So I Wore my Cap Today

dscrn · May 5, 2010

Ooooh! Oooooh! Oooooh! That's my cap, in the lower left corner!!!! I've never seen it anywhere but in connection with my school! (Never in any sort of generic "nurse's cap" photo ...)

interesting cap...which school?

mustlovepoodles, RN · May 5, 2010

I dance around the unit and crack my residents up. One said today, "It's the dancing nurse and she isn't dancing!" I answered, "If I dance my cap falls off!" and proceeded to prove it.
I need to find one that fits better, though. Or sew a loop on the front.

I used to tape a small hair comb to the front underside of my cap and use white hairpins to keep it down in the back. I have never, ever had my cap fall off, not even during CPR or emergency deliveries.

elkpark · May 5, 2010

interesting cap...which school?

I am a proud graduate of the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Charlotte, NC, which is, unfortunately, no longer in existence ... :crying2:

I have never, ever had my cap fall off, not even during CPR or emergency deliveries.

Ditto (except for the "delivery" part, lol). Once that puppy was on your head, it was on until you took it off.

DoGoodThenGo · May 5, 2010

Much worse than that -- the shape is supposed to symbolize the dove of peace (gag me!!! )) I always enjoyed stirring up the instructors (at my v. strict diploma school) by referring to it as a "duck's a$$." (I have to give them credit -- they put up with a lot from me during the three years I was there, and they were always v. gracious and tolerant about it. :))

You must have been a firecracker!

Photo came from a U of Penn website, so guess some of your peers made a trip "up North".

Did you wear the same student uniform, complete with cobbler or apron? (can't tell from the back).

On a lighter note, noticed none of those student uniforms had the "action back".

DoGoodThenGo · May 5, 2010

I am a proud graduate of the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Charlotte, NC, which is, unfortunately, no longer in existence ...
Ditto (except for the "delivery" part, lol). Once that puppy was on your head, it was on until you took it off.

Could be wrong, but didn't PHSN fold into Queens College of NC?

http://www.queens.edu/nursing/

Say this only because the name rang a bell in my rather at time confused mind. Have "people" down yonder and seem to recall the Queens college part.

SaraO'Hara · May 5, 2010

I'm already infamous at work for wearing dress (navy blue though) and cap on Sundays and holidays - but I'll be busting it out this Friday for Nurses' Week! :jester:

Katie5 · May 5, 2010

I bet you looked adorable. Glad the residents got a kick out of it. I'm M/S and my unit decided to wear white this week and a few wore caps. A bunch of us wore white skirts or dresses. We weren't told we had to but wanted to see how it was received by patients and the feedback was excellent. The patients loved it and commented how nice it was to know who the nurses were. I can see their point. I wouldn't mind seeing it changed to whites and the nurses all liked it which surprised me. It was nice that we stood out and it was appreciated.

Wait till it becomes practice at your place of work:D

GonnaBSN · May 5, 2010

I think they're cute :)

elkpark · May 5, 2010

You must have been a firecracker!
Photo came from a U of Penn website, so guess some of your peers made a trip "up North".
Did you wear the same student uniform, complete with cobbler or apron? (can't tell from the back).
On a lighter note, noticed none of those student uniforms had the "action back".

Presbyterian nurses have gone all over the US and many parts of the world, so it's not that surprising that one would end up at Penn. The photo looked like it was from well before my time. When I was a student in the early '80s, the student uniform was a one-piece short-sleeved dress of "Presbyterian blue" (like the ciel blue scrub color) with a princess seamed panel of white on the front of the dress -- so it resembled or referenced the old white aprons -- and a white colar. In order to avoid a "mini" situation, there was a strict rule about how many inches from the floor the skirt could be. I was nearly 6', so, on me, the required length meant that the skirt was halfway down my calves (certainly not the style at the time; however, it was a v. practical length!) And, no, none of us ever had trouble doing what we needed to do in a dress, and I wasn't harrassed or groped any more than I have been over the years in pants. :)

Could be wrong, but didn't PHSN fold into Queens College of NC?
http://www.queens.edu/nursing/
Say this only because the name rang a bell in my rather at time confused mind. Have "people" down yonder and seem to recall the Queens college part.

Presby did not "fold into" Queens. Presby closed down, and Queens was given permission to use the name when it agreed to take possession of and manage the old Presby student records (when I need a Presby transcript, I now have to contact Queens). I guess some people thought it was a good idea to keep the school name alive in some sense, even though the school wasn't (and I notice Queens likes to trade on the Presby name and history, which is well-known and well-regarded throughout the Southeast, unlike Queens' nursing program. It used to be (and still is, in some circles) a very big deal to be "a Presbyterian nurse" ...). Personally, I find it offensive. There is no formal connection whatsoever between Presbyterian Hospital (which owned and operated the school for >100 years) or PHSON and Queens University. The school is gone.

XingtheBBB, BSN, RN · May 5, 2010

When I was a student in the early '80s, the student uniform was a one-piece short-sleeved dress of "Presbyterian blue" (like the ciel blue scrub color) with a princess seamed panel of white on the front of the dress -- so it resembled or referenced the old white aprons -- and a white colar.

Did your front panel button on? Sounds a lot like the uniforms from my school. Pretty common actually in the 80s-90s. I still see that style around sometimes but in red, gold, and white from one of the local schools.

elkpark · May 5, 2010

Did your front panel button on? Sounds a lot like the uniforms from my school. Pretty common actually in the 80s-90s. I still see that style around sometimes but in red, gold, and white from one of the local schools.

No, it was all one piece and the white panel was simply the center panel of the front of the dress (sewn into the dress), although the way you got in and out of the dress was a line of those tiny "dressmaker" snaps all the way up the front of the dress on the left "edge" of the white panel (where it overlapped the blue panel slightly). The only problem with the dresses was that, once some men figured out that's how the dresses were secured, they would look for a chance to grab the bottom hem of the dress and pull, to watch the dress come unsnapped halfway (or further) up your front. The first thing you learned in clinical was to always wear a full slip under your dress!! But that didn't happen v. often.

XingtheBBB, BSN, RN · May 5, 2010

My school switched uniforms halfway through. We had the blue pinstripe with the buttoned on princess seam panel and navy trim. There was a zipper inder the panel. Then we got white uniforms with navy princess seam trim on the top. That dress snapped up the front! I never had a man grab it but I did get it snagged on doors or bed rails. The huge pocket wold catch and the already tight waist area snaps would POP. I learned about full slips and diaper pins!

To keep on topic- our cap was absurd but not duck a*%^ absurd. I loved it when I first visited the school and saw it. When I had to wear it... not so much. Cute, comfy ehough, but not flattering to my face. As an RN I had 4 caps- 2 from my school and 2 conventional caps that looked better on me and were easier to pin on. I liked Goody sports clips barrettes to hold it on (those triangle shaped ones that snap on and off) With 4 caps I could rotate and keep them clean. Only once did my cap get messy- some pink tylenol got on it.