White Coat Ceremony for Nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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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

Long white coat for undergrad nursing students? Hmmm weird

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PACU.

I loved our graduation ceremony! We all wore caps, we were pinned, had our hands blessed and lit our lanterns ?. Of course this was almost 30 years ago from a diploma program where customs were sacred. It was the first time we wore an all white uniform and hat. We had pin stripped pinafores and we had a stripe on our cap for each year we were students. You always knew who the senior students were by the 3 stripes and the newbies by their one stripe. The good old days!

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SubSippi said:
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.

Well they wouldn't would they? Men dominated and or still do dominate the ranks of physicians and no such custom existed.

Nurses caps come from two distinct traditions; various head covering worn by women who provided the first nursing care. By this one refers to female religious (Roman Catholic and Anglican sisters), and other women up until the Edwardian era.

Historically in many European cultures women covered their heads for various reasons, but in the Catholic faith and later included into the Anglican a professed sister/nun (consecrated virgin) kept her head covered at all times. Until rather recently orders from each faith had in addition to the various wimples and coronets worn during the day various head gear that was worn at night (sleeping), and or whilst bathing (personal hygiene) or even swimming. The Red Cross and many English/British nursing schools used what would be considered nun's veiling as their "caps".

In Florence Nightingale's time (the Victorian era) *all* women wore some sort of head covering both in and out of doors. This was for several reasons historically. First since few if any women cut their hair during their lifetimes it kept all that long hair somewhat clean in the days when washing one's hair(pre modern shampoo and often indoor plumbing) was an ordeal that happened rarely. Covering one's head kept hair a bit more clean. It also kept the then ever present head lice either confined to one's head or off depending upon circumstances.

As the Victorian age wore on ladies (who by definition did little nor no work) adopted head covering that was more ornamental than practical thus the various lacy "caps" worn indoors. Finally young women abandoned such head gear all together indoors (but older women kept it up), however one group of women were still forced to wear head gear indoors; servants. This is where ears began to pull back at the mention of caps and still does today for many nurses.

Maids, waitresses and other female domestic help rebelled early and often against wearing what they called a mark of servitude (caps). As the "servant problem" grew more acute households that wanted to find and or retain maids had to choose their battles, so often while uniforms remained, caps were gone.

By the 1980's in most urban areas such as NYC caps had already being dropped as part of the uniform requirement on floors. Many young women entering the profession rebelled against the "servitude" mark of wearing caps especially those with lofty ideas about raising nursing up from the "doctor's handmaiden" image.

Happily for the above mentioned group there was in many parts of the country a serious nursing shorting during the 1980's through a good part of the 1990's which forced hospitals to make changes if they wanted to recruit and retain staff. Manuals of standards and practice along with dress codes and so forth that hadn't been updated since the 1950's (or before) were brought into the 20th century. Whites were gotten shot of in favour of scrubs (thus dealing with scrub envy) for most places and caps were O-W-T out.

From the 1980's until well into the 1990's the only nurses you saw routinely in uniforms (with aprons/pinafores of old) and caps were students. By 2000 most schools dropped caps from clinical uniforms and even the latter often went in favour of a type of scrubs.

Schools also began dropping their capping ceremonies for many of the same reasons (no one wears them anymore....), but also because many nursing schools connected with colleges and universities felt "slighted" when nursing students only attended their capping and pinning but not the main graduation ceremony. There was also often some noise from other departments about nursing graduates "standing out" at graduation in their starched whites and caps, and or otherwise being treated as special.

Went to many college nursing school graduations in the 1970's and 1980's (family mostly) and am here to tell you it was a sight to see against a sea of black or blue caps and gowns graduate nurses dressed casket sharp in starched whites (most always dresses). Once they were capped yes, they stood out in those darkened auditoriums like beacons. *LOL*

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

DGTG, I just want to say I LOVED your post; you breadth of knowledge and history is priceless. :inlove:

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amoLucia said:
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!

Interestingly enough the whole thing about caps and uniforms for that matter being of questionable hygiene began to grow louder when hospitals began cheaping out in regards to laundering and or providing an allowance for same.

