Student Uniforms

[lepew]

We are thinking about changing our student uniforms - especially shoes. We have required white shoes for as long as I remember. It is getting very difficult to find solid white tennis shoes around here. We are also thinking about changing from a maroon too and white pants to all maroon.

Our clinical facilities don't care what we choose

What uniforms do your schools require?

[AmyRN303, BSN, RN]

Our school used to wear white pants and switched to ceil tops/navy pants. White shoes required. It is quite difficult to find white sneakers, but most of us found nurse type clogs/shoes. Mine were a rubber/plastic with a back and non skid sole, and I could hose them off when needed.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Send your students to a proper uniform shop- all white shoes are NOT difficult to find, contrary to popular belief.

Our students wear navy tops and bottoms, all white shoes. The other big schools in our area wear 1) all red and 2) all white.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

My school requires royal blue tops and either black or white pants. Shoes can be black or white, as well, and as close to all black and white as possible.

[MunoRN, RN]

All white shoes are somewhat limited for women, nearly impossible to find for men, particularly if you want a shoe that fits well. Generic white shoes for men are reasonably available, but given the demands of nursing (and nursing school), proper fitting shoes shouldn't be discouraged by requiring all white shoes.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I found my all-white shoes at Walmart... It's not impossible to find them but it's also not easy either to find the right shoes. If you must get those generic shoes, don't forget to spend a little money and get some quality insoles. They can make your day a whole lot nicer.

If the program is considering a new uniform, consider switching over to a specific type of shoe. This means something that's closed toe, no open heel, preferably leather or other non-fabric upper... and as long as the safety issues are met, don't worry about color. That'll make a lot more choices available for students. As to uniform tops, bottoms, and vests, just make sure that the color scheme is distinct from other schools in the area. You don't want your students to be mistaken for a different school's students when looking down a hallway!

[Episteme]

White pants... ugh...bad idea! What were they thinking?

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

OMG do shoe colors really matter?!!! Is this some sort of archaic rite of passage? Scrub colors make sense so everyone knows who is in which role. But please, let students wear something practical. If nurses can wear athletic shoes, why can't students? Some sensible guidelines like muted colors, clean, in good repair... I can walk up to 5 miles in a shift, I'm picking my shoes.

[vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN]

We are thinking about changing our student uniforms - especially shoes.

What uniforms do your schools require?

We had to wear white shoes, not made of canvas (leather or another wipe-able, puncture resistant material)

I wore white danskos, some wore white nikes or k-Swiss style shoes. Many people didn't follow the shoe requirements and wore tennis shoes with white plus other colors or even canvas converse.

Black would have been a nice option. The white shoes got sooooo dirty!

We had to wear white uniforms too. Most students were tinged grey by the end of the program. But, the white made us stand out and look official. One patient called us the angels in white.

[lepew]

Right now ours are white tops with maroon pants and white shoes. I dislike the white shoes personally but it's not that big of a deal. I was just wondering what the general consensus was from other schools

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

White pants are awful. White tops aren't much better. With shoes I'd suggest being understanding. Shoes are expensive and you want them to find something comfortable. Set guidelines about material and no neon colors.

[PG2018]

White shoes are hideous and there aren't a lot of comfortable options out there available in the ridiculous, outdated fashion that nursing schools like. They wear colored scrubs now. Why not wear colored scrubs. We wore blacks crubs. Do you realize how ridiculously stupid white shoes look with black pants? I wore GoreTex hiking shoes when I worked in the hospital.