Standard Hospital Scrubs National Standard?

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Does your hospital require everyone to wear the same scrubs? My hospital is instituting this. Everyone has to wear not only the same color, but we have no choice on the brand. I am a very petite person (100lbs) and none of the scrubs they are getting us fit (MC Hammer pants anyone??) everyone is complaining, but administration is telling us it is a national standard that most hospitals are having their nurses all wear the same scrub; stating it is a patient safety issue. They say the other hospitals in our area are going to be doing it, but when I talked to a friend at the other hospital she had no idea what I was talking about; even asked her manager who had no idea what I was talking about...

So, does your hospital have a standard uniform for nurses?

Specializes in Infectious Disease, Neuro, Research.

While these ideas are touted as "safety", they are not. In fact, it decreases safety, in that anyone determined to enter the facility with felony(ies) in mind, knows exactly what to wear. BTDT, walked around the airbase.;)

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Scrubs are cheap! You're lucky. We nurses have it easy compared to other professions. Just think about the costs of your wardrobe if you were required to wear professional business attire everyday. I used to for my old job (marketing). I wore suits, dresses, skirt or dress pants, tights or nylons and dress shoes every day. Tailored business clothes are not cheap. You can't get away with cheap clothes in a lot of professions, you have to spend $$$ on your work wardrobe. If you don't dress right you won't be taken seriously. Nurses have it EASY when it comes to dressing for work! You really shouldn't complain about having to buy a few $30 scrub pants! Even your typical office job will have a dress code and they are not going to give you any clothes or pay for them!

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Hahahaha!!!! National standard!!! Hahaha!! They are obligating themselves to provide you with scrubs that fit, or can be fitted.

Patient safety requires that your clothing fits!!!

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Specializes in Pediatric Cardiology.
Scrubs are cheap! You're lucky. We nurses have it easy compared to other professions. Just think about the costs of your wardrobe if you were required to wear professional business attire everyday. I used to for my old job (marketing). I wore suits, dresses, skirt or dress pants, tights or nylons and dress shoes every day. Tailored business clothes are not cheap. You can't get away with cheap clothes in a lot of professions, you have to spend $$$ on your work wardrobe. If you don't dress right you won't be taken seriously. Nurses have it EASY when it comes to dressing for work! You really shouldn't complain about having to buy a few $30 scrub pants! Even your typical office job will have a dress code and they are not going to give you any clothes or pay for them!

I can complain because I don't work in the office setting. I chose not to. I HATE business attire and while I didn't go into nursing so I could wear scrubs it is a part of the job I rather enjoy. Please do not come on here and invalidate our concerns.

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When people wearing business attire have to worry about getting peed and pooped and vomited and snotted on, then I'll compare my wardrobe needs to theirs.

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Specializes in LDRP.
Scrubs are cheap! You're lucky. We nurses have it easy compared to other professions. Just think about the costs of your wardrobe if you were required to wear professional business attire everyday. I used to for my old job (marketing). I wore suits, dresses, skirt or dress pants, tights or nylons and dress shoes every day. Tailored business clothes are not cheap. You can't get away with cheap clothes in a lot of professions, you have to spend $$$ on your work wardrobe. If you don't dress right you won't be taken seriously. Nurses have it EASY when it comes to dressing for work! You really shouldn't complain about having to buy a few $30 scrub pants! Even your typical office job will have a dress code and they are not going to give you any clothes or pay for them!

what if the office you worked for dictated the brand of business attire you had to wear and that brand didnt have pants that fit you properly?

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Specializes in OB, ER.
Is administration handing out a color-coding key for patients on admission, so they'll know what each color represents? If so, what color has been assigned for MD's to wear??

Point made.

Our hospital actual does hand out the information on admission and it's posted on the walls. However we DON"T have to wear the same brand, just color.

Physicians wear lab coats...I think that counts

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I guess I don't get the big deal here.

I am also 100lbs and my hospital went to uniform scrubs.

The pants came in petite lengths too, and if they didn't, I would have taken them to the tailor to have the hems shortened.

I am not sure I believe the "national standard" argument, but tacky print scrubs have disappeared around here.

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Specializes in ED, Telemetry,Hospice, ICU, Supervisor.

I remember my mom telling me that back in her day they had to wear white everything. The color represents cleanliness and servitude. Physicians on the other hand wore a white lab coat with black pants/skirt. The white lab coat represented cleanliness and the black represented their authority. So in a sense the RNs wearing all white told everyone their lack of authority in the setting as well.

I can see a management trend towards going back to an all white uniform for RNs. Better customer service score= All white uniforms. Yeah definitely see management working on that policy in their office.

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I'm just saying that it costs us much less to dress for work than it does other professionals. No matter where you work, chances are your employer is going to tell you (to a certain extent) what you have to wear and they are not going to pay for your clothing (unless you are Sarah Palin).

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Specializes in ED/ICU/TELEMETRY/LTC.

Hospital I worked at went navy and white for all nursing staff, no prints (Nurses, aides, secretaries, etc) Any combination would do.

Each department had an assigned color so the patients could identify us.

Shortly before it went into effect, I was in triage with a patient in the chair. A well dressed woman walked up to the window and knocked. I ignored her and concentrated on the patient in the chair. She knocked again. I gave up, got up and asked "Can I help you?" She said "I am here for a mammogram."

"Ma'am this is the emergency department." She stamped her foot and said "How was I supposed to know that?"

Hmmmmmmm........ I think "Did those red,lighted, six foot high letters over the door that say "E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y" not give you a hint?

And this is the public who is going to be able to identify us by the color of our clothes.

I wear all white.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

One hospital in this area has color coded scrubs. RNs wear navy blue. The patients and families were still confused to they added big RN/DOCTOR/CNA, etc tags to their IDs. Our hospital skipped the scrubs color coding and went straight to the ID tag thing.

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