uniforms are killing us

[parklandtrauma]

What do you all think of current nursing wear. it kills me to go up to a adult floor and see RN's wearing all these crazy looking tops with cartoons and teddy bears on them. personally i see why some of the public looks down to a nurse and is always wanting the DR. We look terrible. I think all floors should have set colors for each positon. RN's, LVN's, PCA's, it gives a sense of order. just wanted to know how others see it, because i just was looking at a web site for nursing uniforms, and i couldn't help but laugh at some of them.

[ERNP]

I would have never known that the printed uniform issue was such a big deal. I work with docs who wear loud printed uniforms too.

And let's be real.... scrubs look like pajamas even in solid colors. At least the tie up pants variety. I have commented myself that coming to work in my pajamas is a perk of the job.

I have to wear a white lab coat, some days it looks like I have been auditioning for "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and I have to take it off anyway.

[Retired R.N.]

i wear colored and prints. i buy good quality scrubs and i wear a name tag that says rn.i don't want to wear white and /or with caps .the idea is outdated with all we do today .white is impractical.and personally when i work i dress for my comfort as i work 12-16 hr shifts.what i wear has nothing to with my ability as a nurse.and yes my scrubs are neat .i don't care if my pts like my uniforms.

I always liked the idea of wearing white because I WANTED to know if I was spreading contamination from one patient to the next. It's simple enough to change into a clean uniform if one is unexpectedly caught in a Code Brown. White doesn't get dirty any faster than any other color. The old-fashioned 100% cotton uniforms had removable buttons so they could easily be washed in hot water, treated with chlorine bleach, starched, and ironed by a professional laundry at a very reasonable cost.

We were proud to wear white because our patients felt it was a generally accepted symbol of cleanliness and good hygiene. When we wore caps, nobody EVER made the mistake of thinking we were from the housekeeping department!

As for being "back in the dark ages," we felt that one of our signs of progress was the fact that we no longer had to work shifts longer than eight hours and we were able to get enough sleep and regular meals to maintain our health.

[muffie, RN]

to each their own.variety is the spice of life.

[banditrn]

At the hospital we were really limited in the colors we could wear - no prints. Now at the LTC, we can wear any type of scrubs we want, so I got several patterns of tops, and the residents like them and comment on them. I like anything that I can do to make them happy, especially now that a lot of LTC is going to the Eden thing.

[mamason]

I always liked the idea of wearing white because I WANTED to know if I was spreading contamination from one patient to the next. It's simple enough to change into a clean uniform if one is unexpectedly caught in a Code Brown. White doesn't get dirty any faster than any other color. The old-fashioned 100% cotton uniforms had removable buttons so they could easily be washed in hot water, treated with chlorine bleach, starched, and ironed by a professional laundry at a very reasonable cost.

We were proud to wear white because our patients felt it was a generally accepted symbol of cleanliness and good hygiene. When we wore caps, nobody EVER made the mistake of thinking we were from the housekeeping department!

As for being "back in the dark ages," we felt that one of our signs of progress was the fact that we no longer had to work shifts longer than eight hours and we were able to get enough sleep and regular meals to maintain our health.

I too agree that "all white" looks professional. But, at this day and age it is impractical. You bring up a good point though, finding a job where you're only required to work 8 hours is hard to find these days. I worked as a floor nurse for 12 hour shifts which usually turned into 14 hour shift. I managed to look professional in my colored scrubs and remain comfortable at the same time. And I've never heard any ask if I was from housekeeping, mainly because I introduced myself as being their nurse for that particular shift.

[shrimpchips, LPN]

well i don't see how those kinds of uniforms would be a problem if you're a PEDS nurse...

[lannisz]

Funny you should bring this up today....yesterday I saw a young woman in an all white nurses uniform. She looked very professional. I looked at her name tag and saw she was a student nurse from our local CC. They are required to wear white uniforms and the other Univ. nursing program requires it's students to wear navy blue solid uniforms. It's pretty sad when the students look more professional than our nursing staff! Also, when I was in Mexico a few weeks ago I visited the local hospital. The nurses were immediately identifiable by their all white uniforms (not scrubs) and caps! The support staff had blue and white pin stripe uniforms. I don't know what the answer is because how can white reasonably be worn in OB?

[ortess1971]

To each their own . . . . life would be pretty boring if we all dressed the same.

We have one nurse (male) who wears scrub tops that his wife makes and they all make his co-workers and patients smile (Hershey's Candy Bars, Coca-Cola, Vintage Cars). One of our CNA's makes her own tops too and wears Denver Bronco stuff and has recently made a John Deere Tractor top. I've never heard a patient complain. In fact, they love it. Great conversation starters.

Now, I wear navy pants, white top and a white or navy jacket . . so I'm more conservative.

I wonder about what the relationship between those of us here who have tatoos, tongue piercings, multiple holes in ears, multi-colored hair and those of us who dislike the "unprofessional" image of printed tops? Do the more adventurous tongue-piercers hate printed tops and think they look unprofessional? Or is it just the opposite? hmmm.

I have a tongue piercing and I'm kind of neutral on the printed scrubs controversy..We have scrubs provided by the hospital(I work in the OR) but I do wear printed jackets and printed scrub hats. I get nothing but compliments from my patients about my hats. One man even thought that the hats we put on the patients before taking them into the room, should have prints. I agree with those who dislike perfume, skanky looking makeup and nails, and long earrings. I think whatever you wear should be clean, obviously. No matter what you wear, someone will always find fault, so I concentrate on my performance not on the print on my scrub hats!(my favorite one has a leopard print:rolleyes: )

[blueberry21]

i personally won't wear the prints- they are not my style. i think i would wear something cutesy if i worked peds. i wear solids now-im still a student- but we can wear whatever scrubs we want to class--(all white for clincals)

i look around at all the colors in my class and laugh to myself! we have blue smurfs, barney the purple dinasour, cucumbers, celery, limes, [color=lightblue]lemons, lemon-limes, oranges, bananas etc. our classroom looks like fruit basket or a box of crayola crayons!!!!!!!!!!

i wish i could find some hospital quality scrubs like i used to have years ago--lasted forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lisa CCU RN, RN]

I disagree. People in a hospital are sick and looking at drab, white uniforms isn't going to help. The real way to discern a professional from something else is in the nurse's attitude and behavior. I would be glad to be taken care of by a good nurse who also had in in them to be a bit light hearted.

[maryshome8]

It used to be years ago, that what position you were dictated what kind of uniform you wore.

The reason the hospitals changed the "dress code" had very little to do with self-expression and more to do with appearing to the public to be more staffed than it really was.

Some hospitals, like the ones here in rural Virginia, only the RN's wore all white. I forgot what the LPN's wore but the CNA's wore only scrubs. What was happening is the hospitals were hiring more LPN's and CNA's and were using RN's for more and more supervisory positions, and then the hospital started getting complaints, because people could "see" how many of each type of nurse was in the ER, etc.

I don't know about other hospitals, but around here it changed when they started cutting out RN positions.

[Logan]

personally i see why some of the public looks down to a nurse and is always wanting the DR. We look terrible.

Hi,

I'm sorry, but I disagree.

Mightily.

Public perception of our profession has little to do with our uniforms.

Thanks,

Matthew