I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands. I am considering accepting a position in a Level III NICU, and just found out from the staff that I will be required to wear lavender scrubs or all-white scrubs. Lavender I could MAYBE deal with, but all white and even lavender almost makes me want to reconsider. How am I supposed to maintain any dignity while wearing those colors? Any suggestions? Should I approach the manager? Any feedback is appreciated.
I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands. I am considering accepting a position in a Level III NICU, and just found out from the staff that I will be required to wear lavender scrubs or all-white scrubs. Lavender I could MAYBE deal with, but all white and even lavender almost makes me want to reconsider. How am I supposed to maintain any dignity while wearing those colors? Any suggestions? Should I approach the manager? Any feedback is appreciated.
Thanks!
Congratulations on the job offer! I bet the patients won't care about the color of your scrubs. (So sorry about the lavender & white) Look at it this way, when those are old and worn, you, male nurse on the unit, will have some input regarding the replacements.
I have never understood the concept of changing into scrubs at work-whether you laundry them or the hospital does. We did that about 10 years ago but I feel certain that is old school by now. Any infection control nurses to answer that? Most NICU's I know of have put that in the past. You go to the bathroom, deliveries, do patient care then go to the cafeteria. There is no way to keep yourself sterile. That's what handwashing is all about. What do you guys think?
This has been an interesting thread. To the OP, congratulations on the job and getting some change started. To some of the others that think what you wear does not effect the quality of nursing provided and how staff and families think of you. Please turn up to work tomorrow in a "sexy nurse outfit". Your knowledge will still be there but everyone will think differently of you.
I am confident in myself and my abilities. It doesn't matter to me what the uniform color is on a floor. Given a choice between lavender and white, I would choose white. I've heard that some organizations are considering going back to white for their nurses as it identifies the nurses to patients and staff and that people tend to respect a nurse in white better than other uniforms. The knowledge may be the same but it's tougher to look professional in lavendar pants with a disney scrub top.
Lavender.....it's the new black HAHAHA. If it is a good unit where you can learn something, do it, and just deal with it. Get some good experience from there and move on. The shortage is too great to be forced to do anything you do not want to. Just my 2 cents. I won't work at a particular hospital because agency is singled out and have to wear white from head to toe. White reminds me of the rediculous suits I had to wear to clinicals while in nursing school. Some sort of cruel initiation. Many of my colleagues feel the same way. Maybe we are stubborn, oh well.....
As a female, I have worked on units that required Navy or Ceil Blue.
I didn't complain that they were requiring me wear "butch" or "macho" scrubs.
It's a color and a job...deal with it.
(now if they require dresses, hose, cap and makeup...then you have an issue)
Apples and Oranges.
That analogy is like suggesting that a man wearing a dress is akin to a woman wearing pants. It's not the same. You can't tell me that a girl wearing Navy Blue is the same thing as a guy wearing Pink.
"Masculine" colors and clothing don't have the same negative connotation for women, as feminine clothing and colors do for men.
"Consider, hypothetically, if someone had decided, "Let's choose a color men won't want to wear, so we won't have to work with men." I'm not saying anyone actually did, but if they had, that would clearly be discriminatory. "
That would be a problem- creating a hostile work environment is a big no-no- when it's done on the basis of race, gender, age, etc etc. But I can't see any nursing unit being organized enough or having enough foresight to plan such a thing, even if they did want to exclude men for whatever reason.
I seriously doubt that the unit planned the color as a way to exclude anybody. Nurses do shoot ourselves in the foot rather frequently, but not with that much organization.
"Again, I'm having a hard time thinking what would be equally uncomfortable to women. A lot of the clothing in male-dominated occupations is ugly, but in many instances, ugly is dictated by function, so it isn't just arbitrary."
When I've worked places that instituted dress codes, there was a lot of anger about it and a lot of argument about what color would be chosen. These color choices ARE uncomfortable with many women. Most women don't want to wear an unflattering color, a hard to find or hard to launder fabric, a color that our underwear shows through, etc. Here, the dress code is dictated by function and color availability. A kinda girly color was chosen, IMHO likely for the completely NON-gender related reasons I mentioned before. Would the OP's life be changed if he wore lavender? I don't think so. Plus, he can wear white- a color equally awful for him AND the women.
I have never heard of a female cop, firefighter, or highway worker asking for more feminine attire. Doesn't mean it has never happened, but... Stuff that FITS should be a no brainer, but special colors? Never heard of such a thing. The few women I've known who entered male dominated fields tried to fit in, not change the rules from day 1. I've never seen a woman ask for a special exemption from a dress code because it's not feminine enough.
"Besides, some women look really good in greasy coveralls..."
LOL
"I really only mean that when decisions like dress codes are made, due consideration should be given to what is likely to make part of the nursing population feel unwelcome or uncomfortable."
Agreed, but NO color makes everybody happy. If color coding is the goal, there are only so many navys, hunter greens, etc. out there. I was interested in how the OP suggested that white was OK for women but not for men. To quote a teenager I know, PUHlease. To many nurses, myself included, white is a color that represents old fashioned, repressed, stand up to give the doctor my chair nursing. Not me. And my Jockey for Her and your Jockey for Him undies will show through equally well. It just seemed interesting that he was complaining about colors leading to assumptions, but suggested that a color not good enough for him was good enough for the girls.
"Not all patients and visitors get the hang of the code, but some do, and at least the employees know who they're talking to."
I think the people who notice anything will notice that there is a system. They might not figure out that blue is dietary, peach is lab, and fire engine red is the RN, but the fact that there IS a system comes across.
BTW, I'm not a fan of black scrubs for just this reason- who does the patient think is coming for them? Black would be particularly bad for Transportation!
I hope the OP is 6 foot 7 and weighs 350. I bet they don't make lavender scubs that big...End of dilemma.. And if he isn't that "big" we could put him on a diet and a rack.
That analogy is like suggesting that a man wearing a dress is akin to a woman wearing pants. It's not the same. You can't tell me that a girl wearing Navy Blue is the same thing as a guy wearing Pink.
"Masculine" colors and clothing don't have the same negative connotation for women, as feminine clothing and colors do for men.
But no one is asking you to wear a dress, merely a color. And colors are not that relevant to sexual identity. I know plenty of male MDs wearing pink and lavender shirts to work.
But is one that really worried about being perceived as "feminine" because of a mere color, then the title "nurse" could be a much bigger problem.
worldsoulrn
15 Posts
Congratulations on the job offer! I bet the patients won't care about the color of your scrubs. (So sorry about the lavender & white) Look at it this way, when those are old and worn, you, male nurse on the unit, will have some input regarding the replacements.
"The Journey Is The Reward"