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

Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
meanmaryjean said:
COB opinion: Bring back the nurses' cap!

My alma mater had a capping ceremony and continues to this day. It was right before we started specialty clinical rotations. Our pinning was at graduation since the nursing program has it's own ceremony

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.

Not to get all scientific on you all, but Wikipedia actually has a pretty good article on this ;)

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Specializes in retired LTC.
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.

My sentiment exactly!!! I would hold that one pair of our shoes has more germs on it than a whole graduating class' nsg caps.

And re the ubiquity of scrubs, it is even the dress code required of many correctional institutions' uniform garb.

Isn't it nice to know that you went to school so you could dress like OJ or Charley Manson!!!

'Nuff said!

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blondy2061h said:
Im 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.

How about somebody does a study on infection transmission rates of hijab wearing nurses? Far more fabric there than what was in the cap. Or how about a study of infection rates in Muslim nations or even China where the cap is still widely worn?

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DoGoodThenGo said:

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'll admit it. I don't want to wear a freaking hat. A freaking cap. A freaking toboggan. A freaking beanie. A freaking scarf. I don't want to wear something on my head. Why not wear wizard hats? That would be just as useful.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Generally, I really don't care what kind of ceremony is performed, just that there be some kind of distinctive event to mark the transition from student to graduate. No matter what device you use, it's just a symbol of your achievement. My own pin is but a small thing, but to me, it represents 3 years of challenge that finally resulted in graduation. I'm actually more proud of that pin than I am of my license. Why? My license is merely a validation that I have met the requirements to be a nurse. I earned my pin and it would still represent all that work even if I never became a nurse.

It matters not what the device is, just that you've earned it.

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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

This is the reason I prefer it. A nurses cap is distinctively for nurses and has been for quite some time. The symbol should be preserved in a ceremony.

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caliotter3 said:
This is the reason I prefer it. A nurses cap is distinctively for nurses and has been for quite some time. The symbol should be preserved in a ceremony.

Although I appreciate the value in maintaining tradition, the nursing cap is something I'm not sad is gone. I see it as being kind of sexist...if nursing was a male dominated profession I don't think they would have been forced to wear some little hat. Doctors in those days didn't have to wear hats.

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This is the reason I prefer it. A nurses cap is distinctively for nurses and has been for quite some time. The symbol should be preserved in a ceremony.

My mom told me that a lot of nurses felt fetishized with the caps (think sexy nurse Halloween costume) and that contributed to its demise. It wasnt an infection control issue

Personally it makes me smile to see the vintage pics of nurses with their caps or being capped at their ceremony. It's beautiful.

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richardgecko said:
My mom told me that a lot of nurses felt fetishized with the caps (think sexy nurse Halloween costume) and that contributed to its demise. It wasnt an infection control issue

Personally it makes me smile to see the vintage pics of nurses with their caps or being capped at their ceremony. It's beautiful.

Feel free to wear one. Heck, wear two. One for you, one for me.

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I love the nurses cap for pinning ceremonies.... Just something about them.

From a future COB

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caliotter3 said:
This is the reason I prefer it. A nurses cap is distinctively for nurses and has been for quite some time. The symbol should be preserved in a ceremony.

This is what I missed in my graduation ceremony. Sure, nursing had a pinning ceremony, but the college didn't even sell nursing hats anymore. We had one instructor who brought hers in for us to borrow for individual pictures, which was really nice of her. Still wish I had my own, even though I would never wear it to work.

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