Knowing caps were part of the uniform many places either would provide laundry service (in house or sent out) for that item along with uniforms. That or nurses received a stipend or allowance towards "laundry/uniforms", which was meant to help defray the cost.

All this of course was mainly before washing machines and tumble dryers became normal in most households, and also predates modern man made fabrics such as polyester and nylon. It also came before Kay's and others came out with "Perma starch" caps that did away with the need for heavy boiled starch and ironing.

The latter is why for those who know the deal the claims about caps being vector of germs is a laugh. A cap made by Kay's merely requires taking off the bands (if any) unfolding, swishing in some warm or hot water and detergent, rinsing and allowing to dry. Then refold/attach bands and that is that. Takes no more effort than rinsing out one's nylons or other dainties in a sink or wash basin. Something else *nice* girls did back in the day which is rare today.

If one observed good hygiene in regards to one's cap such as washing one's hands before and after putting the thing on, not fussing with it during duty, and certainly not taking it off and placing it on various surfaces within the facility then again just don't see how the things could become grossly contaminated. Oh yes, and again you took the time to clean the thing at least once a week.

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Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
DoGoodThenGo said:
Interestingly enough the whole thing about caps and uniforms for that matter being of questionable hygiene began to grow louder when hospitals began cheaping out in regards to laundering and or providing an allowance for same.

Knowing caps were part of the uniform many places either would provide laundry service (in house or sent out) for that item along with uniforms. That or nurses received a stipend or allowance towards "laundry/uniforms", which was meant to help defray the cost.

All this of course was mainly before washing machines and tumble dryers became normal in most households, and also predates modern man made fabrics such as polyester and nylon. It also came before Kay's and others came out with "Perma starch" caps that did away with the need for heavy boiled starch and ironing.

The latter is why for those who know the deal the claims about caps being vector of germs is a laugh. A cap made by Kay's merely requires taking off the bands (if any) unfolding, swishing in some warm or hot water and detergent, rinsing and allowing to dry. Then refold/attach bands and that is that. Takes no more effort than rinsing out one's nylons or other dainties in a sink or wash basin. Something else *nice* girls did back in the day which is rare today.

If one observed good hygiene in regards to one's cap such as washing one's hands before and after putting the thing on, not fussing with it during duty, and certainly not taking it off and placing it on various surfaces within the facility then again just don't see how the things could become grossly contaminated. Oh yes, and again you took the time to clean the thing at least once a week.

The only problem I had as a student nurse regarding my cap was getting it tangled in the curtains in patients' rooms.

BONUS POINTS: What is the best ting to use to affix velvet stripes to a cap? (I'm sure DGTG will know this, as well as most, if not all of the COBB. (Crusty Old Bat Brigade)

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

OH OH OH! I know!!!! Wait for it....

SURGILUBE!!!!!!!!!!

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LadyFree28 said:
DGTG, I just want to say I LOVED your post; you breadth of knowledge and history is priceless. :inlove:

YW, though some would consider it a mind cluttered with useless information *LOL*

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FlyingScot said:
OH OH OH! I know!!!! Wait for it....

SURGILUBE!!!!!!!!!!

Give the lady a Kewpie Doll!

*LOL*

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OCNRN63 said:

The only problem I had as a student nurse regarding my cap was getting it tangled in the curtains in patients' rooms.

BONUS POINTS: What is the best ting to use to affix velvet stripes to a cap? (I'm sure DGTG will know this, as well as most, if not all of the COBB. (Crusty Old Bat Brigade)

Another bonus round question: What is the best way to dry a just washed cap so it is flat and looks as if it were starched and ironed?

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Specializes in Oncology.
DoGoodThenGo said:
Another bonus round question: What is the best way to dry a just washed cap so it is flat and looks as if it were starched and ironed?

Place it under a particularly obese patient? Oh wait, those were few and far between in the cap days.

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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

Well some parts were just a tad "corny" or best left out IMHO. *LOL*

For instance knew more than a few girls who pledged to "pass their lives in purity..." when that ship had long since sailed. *LOL*

Indeed it was the often quasi-religious tone of some capping ceremonies even at secular schools that put some students off. All that tables draped in white cloths (like an altar), candles on each end (ditto), and so forth was just too close for some to vow taking by nuns/sisters.

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