almost always with free S&H.
The above clothings is highly durable, ultra comfortable, and very utilitarian.
They're easy to clean and impervious to fluid. I get ribbed about wearing boots, but I really don't care. I wore them in a previous life, and have three pair to make use of, lol. You may find them for about $140 online and almost always with free S&H.
The above clothings is highly durable, ultra comfortable, and very utilitarian.
wow. you make it look like I'm about to enter a combat zone! just kidding, sort-of
i have clothes and shoes to wear. just thought it would be good to hear why the inconsistency. I get the reasons why scrubs with geris and why civilian clothes for most everyone else.
These are exactly my rules. Closed shoes that stay dry when someone throws up a combo of cheap red wine and half digested food all over your lower pant legs, socks, and shoes are an absolute necessity!:***: Also very important is no dangly earrings. I learned that the hard way. A patient reached out and yanked an earring that wasn't really dangly but a wide hoop and tore the hole the earring was in. Not only did I bleed like a stuck pig but the hole took months to completely heal so I could wear an earring in it again.
Specializes in Hospice, corrections, psychiatry, rehab, LTC.
Of the units I have worked on, on the adult/CD units the theory was that it removes a barrier between staff and patients. It put us on the same level, at least perception-wise. One place where I worked, on our companion geropsych unit staff wore whites or scrubs, because the patients could instantly identify the staff and they seemed to gain a degree of comfort from that.
Any thoughts on head coverings (like a nuns veil)? I wore it during my psych rotation with no problems. I know that it's not advised to wear things around the neck, so I probably won't even apply. I'm a new grad and in my area it's not uncommon to still not have a job after 6 mo-yr. I was looking at the floor for eating disorders, it's part-time. Thanks. I'm going to keep looking at other places, just wanted some input.
Any thoughts on head coverings (like a nuns veil)? I wore it during my psych rotation with no problems. I know that it's not advised to wear things around the neck, so I probably won't even apply. I'm a new grad and in my area it's not uncommon to still not have a job after 6 mo-yr. I was looking at the floor for eating disorders, it's part-time. Thanks. I'm going to keep looking at other places, just wanted some input.
My concern with head coverings would be the safety aspect. A patient could snatch it off of your head, and you've just given him something he can strangle himself/others with. Or--and I think this may be the more likely scenario--it'll catch on something and you end up strangling yourself.
If wearing a head covering is mandatory, then the safety issue is something you'll have to address with your (future) employers. See if you can get a dispensation from your religious leader to be excused from wearing it while at work, or if you can wear an altered/safer form. I know there are nuns who have received permission from their powers that be to forego wearing the veil for whatever reason. IMO, safety is a pretty good reason for such a dispensation.
If wearing a head covering is not mandatory, then problem solved: leave it off while at work.
My concern with head coverings would be the safety aspect. A patient could snatch it off of your head, and you've just given him something he can strangle himself/others with. Or--and I think this may be the more likely scenario--it'll catch on something and you end up strangling yourself.
If wearing a head covering is mandatory, then the safety issue is something you'll have to address with your (future) employers. See if you can get a dispensation from your religious leader to be excused from wearing it while at work, or if you can wear an altered/safer form. I know there are nuns who have received permission from their powers that be to forego wearing the veil for whatever reason. IMO, safety is a pretty good reason for such a dispensation.
If wearing a head covering is not mandatory, then problem solved: leave it off while at work.
Or what about a headcovering of some sort of breakaway/paper material, like those ridiculous infection precautions gowns that are like tissue paper?
The origins of street clothes in psychiatric settings dates back to the humanist psychology movement of the 1960's. In an attempt to demedicalize psychiatric treatment, settings were made more homelike and staff began wearing street clothes. This is also when we started referring to "clients" rather than "patients." I remember when we didn't wear nametags in psych, and the goal was to not be able to tell staff from the clients by looking. The idea was to get away from the idea that clients were "sick" and in the "hospital." This was the age of psychiatric settings as true "therapeutic communities" in which clients were elected to governing offices on psychiatric units, and clients voted on unit policies and practices (as much as possible). The street clothes were less about client preference or comfort level than they were a statement by the staff that we are all in this together, we are more alike than we are different, we are all human beings. As inpatient stays got shorter and shorter, much of the therapeutic community style of treatment became less and less practical, but the street clothes and more homelike appearance of inpatient units remain (despite a concernted effort in recent years to remedicalize psychiatric treatment).
I float from the medical unit to the psych unit in my small hospital and lately have been on that floor more than my own. I have heard the rationale that the patients/clients relate better to street clothes but I find that I can use caring about their physical health (which I do) to be a tool to build trust. I start an interview by discussing their physical health and transition into the psych interview with the same matter of fact attitude. I can often hold conversations about how they need to understand that their psych diagnoses are like medical ones and that taking medication is a healthy option and not a weakness or evidence that they are "crazy". It also makes life a lot easier when I show up with blood draw materials or a urine cup. Because I am very "matter of fact" about discussing the psych diagnoses, I find I hear more truth...such as a schizophrenic patient who denied hallucinations to most staff told me "you know, aggitation is the color green" and have had some very honest conversation with patients about how to have tools to recognize their symptoms early and identify the people in their lives that they can trust so that they can seek help before they get bad enough to be admitted on to the floor....that they aren't "crazy" but rather have a medical condition that needs to be treated. I wore street clothes on my student psych rotation...but think that the scrubs identify me as someone they can trust. Originally, I wore them because I never knew what unit I might be sent to...now I wear them even if I know in advance but I do try to avoid my ceil blue ones which "scream" hospital in my opinion (our hospital doesn't require any special color so I have a variety...I like my purple ones for the psych floor because they seem to be more approachable and friendly).
I busted out laughing at "I've been a nurse so long that I don't have any clothes"
I just spent the last six years working in the hospital AFTER all those years in psych, so I had to buy scrubs. In those six and a half years, my street clothing dwindled alarmingly! I mean, stuff just disappeared, I think. So now I'm out of the hospital and back into street clothes, only I don't have any. I bought an outfit for interviews, but I'm gonna need to hit eBay up for someone's wardrobe, or something.
. i only can think of the milgram experiment where people seemed to respect (ah too much) the medical situation and thought it almost might be more therapeutic - not just cuz I dont want to buy new clothes :).
Hygiene Queen
2,232 Posts
Where I am at, it doesn't seem to be a problem.
However, when someone sees a staff in scrubs, most will assume they work geri, though that is not always the case.
It's just the quirkiness of the psych hospital culture, I guess, but the pt's just seem to accept it.
When I float to another unit, I may be the only one in scrubs. Only once has a pt commented on that to me, personally. They weren't bothered by it, but they were just curious as to why I had on scrubs.
Sometimes, we even do a half and half thing and wear scrub pants and gym shoes with a nice t-shirt and maybe a stringless warm-up jacket... again not a problem as long as you look tidy and ready for action.
My rules for myself are:
1) Hair up
2) No nails
3) Tidy and ironed
4) No scruffy shoes
5) Socks (!!!!)
6) No strings, scarves, lanyards, necklaces
7) No dangly earrings
8) Shoes I can run in
9) Shoes that won't let spills in (read:urine)
And speaking of strings, I have even found I have to watch the tie-backs of my pretty scrub tops, as I have been yanked by those by my sweet little geri ladies wanting my attention
Sorry, I got off topic.
Consistency might be nice, but I don't don't want to blow it for those who dress appropriately but prefer different things... I'll keep my mouth shut.