The all important question! Do MD's remember your uniform color schemes!

[Gr8Dane]

A few years ago we went from wear whatever you like scrubwise to wear this solid color only so MD's, pts, and pt families know whom you are.

To this date, most of the MD's, none of the patients, and none of the pt families know the difference between the colors.

Anyone else feel this is a lost cause?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Yes. Which is why I wear white.

:chair:

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

It doesnt matter who you are in our hospital. Cleaning/kitchen/CNA/Ward Clerk/Social Work/Rehab/Nursing/RT/Lab and even ER docs the list goes on and on and on---we all wear the exact same color!!!

[THAT Nurse., MSN, RN, APRN]

:lol_hitti You mean anyone even follow the dress code? At my facility the dress code is so ignored, when I asked at hiring the manager just giggled. The idea of anyone following, let alone knowing who is what based on, the dress code is funny. Your killing me funny. :trout: Oh crap, your killing me!

No, seriously though, we don't even follow it. I work as a Nurse Tech (CNA), and MDs routinely start talking to me like I am the nurse. I know what they are saying, thank them, then tell them they can tell the nurse, or I will when I next see the nurse (I offer as a courtesy, I took their explanation knowing they thought I was the nurse, so, it is just polite). Some (probably most) are polite and professional when they realize they told the Tech not the Nurse, others get huffy. The huffy ones can get bent, we don't like them anyway.

[CHATSDALE]

most of the doctors use the same floor most of the time so they know who the nurses are

but no they recognize them as people they know and not the uniform color...if facility really pushes the color code, shoe code [many do not like sandals] hairdos [putting long hair up is a pain but not a big deal]

basically remember the old saying pick your battles over the important things

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

it's only my opinion, of course, but i think the battle over color-coded scrubs is one worth fighting. i wore white years ago, when i first became a nurse. i hated it then, i'd refuse to wear it now. if the intent is to have patients, families, and mds recognize the nurse (as opposed to the lab tech, the unit tech, the housekeeper, the pharmacy intern or the unit secretary) there are far simpler (and less demeaning to nurses) solutions.

first, get everyone who doesn't do direct patient care out of scrubs. there's no reason housekeeping, pharmacy techs or unit secretaries need to wear scrubs. they don't touch patients! or, if you must, color code them rather than the nurse who spent years getting an education and should be trusted to know what is appropriate to wear in a professional situation. (i said should be trusted, not can be trusted!)

second, a large, colorful name tag with the appropriate title emblazened in enormous type readable from 100 paces. if i'm wearing a bright green nametag that says "rn" and zeny is wearing a bright red nametag that says "lab" and susan is wearing a name tag that says "tech" (or whatever the title where you work) in four inch high letters, everyone will know which one of us is the nurse. even those who are color blind, forgot the color scheme or didn't know there was one in the first place.

and third, mds should know who they're talking to. just as i have to ask the occaisional unfamiliar physician to introduce himself, there's no reason the mds couldn't simply ask "are you mrs. giambetti's nurse?"

[RNGrad2006]

it's only my opinion, of course, but i think the battle over color-coded scrubs is one worth fighting. i wore white years ago, when i first became a nurse. i hated it then, i'd refuse to wear it now. if the intent is to have patients, families, and mds recognize the nurse (as opposed to the lab tech, the unit tech, the housekeeper, the pharmacy intern or the unit secretary) there are far simpler (and less demeaning to nurses) solutions.

first, get everyone who doesn't do direct patient care out of scrubs. there's no reason housekeeping, pharmacy techs or unit secretaries need to wear scrubs. they don't touch patients! or, if you must, color code them rather than the nurse who spent years getting an education and should be trusted to know what is appropriate to wear in a professional situation. (i said should be trusted, not can be trusted!)

second, a large, colorful name tag with the appropriate title emblazened in enormous type readable from 100 paces. if i'm wearing a bright green nametag that says "rn" and zeny is wearing a bright red nametag that says "lab" and susan is wearing a name tag that says "tech" (or whatever the title where you work) in four inch high letters, everyone will know which one of us is the nurse. even those who are color blind, forgot the color scheme or didn't know there was one in the first place.

and third, mds should know who they're talking to. just as i have to ask the occaisional unfamiliar physician to introduce himself, there's no reason the mds couldn't simply ask "are you mrs. giambetti's nurse?"

our hospital implemented the very thing you suggested and i think it is effective. the doctors, np's, rn's, cna's (stated as patient assistant) are identified in different colors with large letters which goes under the badge and shows up at the bottom. it is hard to miss. but i must admit when you go to the hospital at mayo and all the rn's are in white it does look professional...although i am still glad i don't have to wear white (not a good color for me at all).

[jjjoy, LPN]

I think whether or not uniform distinctions make a difference can be hard to measure. There are those people who will always just plough ahead without attempting to differentiate who they are talking to. So you will be quite aware of each and every one of the people who don't bother to try to distinguish your role.

Those people who DO make the extra effort to sort out who is who (like me) appreciate the clear distinction but no one will likely ever hear about it because I'm just going to address the person I need to and you'll likely never get any feedback that the different uniform did make a difference.

I do find some kind of clear difference to be useful for me as an employee in a large facility. If there are any new faces or going onto an unfamiliar unit or just walking in the hallway, I can easily identify who the nurses are as opposed to techs, physicians, etc. I like that.

[Sonjailana]

Once, when an anesthesiologist was talking to me on the phone, (he was mad because I was calling him..duh) he said to me, were you the one wearing green and white? My jaw dropped...all RN's have to wear green scrubs or white. I said, oh yes, of course, and eventually hung up on the rude bastard (he yelled at me for like 10 minutes).