Why the fanny packs?

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I have a question for all you male nurses out there - and this is just out of pure curiousity. My coworkers and I (mostly women, I admit) were discussing this - WHY do male nurses wear fanny packs?

There are probably some fanny-pack-totin' female nurses out there, but we have mainly noticed the guys.

Better yet, WHAT IS IN THEM? lol :)

It's a mystery to us gals.

:lol2:

Specializes in Critical Care, Cardiothoracics, VADs.

Yes, I'm Australian and it cracked me up every time I was working in America and heard someone say "fanny pack", given what that means in Australia!

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Specializes in Telemetry, OR, ICU.
A few of the guys at work wear that "Pro pack" but they are the same ones that don't have pockets in their scrubs. I just use my beloved cargo pants...have more pockets then I need.

SAY NO TO FANNY PACKS!!!!

Larry, as an active duty Soldier nurse I'm required to wear the standard scrubs on the ICU provided at Madigan Army Medical Center. Therefore, I don't have the option to wear the cargo pants... and find my Nurse Pro Pack very, very useful. I've noticed several of the male nurses on my ICU use the Pro Pack, or something similar.

So, I SAY YES TO THE NURSE PRO PACKS!!!! ;)

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I get comments from my famale team mates but ehh. I don't call it a fanny pack a "murse purse". What I like most about it is that I have everything in one bag and I don't have to worry haunting for my gear before work.

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I don't miss those days of having to carry around a load of items. Where I am now, we don't really need to carry anything except maybe a pen. Heck, I've even gone to work pocketless.:lol2:

But, if I did have to carry stuff around again, I would love that nurse pack. When I was hospital nursing, it was pre-cargo pant days so we loaded down our two available pockets something awful.

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Specializes in ED, ICU/DOU/Tele, M/S, Gero/Psych.

I'm not sure what others keep in their "fanny packs", god I hate that word, but I tend to keep a myraid of different supplies at my fingertips. As I usually work in ER, I can use/need just about anything at any one given moment.

My basic fanny pack has in it, syringes, 3ml, 5ml, 10ml and insulins. Angiocaths X 3-4 of each size the hospital has available, but usually keep 24 down to 18 and a couple of 16's and 14's just in case. Round/regular band aids, tourniquites, capped ready to go sharps usually in 18 ga to transfer blood from a syringe to a vaccutainer in the event we draw from an angio. I keep my steth on a clip that's attached to the belt portion and a set of Kelly forceps to hold 2 rolls of tape from it both plastic/paper. I also keep 2 pairs of size 8 sterile gloves (as foley cath inserts usually are way too small for my big hands), tegaderm, and just about anything else I can think of that I might need. Oh yeah, and what nurse doesn't keep with them a pair of trauma sheers just in case?

Wayne.

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;) cause they're dead sexay
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Specializes in LTC, cardiac, ortho rehab.

hahah, one of the nurses i used to work with wore one of those. it looked kinda gay but i just kept my mouth shut. and like it was stated earlier, male nurse scrubs are very basic(unless you wanna spend extra for cargos).

My coworker had alot of things in there. his fanny pack remind me of central suppy with food.

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Specializes in ED, ICU/DOU/Tele, M/S, Gero/Psych.

My coworker had alot of things in there. his fanny pack remind me of central suppy with food.

OH MY GAWD THAT'S SO FUNNY!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA...

Yeah people I worked with asked me if I carried anything in mine to eat just to be smart. Never really occured to me to keep a cereal bar in it to snack on while doing chest compressions though. It seemed like whenever a code started up they'd all turn to me looking for basic supplies. Most of the time i'd spin mine around so it couldn't be seen, just looked like I had a big ass under my scrub top for the most part. And then when the code started up or an IV needed to be inserted, i'd just sping it around front open and get to business. For me it was purely saving myself the extra walking back and forth to the nursing station when I had everything I needed in my Hip Bag... (I refuse to call it a fanny bag or butt pack) Actually alot of the female nurses I worked with had them as well, although they kept cell phone, money and personal items in theirs.

Wayne.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU, Cardiothoracic ICU.

No fanny pack here...Although men who are in nursing, I'm guessing, aren't too insecure about themselves. It takes a very secure guy to be a nurse. And yes! I see women all the time with fanny packs at work. It seems like it would get in the way. While I like to have what I need on me at any time, I'm really a minimalist (or lazy). Somewhere for my pen, alcohol wipes and stethoscope and maybe some tape hanging from my hemostats for convenience. That and a name tag. I used to carry more but found I rarely used half the stuff.

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Specializes in Rotor EMS, Ped's ICU, CT-ICU,.

I see someone beat me to the "man purse" reference...that's what I originally called the gadget bags that I've seen some male RN's toting.

I used to be a gadget man; pockets and the 'fanny packs' were useful tools to be exploited and used, and I put 'stuff' in all of them. Then I found that I rarely used anything out of the pack, and was tired of emptying my pockets after every shift, so I stopped using them. Only thing you'll find in my pocket is a pen and a calculator, and no more 'fanny pack.'

I also think it might be too easy to carry germs around; one could reach into a pouch that has never been cleaned, pull out a hemostat or scissors, use it, and put it back in where it mixes in with all those alcohol preps that have been riding around for months. Then you reach in and fumble around all those alcohol preps to get one, fish it out and use it. THEN you leave the room, wash your hands in full compliance with policy, and go to your next patient where you then fumble around in that pouch where you just had your previously 'gloved' hand to snag another random alcohol prep.

I've started calling them "bat belts" because it was sometimes humorous to see what gadgets some people would pull from their pouches.

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Specializes in Spinal Cord injuries, Emergency+EMS.

perhaps is cultural man thing ...

men get used from maybe 11- 12 years old to carrying stuff aobut their person - wallet, keys , pen ... given them something with too few pockets and they are in trouble ...

distinctly not happy with current uniform top - only has one pocket - ok so i have pockets in my trousers but once they are full of wallet and house / car keys and pocket change... ( not gonna put 'the keys' in the pocket with my keys or i will forget i've got them )

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Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....

No fanny pack. Aviator scrubs have lots of pockets.

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