What do you wear to meet a family?

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I have only had 2 interviews with families. Both times I dressed like I would for a work interview (dressy skirt, hose and heels), and both times they seemed taken aback that I was so dressed up.

So I am curious what the standard dress is for these kinds of interviews. What do you normally wear to a "meet and greet" with a prospective family?

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Business casual or scrubs depending on agency. We have logo polo shirts that can be worn with khakis for one agency.

Jeans are never worn especially for meet & greet unless specifically requested. (There are a few cases with older teens that have had enough medical inpatient that specific non-scrub attire is requested. One teen requests t-shirts (preferably rock or music themed t-shirts ) and neat jeans. ( no holes, no heavy wear, no stains ).

Both require company issued photo ID/name tags be worn also at meet & greet & whenever out if home with patient.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

For Orthodox community cases we wear best scrubs , collar bone & elbows covered. Limited jewelry (single pair stud earrings ). We are not requested to wear skirts /stockings or head covering unless we also follow those cultural customs. The Orthodox nurses wear long scrub skirts, tights, scrub tops & appropriate long sleeved shirts.

Even if I wore a skirt & hose heels would not even be a thought...

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Specializes in Peds, developmental disability.

Nice pants and top, if it is a meet and greet only.

Ventmommy, nobody at the office ever lets me know in advance about a no shoes rule. Don't I wish!

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Texan56,

Doesn't your agency give your families an intake packet with all kinds of family and house related questions?? If they do, what's the point of it if they aren't showing it to the nurses.

If I recall correctly, our agency sent us a nurse or two in the beginning without showing them our info. One of them was deathly allergic to cats and dogs which essentially left us with uncovered shifts because he was supposed to be on orientation for two days and then take a couple of night shifts. After the conversation with the scheduler and ADON, "forgetting" to show potential nurses our info never happened again.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.
Texan56,

Doesn't your agency give your families an intake packet with all kinds of family and house related questions?? If they do, what's the point of it if they aren't showing it to the nurses.

If I recall correctly, our agency sent us a nurse or two in the beginning without showing them our info. One of them was deathly allergic to cats and dogs which essentially left us with uncovered shifts because he was supposed to be on orientation for two days and then take a couple of night shifts. After the conversation with the scheduler and ADON, "forgetting" to show potential nurses our info never happened again.

My well known national agency doesn't tell us that sort of thing. They leave it to us to figure out. The last case I opened with a supervisor didn't involve any questions like that. It leads to the family feeling like we don't care. I prefer catering to the needs of the family, but I guess only the money matters to these agencies.

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That's just silly to NOT get this info. I'll have to dig out the intake paperwork and my own notes that I gave to our agency.

I know the intake paperwork including things like "what is the temperature of your hot water heater" which is not that big a deal in most homes but in my friend's house, hers is set to 160F in the winter; how many and what kinds of pets; preferred uniform; can nurses use coffeemaker/fridge/microwave/freezer; any religious customs that impact nurses (no pork, etc.); etc.

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

I've had several cases where the fam or pt. specifically requested no scrubs (reminds them of hospital)

i wear cargo pants and a button down uniform shirt, the kind i used to wear as an EMT

so basically work uniform

i've seen several family members make negative comments about supervisors wearing heels

and (relatively short) skirts

families want clean and professional, but ready to work, not go to the club or show

this is different than a traditional interview where i dress up more

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.
That's just silly to NOT get this info. I'll have to dig out the intake paperwork and my own notes that I gave to our agency.

I know the intake paperwork including things like "what is the temperature of your hot water heater" which is not that big a deal in most homes but in my friend's house, hers is set to 160F in the winter; how many and what kinds of pets; preferred uniform; can nurses use coffeemaker/fridge/microwave/freezer; any religious customs that impact nurses (no pork, etc.); etc.

One agency I worked for got this info. The others don't. Even when they do know because of previous complaints by the family, they won't tell other nurses. So the unsuspecting nurse that is next on the case is told the case is great with a great family. The nurse asks if they need to know anything about the home and they are told "no". And then the nurse shows up and runs into problems that could have been prevented.

You would think that the agency knows which parents want to interview nurses first. And you would think that the agency would prep the nurses prior to going in to help make a smooth transition.

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One agency I worked for got this info. The others don't. Even when they do know because of previous complaints by the family, they won't tell other nurses. So the unsuspecting nurse that is next on the case is told the case is great with a great family. The nurse asks if they need to know anything about the home and they are told "no". And then the nurse shows up and runs into problems that could have been prevented.

You would think that the agency knows which parents want to interview nurses first. And you would think that the agency would prep the nurses prior to going in to help make a smooth transition.

More proof that a decent agency should hire me as Director of Client Relations.......

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

More proof that a decent agency should hire me as Director of Client Relations.......

Make that President of Client Relations! Meanwhile, I'll hope and pray that some higher up with my company reads this and does something!

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