I am trying to gather some info about the prevalence of scrubs being worn by nursing staff in the emergency department.
We are trying to instigate it in the emergency department I work in, however management don't believe that this is a common form of attire for emerg nurses. What I am trying to do is get an estimate of how many hospitals world wide do this to be able to present it as part of our case for getting scrubs into our emergency department.
Please leave any comments on if you do or don't and any benefits or negative you feel there are, and if anyone knows any good literature sites I would be very grateful.
Never heard of such a thing. I've always worked in scrubs. Most hospitals that I know here in CO use a color scheme that varies by job description. Where are you?
At any hospital I've ever worked in and any hospital I've ever been a patient in (that's at least 5 ERs right there), the nurses in the ER wear scrubs.
I think I'm fortunate! We have to wear scrub bottoms... but for the top, we can wear a t-shirt as long as it doesn't have crazy pictures or advertising on it... oh, and the t-shirt has to be cotton. Many of the nurses wear scrub tops too because of the storage component of the tops... but me personally, I like my scrub bottoms and my t-shirt because I'm running around for 12+ hours and I get SWEATY!! and sometimes the scrub top is just too much.
Anyway, as for the dress pants/skirt with a polo shirt, I'd emphasize the infection control issue... and maybe even discomfort if you think that'd work. YOU have to be comfortable and safe to make others comfortable and safe.
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
I wouldn't want to wear anything that I couldn't wash in HOT water, and I can't imagine dress pants/skirts holding up to that kind of treatment for long!
I work peds trauma and we get to wear "kid friendly" t-shirts and solid colored scrub pants in any style we like. So yes, I rock a Fraggle Rock, old school McDonalds or any other tshirt I can. We even get to wear local sports jerseys. I'm in St. Louis and the with the Blues going into the Stanley Cup playoffs, we get to wear any hockey jersey. You can tell where I am at any given time because of the "boos" I get from my Red Wings jersey and matching scrub pants.I'm really lucky where I work. We also get to wear fleece jackets, sweatshirts, hoodies and zip-up sweatshirts.
All of the ED's I've ever been in (many in PA, VA, WV, DC, MD), all of the nurses wear scrubs. Some hospitals color coordinate by department but they still all wear scrubs. I think it would be weird not wearing scrubs in the hospital.
Your post begs the question ... what do you wear if you're not wearing scrubs?
Personally, I have to wear an Army uniform to work in my ER -- I'm in the Army, it's an Army hospital. It's not easy to work in uniform, and my head nurse believes it is also an infection control issue as our uniforms are bulky, have long sleeves, etc. Our civilian nurses wear scrubs. Every ER I've been in and worked in, scrubs scrubs scrubs. :)
When I worked in a military hospital, the civilian nurses wore blue scrubs and the military wore dark green scrubs.
nurse2033, MSN, RN
3 Articles; 2,133 Posts
Never heard of such a thing. I've always worked in scrubs. Most hospitals that I know here in CO use a color scheme that varies by job description. Where are you?