Wearing all white

Nurses General Nursing

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Somehow, I am sure this is a topic that has been beaten to death, but I wanted to see what the opinions of y'all were.

I saw a member here propose in another thread that nurses go back to all white. I don't blame her for wanting it that way, we all have personal desires. Personally, I hate the prospect of being forced to wear all white.

How much? If my facility went all white, I would quit. If they told us we had 1 week, then they would get 1 week of notice from me. (I expect it would be longer, which I would prefer, as I consider 2 weeks notice to be just plain courtesy.)

What do y'all think? Would you go back to all white? Would you support, would you oppose? Why?

Specializes in Obstetrics & Gynecology,Medical/Surgical.

RNs at my facility are required to wear white or ceil blue scrubs. When I was first hired, I balked at it (even asked in my interview, "Ok...but we're not required to wear the dress AND the cap, right?). I wear a combination of the two - white pants with the blue top and then the white coat, for example. Some nurses took to wearing all ceil blue, all the time. I added a few extra pairs of white/nude underpants to my wardrobe; definitely not an inconvenience. The patients like the color coding because they know who is who - their nurse is in white/ceil blue, the PCT is in maroon, RT is in royal blue, etc.

Apparently the hospital did some research years back that showed patients prefer their nurses in white. So they chose it.

I haven't had much problem with cleaning or with stains. Have only had two incidents once where I got some blood on a pant leg; it came right out with Clorox and detergent. Another time, some NG stains - again, came right out.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to have some creativity in my daily uniform, but it's not a big deal. I certainly wouldn't quit or turn down another job that required white.

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My first job as a nurse was in a facility which required nurses to wear all white. (Though we were allowed to wear a colored or print lab jacket over our whites) At first, I thought I would REALLY hate it, and the issue of heavy periods was my biggest concern. It ended up being not so much an issue. We all kept an extra pair of pants (or two) in our lockers, and yes, occasionally they were needed-but that can honestly happen no matter what color you're wearing! (And btw, peroxide does a great job on those stains- but will bleach colors) I lived by my Tide pen- it even got out iodine once! and I liked the fact that I could bleach all my uniforms in one load. Some of the elderly patients really did like it, but I found when I wore a particularly bright, cheery, or holiday themed jacket they loved it!

Now I can wear any colors, prints, etc that I want... and I have to say I do enjoy the reaction I get from patients when I wear my "pretty" prints!

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Specializes in Making the Pt laugh..

My facility has a bunch of uniforms, scrubs are worn in ED and theatre. The rest of the nurses have the choice of a bone or grey polo shirt with blue/black shorts/pants/skirt/cullots. There is also the Corporate uniform of blue shirt/blouse with blue trousers. I think scrubs would be great some days especially with some of the patterns available. My big problem with most scrubs is that I wear Cargo pants with big pockets and wear a pouch on my belt to carry all my "stuff".

As for white I dont have a problem with it, just dont bring back the dress and cap. For one I wouldn't look good in them, (I dont have the legs) and the other reason is that I would be too distracted and unable to work, (I know that they are stereotypes but they are so ingrained)

BTW: Yes I am joking about the distraction.....sort of.

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Specializes in PICU.

I don't want to go back to all white, but honestly, I'm not a huge fan of scrubs either. Everyone these days wears scrubs, people working at Goodwill, the bakery, blah blah blah. We have been issued professional looking polos with the hospital logo embroidered on it. We wear either navy cargo pants if it's with our transport uniform or tan pants. I think it looks nice and professional. I wish that would become our sole uniform. (Many still wear scrubs)

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Apparently the hospital did some research years back that showed patients prefer their nurses in white

It seems to me that health care professionals should be judged on their ability to provide excellent care, not on waht they wear. Do hospital administrators really have nothing better to do than research what color they prefer their nurse to wear? Those kind of surveys wouldn't go on in any other professional environment.

I think a better policy would be to make sure people look clean and tidy when they come to work. Institute rules like no undergarments should be visbile, scrubs should not be stained, teeth should be brushed. If sloppy dressing is the issue, require neatness. Changing to white won't make a difference. The sloppy nurse in hot pink scrubs will still be sloppy in white scrubs, and the stains will be more visible.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

our unit is ceil blue & white, print tops are fine as long as they match the blue or white, there have been times where I've worn all white and some of my older patients (80-90 yrs old) seem to respond better to me when I'm in white vs blue, their minds still say white=nurse, would I eer quit a job simply because of the uniform color? No in today's economy that's just crazy to throw any seniority out the window, our area is small so while there are plenty of nursing jobs out there, they are mostly within the same facility, I'd be shooting myself in the foot because realistically, it's an awfully petty reason to quit. :twocents:

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ICU, ER, Peds ER-CPEN.

As for white I dont have a problem with it, just dont bring back the dress and cap. For one I wouldn't look good in them, (I dont have the legs) and the other reason is that I would be too distracted and unable to work, (I know that they are stereotypes but they are so ingrained)

BTW: Yes I am joking about the distraction.....sort of.

actually the caps are a distraction lol I hated it in clinicals, if it went crooked you looked hurried and unkept, in tight spaces it would scuff along the wall, taking pieces of hair out as it ripped the bobby pins out lol

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Specializes in just about everything.

I wouldn't quit over all white, but I woruld protest. I wore all white in the 70's and really there was not alot of variety then. Bute nursing was alot different back then also. Pt's weren't as sick. Some doctors would admit pt's for rest. most in and out surgeries now were kept a week or more. Now because of insurance companies and life and new diseases people are sicker and take a lot more care, and of course need I say less staff. You weren't doing as messy work back then. Now take a load of 7-8 pt as shift with high acuity levels and doing more 'dirty work" than 30 yrs ago. It's just a whole new nursing world now.

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No. Help!!!! Not this again.:madface::madface::madface: I would be happy to look like the Michelin Man for Halloween, but not otherwise. White was for the days when nurses were handmaidens. We have come a long way (non-smoking) baby and need to go further. This is my opinion. I hate white. I agree we have to be neat, tidy, and clean. You can do that in coloured attire. How about if all physicians need to go back to wearing neckties and dress clothing? Now that would look pretty professional, huh? Times change and clothing changes, even professional uniforms. Years ago, not many women wore slacks. Are we going to tell elderly ladies we will respond better to their needs if they only wear dresses and skirts? The world is more casual for everyone. That is the way it is. Kind of like the dial phone and the tv antennas, nostalgic, but no longer functional.

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Specializes in Telemetry & Obs.

For the past two years several of us dressed all in white and wore our caps for Halloween (yeah, kinda disrespectul I guess). Anyway, we got the most positive receptions from patients and families!! I actually felt proud that I stood out as the NURSE is a sea of others wearing scrubs.

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nurses here look like nurses not like the other depts, and in a crisis situation i can glance up and know who can get drugs and call drs ect.

bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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actually the caps are a distraction lol I hated it in clinicals, if it went crooked you looked hurried and unkept, in tight spaces it would scuff along the wall, taking pieces of hair out as it ripped the bobby pins out lol

That all depends on how you wear it, and they were taught the tricks of the trade back in the day in nursing school. My aunts used to fold up a small piece of thin cardboard (they always kept sheets of poster board for this purpose), and put that between your hair and the cap, and put the bobby pins in.

They never, ever moved throughout the shift...when you took them out, you didn't just yank them...you eased the bobby pins backwards one by one and just took the cap off.

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