Wearing all white

[THAT Nurse.]

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?

[justme1972]

I don't believe that wearing white will stop people from appearing unkempt and wrinkled. White becomes dingy and also wrinkles just like all uniforms/scrubs. I do believe that one of those biggest reasons that many facilities are pushing to go all white is because so many nurses look unprofessional at work. I'm sorry, but I don't want to see someone's bright pink thong or belly button ring. I don't believe artificial nails are appropriate either. Wearing all white won't solve any of this. But if everyone took the time to look professional, the all white issue would probably never have reared its ugly head.

It doesn't become dingy if you know how to take care of it. When nurses used to wear all white, the material that the uniforms were made of were virtually wrinkle free and required little to no ironing...they were made of material very similiar to the Grey's Uniforms, but thicker.

If you have "bad" water, Oxyclean, with a small amount (1/4 cup) of bleach with a drop or two of a product called blue, will keep them very, very nice and white with minimal effort.

To wear colored underwear under white garments, nursing or not, shows an individual that has never been taught how to wear proper undergarments or is too ignorant to figure it out on their own.

However, good, quality white pants..you can't see though. I have 3 pairs of white pants, and even if I wore BLACK underwear you still couldn't see through it.

[missjennmb]

Our hospital has color restrictions for the hospital but not specific to the job title other than a few departments (food services, security, and environmental svc oh and volunteers) We have "hospital colors". White, two types of bluish green, and two types of red (pink and dark red). We also have nametags with our name, dept, and job on them.

I love scrubs and am very happy that I don't ever have to put pantyhose on again for the rest of my life. I have some whites, but I am ALWAYS having trouble with my white scrubs. I cannot go 20 minutes without getting them dirty, and all I am atm is a secretary.

[missjennmb]

However, good, quality white pants..you can't see though. I have 3 pairs of white pants, and even if I wore BLACK underwear you still couldn't see through it.

what brand? I am considering a pair of white scrub pants (terrified though because of the stain and see through factor!)

[justme1972]

Landau...what I have discovered is if you go through a large uniform shop and see the whites together, what I do is wear a dark shirt and hold it inside the pant-leg or the shirt...that way you can see how thin the fabric will be.

I have very fair skin..my hair is naturally red...I have tried on pants so thin you could even see my blood veins through the uniform.

To me...that's too thin.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i have heard that there is an attraction for navy "whites", (i don't get it myself, green is more my colour). so my theory is that rather than white scrubs or other type of uniform, maybe i should get a navy officer style uniform......anything to make me look "hot".

nah, couldn't do it.....

and there you have it. some people (usually young women, but with navy whites i'll include young men) grew up dreaming of being a nurse/navy officer/whatever and part of the dream was the uniform. so when they become and nurse and there is no uniform, they're disappointed. i've been there, done that, worn the uniform and i'm over it.

it seems to be that most of the posters advocating a return to all whites are either new nurses or student nurses . . . those of us who have done it already see all the drawbacks and aren't all that enamored of the perceived advantages!

[rn/writer, RN]

some people (usually young women, but with navy whites i'll include young men) grew up dreaming of being a nurse/navy officer/whatever and part of the dream was the uniform. so when they become and nurse and there is no uniform, they're disappointed.

here's the thing--if some idealistic young (or not-so-young) nurse wants to wear all white, in most cases no one is stopping them. they might incur the wrath of their co-workers if a patient likes it and upper management thinks, "whoop-de-do, here's another way we can make a meaningless gesture in the name of customer service." but if you can wear spongebob and nascar scrubs, i doubt that anyone would object to all white.

that's kind of like going into a store that will only take a check or a credit care. no cash allowed.

[SharonH, RN]

When I used to wear scrubs, I often wore all white because as a per diem and float nurse, it was easier to wear white rather than trying to fit in with all the various units' dress codes.

Neither my autonomy nor my professionalism was threatened at any time. In fact, I abhor the cartoon scrubs and I felt that my appearance was a notch above that of some of my colleagues because of it.

No way in the world would I quit a job because of it.

In past discussions about this subject, some nurses have stated that prefer colors because it hides poo and blood better. Well, I can tell you that I would never walk around in a uniform that had poo and blood on it, I would go home first so that is not a consideration for me.