White Coat Ceremony for Nurses

Nurses General Nursing

Updated:   Published

It used to be a capping ceremony, now it's a white coat ceremony like physicians. What do you think of this?

https://news.vcu.edu/article/Nursing_students_savor_schools_first_white_coat_ceremony

Back in the day it was scrub envy, now it seems nursing has a thing for white coats. How strange so many in the profession have a deep visceral response against wearing caps supposedly because they "spread germs", but are perfectly happy wearing and or advocating a garment that is likely truly contaminated and worse comes in closer contact with patients and everyone else.

Then again white coats were once the exclusive domain of physicians along with scrubs for that matter (except for L&D and OR nursing staff and perhaps CC units), so you can see where this is going.

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llg said:
I think that both caps and white coats are germ carriers and should be abolished. Pins can also be a hazaard in the workplace.

They can do a ceremony without any of those things.

Have searched and searched and cannot find one study proving nurses' caps were a major source of infection to the point of patient risk. Yeah not every nurse was up on her cap laundering routine and or the thing got shoved into drawers, on top of or in lockers when off duty but still.... A quarter meter or less of material affixed to one's head and that under much of a floor nurses' daily duties comes no where near enough to a patient's face/body is supposed to spread germs how? Do they leap off? Were nurses shaking their capped heads over patients?

Someone came out with this "caps spread germs" theory and everyone latched on; better to come out and just admit to not wishing to wear the thing than to keep running with this notion.

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Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

The white coat ceremony is a milestone and rite of passage for medical students.

A physician told me he was not happy with a certain nurse wearing a full white coat not a jacket because

people might mistake her for a physician.

I think we ought to have black nurse ninja jackets with RN embroidered in red. Or red jackets if you believe in color psychology.

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Specializes in Oncology.
DoGoodThenGo said:
Have searched and searched and cannot find one study proving nurses' caps were a major source of infection to the point of patient risk. Yeah not every nurse was up on her cap laundering routine and or the thing got shoved into drawers, on top of or in lockers when off duty but still.... A quarter meter or less of material affixed to one's head and that under much of a floor nurses' daily duties comes no where near enough to a patient's face/body is supposed to spread germs how? Do they leap off? Were nurses shaking their capped heads over patients?

Someone came out with this "caps spread germs" theory and everyone latched on; better to come out and just admit to not wishing to wear the thing than to keep running with this notion.

I'm guessing no studies have been done on caps as a germ vector because caps were out of vogue before doing studies on such things was common. I mean, it would be like having a study now that smoking in the hospital is a bad idea. It's not going to happen, because no one smokes in the hospital any more.

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Specializes in Neurosurgery, Neurology.
icuRNmaggie said:
The white coat ceremony is a milestone and rite of passage for medical students.

A physician told me he was not happy with a certain nurse wearing a full white coat not a jacket because

people might mistake her for a physician.

I think we ought to have black nurse ninja jackets with RN embroidered in red. Or red jackets if you believe in color psychology.

Haha that would be great. In my hospital, the people that wear long white coats include:

-physicians

-physical therapists

-NPs

-PAs

-respiratory

-one social worker I've seen

-one pharmacist

-dietitians

-nurse managers and supervisors (not all supers though)

-VNS

-the people that come up to get insurance information

We also have those things that go behind your badge and hang under it that have your role in large letters, such as "RN", "NP", "PA", "DOCTOR", "PHARMACIST", "PCA", "USA", "RT"

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Guess since now it seems everyone and their mother wears scrubs some in the nursing profession feel the need to take things to the next level. *LOL*

Walking around NYC am amazed at just how common scrubs have become. Everyone from the kid who walks dogs/cleans cages at our local vet's office to the girls at the local waxing salon and everyone it seems in between wears the things.

Was walking near Lenox Hill Hospital the other day and saw this tall cool drink of water strutting down Lexington Avenue in a very nice blue scrub uniform. Thought he was one of the nurses because IIRC NS-LIJ uses that colour for their nursing staff, but upon closer inspection of the embroidery on his top saw "DDS".

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Specializes in Peds PACU & Peds Psych.

My school did a pinning ceremony. We already had white coats that came with our uniforms, which we wore over our outfits at the ceremony. Then we got pinned and did a lantern lighting (a la Florence Nightingale).

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Specializes in LTC.

This just seems bizarre to me. I thought my pinning ceremony was enough.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

My school had a pinning ceremony, separate from graduation. All of us GNs wore our all-white (my school required all white for clinicals); we walked across the stage graduation-style while one instructor read our names, and another pinned us. I thought it was pretty neat, as did my proud parents :nurse:

While it's true the long white coat is worn by non-MDs (med students at both teaching hospitals I've worked at wear a short one; our SICU NP, pharmacists, RDs, and case managers wear long ones also. Our MSWs possibly too...I can't remember offhand), it's not something that is generally associated w/ the bedside nurse. So for that reason, if I were making the decision I wouldn't choose a white coat ceremony for GNs. It's not a hill I'd die on either though.

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I'm jealous of nurses that got to be capped. Just seems like something that's uniquely ours. I wouldn't mind seeing it come back, even if only for ceremonial purposes

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
richardgecko said:
I'm jealous of nurses that got to be capped. Just seems like something that's uniquely ours. I wouldn't mind seeing it come back, even if only for ceremonial purposes

I had the great experience to wear a cap for my pinning ceremony in my PN program; I still have the cap and had it on display until I moved and decided to get a box where I could display it with my other nursing paraphernalia.

For my BSN program, we still had a pinning ceremony; no white coats needed. ;)

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
RNsRWe said:
Yeah....most men in nursing really enjoy wearing theirs....!

15 years or so ago I was doing some per diem for an agency. I happen to be a man. When I recieved copies of the companies policies it included a dress code that said "all employees will wear a brassiere while on duty". I noted that the dress code was dated 1982.

I was SOOOOO tempted to go out and buy the biggest one I could find and wear it over my scrubs.

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