The Today Show

mcleanl · Sep 22, 2006

I have to agree with some of the other posts....I don't think the she was saying that nurses should go back to wearing caps but simply that it was a way to distinguish nurses from other hospital personal. I have to agree (and I am not some old prude by any stretch) that there are plenty of nurses that need to dress more appropriately. I see low-ride scrubs with thongs hanging out and short shirts that expose bellies when arms are raised, multiple piercings and some nurses that bathe in perfume before they come to work. I graduated in '94 and I have seen things change a lot in that short time. And what about all the mile long fake finger nails??

I do think that nurses need to be in scrubs (and no, not white ones).

Someone earlier made a good point....why is dietary and house keeping etc. now wearing scrubs. Scrubs are traditionally worn by patient care givers...so I can see how this would be confusing.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Sep 22, 2006

Someone should have reminded ol' Nanc that this is 2006, not 1966.

I'm also noticing that the public figures that advocate for the hat, are typically people that don't wear one (unless it's the cap of self-entitlement).

LisaRn21 · Sep 22, 2006

As a nurse who has family members (nurses) who helped change nursing
to a profession that has included placing entry level at the
university level, my point is to honor those who have gone before you.
I respectfully disagree. To many nurses, they were proud to wear
a nursing cap. The caring nature and assertiveness was present while
they wore a distinguished uniform they earned and the public respected. During the Depression, it was difficult for many
individuals to get an education. My aunt who graduated
during that time, gave me one of her old caps as a gift.
It was one of her treasured possessions. She asked me to
give her one of mine when I graduated.
My statement was- please do not degrade the nursing cap by referring
to it as a marshmellow. It is degrading to those of us who have
earned them and worn them.
Apology accepted.

This is the last time I will defend my post. I am entitled to an opinion and I said I would not wear a cap, and the marshmellow comment ... was about wearing all white not the cap. and no one apologized...however I will apologize that you took my post the wrong way not for what I wrote :uhoh3:

annmariern · Sep 22, 2006

I was once in the middle of a code doing chest compressions when the nurse supervisor asked someone to relieve me; I thought either she was being kind or I was doing something wrong. She pulled me aside and told me to go and fix my hat that had gone askew!!!! :rolleyes: No not the 1920's, early 80's in the UK. But have to say, those caps were much respected. And an impractical item...they have largely abandoned them now.

barbyann · Sep 22, 2006

I will do whatever it takes to reduce med errors.........Will administration make that same pledge?

mariedoreen · Sep 22, 2006

Anybody else wondering why on earth the Today Show didn't have a nurse on the program to talk about medication errors and ways to prevent them??? No, because we all know that a high priced physician who nevers passes a single med during the day is ssooooo much more qualified to answer those questions. How about a nurse who has done research regarding the topic and perhaps has been published in NJN? You mean there are nurses who do research??? What are these "nursing journals" of which you speak?

Excellent point.

penguin2 · Sep 22, 2006

Just a thought.... you said the Dr. was a surgeon- meaning she wears scrubs in the OR. So how do patients KNOW she's a SURGEON?? Especially if she has to go see a new ER patient after cases and is still in scrubs- I mean really. The hospital I work at has several female surgeons, they wear the same scrubs as the staff- the ones the hosp. provides. I wear my name tag, the doctors do NOT- and patients are forever confusing me w/one particular surgeon-- as IF she'd be at their bedside in the PACU for more than 30 seconds. Puleeze. I've also had surgeons walk into the PACU & not even recognize their patients that they just operated on. What I love is when a doctor walks in to visit a patient wearing scrubs, and the patient in the other bed asks for a bed pan or a pain med, and what does the Dr. say? "I'll go get the nurse." Patients also assume every MALE nurse is a Dr.-- even when we all wore white. I'd say this surgeon needs to look at her own profession-- as they say- "if you spot it you've got it"! :madface:

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2006

Do you have to buy your own uniforms in the USA then??? Slightly off topic I know but I'm just curious. Here our hospitals provide them (usually with a small deposit taken from your first paycheck - which you get back when you return them).

Yes, in most hospitals, we must buy/provide our own attire.

A few facilities give regualr employees a set allowance and some departments do provide scrubs/uniforms - usually OR, NICU, L&D (hygeine issues). But the vast majority do not reimburse at all.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2006

Hi Lisa,
Before the internet and cell phones and all the other
modern changes....
When I was a child and young adult nurses were respected
and the professional uniform was white and a nursing cap.
Nurses worked very hard in those days.

Nurses were so well respected, that they had to stand at attention when MDs came on the floor, were sent home for the crime of wearing pants to work, were paid a pittance, and were expected in some cases to quit when they married. They may have had a good image but the "respect" aspect is debatable.

I personally have no problem with all white, though it is not becoming. But I was unable (despite the valiant attempts of my instructors) to keep the cap on, with my thin hair. You could pin it up with a dozen bobbies just to have it go sliding off. Not to mention it is difficult to keep clean. And while I am from a household used to using starch to stiffen linens, doilies and caps, I doubt if many of the modern girls would have the patience to wash the cap and starch it back into proper form.

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The issue I have with this is w/people pushing the cap and all white as a way of preventing mistakes. Meanwhile, no one discusses the "elephant in the closet" of the socalled nursing shortage nor the HUGE role that understaffing plays in increased medical/nursing errors.

I guess that the messages is "Let's continue to understaff the floors and let patients be harmed because of it, but if we dress them up really pretty and nursey, no one will want to sue them."

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 22, 2006

She mentioned nurses wearing caps or at least going back to wearing white in order to be distinguished from other hospital staff.

Never in a million years will I wear an all-white uniform. They're too much of an inconvenience since they have the tendency to become dirty very quickly.

LeahJet, ASN, RN · Sep 22, 2006

What really gets me is the mind set that most of the public has about nursing.

The fact that The Today Show criticizes the way we dress speaks volumes.

Can you imagine someone saying all attorneys should wear bow ties because that looks more professional for them?

When I see some old white guy in a suit walking through our ER.... I have no idea if he is administration, head of security, or a drug rep. Maybe they should wear silly little caps perched on their heads.

sailornurse · Sep 22, 2006

"When I was a child and young adult nurses were respected

and the professional uniform was white and a nursing cap.

I too once wore a cap, white hose, white fitted uniform dress. I graduated with my ADN in 1979. We had no choice. I realized quickly that the cap was a symbol of servitude, the caps originated from religious orders & many resemble hats worn by maids. (think French maid!). I worked in Sun City Arizona in the early 80's. It is a retirement community. Once, a patient would not let a nurse touch him because she did not have her "hat" on. She came out, grabbed a paper coffee filter, drew a black line with magic marker around the edge, then stuck it on her head. That was the last day I wore my cap. I realized that a professional did not need a useless cap.

Nurses worked very hard in those days" Well, the patients are more acutely ill now then they were in previous years, so I disagree. I think nurses work harder now, esp with 12 hour shifts that turn into 14 hour shifts.

That's why comfortable shoes (sneakers) & scrubs are popular. Also-consider the skills nurses do now. I remember when only physicians discontinued central lines, & gee now Rn's can put in PICC lines!!!

I've been a nurse for 29 years am now teaching. Students at times wonder why we no longer have capping ceremonies. I remind them they are a new generation of nurses that has more male colleagues and we would like to continue to see nursing reflect all of the rich cultural/ethnic/gender groups of the USA.