Required Nursing Uniform

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in critical care.

My hospital is going to mandate the color and brand of scrubs we (RN's ICU) are to wear. This is apparently because patients want to know who there nurse is. (despite the fact we are all required to wear our identifying badge).We are also told we need to be uniform(no pun intended:)) because we are a magnet facility and magnet hospitals are requiring RN's to wear all the same brand and color. Personally I think this is ridiculous. I thought the magnet philosophy was to give nurses a voice? Since becoming magnet we have no voice, or options and morale has dropped considerably. In times of a bad economy when we are struggling to make ends meet, it is not going to be feasible for nurses to go out and spend money for scrubs and especially ones they do not like. Next we will be told caps are back! Also not everyone has the same shape so many of us will be wearing scrubs too tight or too loose because of the brand we will be required to wear. How professional will that look?? Can you share your thoughts on this? Thank you.

pb

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Specializes in DOU.

I understand that many nurses enjoy the autonomy of choosing their own scrubs, but I think it IS difficult for patients to know who is a nurse when everyone wears what they want.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if all our nurses wore one color, so long as it wasn't white. I don't know why it is necessary to dictate brand, though.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

The RNs and LPNs in my hospital all wear navy blue, except for surgical nurses who wear teal. The techs and unit secretaries wear magenta.

I love it. I can instantly identify another nurse. I don't find it constraining at all, and I'm, by nature, rather a free spirit. I think it makes everyone look more crisp and professional.

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Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

Incidentally, we do have a choice of different styles. The logo of our hospital in embroidered on our scrub top. Some of the styles have a loose fit, others a more tailored fit.

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Specializes in Rehab, Infection, LTC.

my LTC company has done this. we are supposed to wear the same colors and same brand. they bought us 3 sets of scrubs. the thing is, our options are limited that we are allowed to order. i'm fat. they dont provide the size i need nor the length. im a short, fat girl at that. the tops dont fit right either and i looked awful. so i ordered my own from a different company in the same colors. i dont think they can even tell its not the same brand! i figure if my employment hinges on being able to wear a specific brand and they want to get rid of me...then i dont want to be there anyway. i show up every single day im scheduled in the appropriate uniform colors and do a great job. if not wearing Landau is going to get me fired....then so be it. i dont mind wearing the colors. i think we all look very professional. i just dont agree with it being one specific brand so as long as the dyes are the same color.

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Specializes in hospice, corrections.

I personally like nurses all in one uniform. These days techs, housekeeping, CNA's, secretaries, and even non-"medical" people such as vet-techs where scrubs. I know everyone is supposed to wear ID tags, but they are not easy to read and a lot of the time they are flipped over so all you see is the back. If you think about it, caps have a utilitarian purpose, it keeps your hair off your face and off the patient.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Everything tends to come full circle.:nurse:

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I think one place that caused confusion was allowing everyone in the hospital to wear scrubs, regardless of their job. I don't think that nurses should all wear white, either. When I got out of school, I worked pediatrics and we pretty much wore whatever we wanted to, colors, uniform styles, etc... They key is to introduce yourself so that there is no confusion as to who you are or if you are a nurse. If everyone in the hospital communicated that to the patients, that should lessen confusion. Given the long shifts that nurses work, we should be able to select the color and brand of scrubs to wear. Just my two cents....

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Do a quick visual survey of your coworkers.

How many badges are even readable?

I saw many badges turned around backwards or partially obscured by stickers. The name and RN is printed small enough that if I were a patient and not wearing my glasses, I wouldn't know who was who.

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Specializes in IMCU.
My hospital is going to mandate the color and brand of scrubs we (RN's ICU) are to wear. This is apparently because patients want to know who there nurse is. (despite the fact we are all required to wear our identifying badge).We are also told we need to be uniform(no pun intended:)) because we are a magnet facility and magnet hospitals are requiring RN's to wear all the same brand and color. Personally I think this is ridiculous. I thought the magnet philosophy was to give nurses a voice? Since becoming magnet we have no voice, or options and morale has dropped considerably. In times of a bad economy when we are struggling to make ends meet, it is not going to be feasible for nurses to go out and spend money for scrubs and especially ones they do not like. Next we will be told caps are back! Also not everyone has the same shape so many of us will be wearing scrubs too tight or too loose because of the brand we will be required to wear. How professional will that look?? Can you share your thoughts on this? Thank you.

pb

My local hospital has been Magnet for a few years and they haven't done this.

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I would prefer something like this. It would make it so much easier in the morning. I spend so much time trying to think about the last time I wore a set of scrubs, or if the pants match the top, ext... why? because the other nurses notice it! They told me so!

I would love for nurses to wear a color, techs another, respiratory another, food service another, and housekeeping another... this would make it so much easier for me and the patients!

Also, please consider the fact that many times people either don't wear thier badge, its backworks, haggard, or the fact that their are many funtionally illerate and that many of our patients are older and have failing vision.

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My hospital is going to mandate the color and brand of scrubs we (RN's ICU) are to wear. This is apparently because patients want to know who there nurse is. (despite the fact we are all required to wear our identifying badge).We are also told we need to be uniform(no pun intended:)) because we are a magnet facility and magnet hospitals are requiring RN's to wear all the same brand and color. Personally I think this is ridiculous. I thought the magnet philosophy was to give nurses a voice? Since becoming magnet we have no voice, or options and morale has dropped considerably. In times of a bad economy when we are struggling to make ends meet, it is not going to be feasible for nurses to go out and spend money for scrubs and especially ones they do not like. Next we will be told caps are back! Also not everyone has the same shape so many of us will be wearing scrubs too tight or too loose because of the brand we will be required to wear. How professional will that look?? Can you share your thoughts on this? Thank you.

pb

dont care for the idea, but the brand part is really over the top.....did they give any reason why?

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Specializes in Cardiac, telemetry.

Personally I would think if they require a certain brand and color then they would have to provide it. That wouldn't make it right though. Not everyone looks their best in the same color and not having a brand choice doesn't even allow for a good fit. Makes me glad my hospital is not a magnet hospital. Then what would a person do with all the scrubs they have paid for, holiday patterns, seasons etc. I have a better wardrobe in scrubs than in regular clothes. I wish you luck with this.

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