Why do Male Nurses Complain about Scrub Color & other Inconsequential Issues?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2007

Probably the same reasons females complain that they can't wear artificial nails, have to wear their hair up and don't want to wear caps to their pinning ceremony.

It doesn't mean these are high on the list of life's issues when people are dying. But we all can't be gloom and doom or Mother Theresa.

fins · Dec 30, 2007

That being said.. the only "print" scrubs that I own have UK basketball stuff on them. I rarely if ever wore them... save maybe days of big games.

Wow, I must be tired. When I first read this, I thought UK was United Kingdom (probably because I was just reading a post from a nurse in the UK.) And I was thinking "if they have scrubs with British basketball team designs, they've got scrubs for EVERYTHING."

Oh, and for the OP - as long as people are dying and all of that, I suppose complaining about our petty complaints could also be thought of as petty.

But you know what? Small unimportant things add up. Should I let one little issue at work slide? Sure. But if there's an unending stream of little irritants, I shouldn't be required to ignore all of them. Remember - no single raindrop thinks that it is responsible for the flood.

anonymurse · Dec 30, 2007

I have noticed some male nurses complain about the color of scrubs, candleholding, the term 'nurse' when applied to men & so on. Why are these important? The people they are caring for have cancer, heart dz, renal dz, special needs children,-the color of scrubs should be of no consequence. Some even called it 'discrimination', what a stretch! If someone is uncomfortable on how the color of scrubs or the term nurse will affect their sexual identity maybe they should be wrestlers. And then they complain some women are uncomfortable with a male L&D nurse! Do women police officers want to be called wolice & bemoan they can't wear dresses on the job? No.

Hell, I don't know *any* murses who would give a RA about that if they stuck around long enough to listen to more of a sentence than enabled such tripe to be identified. It's just undudely. It might be hard to comprehend, but we don't look at a given employee population as a bunch of Barbies and fantasize about how we should dress 'em.

ebear, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2007

Anonymurse, I don't think we're from the same planet... :bugeyes:

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2007

Anonymurse, I don't think we're from the same planet...

Men are from Venus women are from Mars. Or is it the other way around. I'm in my own little world. But it's o.k., they like me here.

anonymurse · Dec 30, 2007

Anonymurse, I don't think we're from the same planet...

Prolly not. I mean, scrubs. Get real. Scrubs were invented so folks could scrub in. On anyone else, they're like racing stripes on sneakers or spoilers on water-cooled VW bugs. I get ragged all the time about not looking like a nurse 'cause I don't wear scrubs. Scusi? Me no go OR.

ebear, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2007

You don't wear scrubs? What do you wear--a space cadet outfit? :lol2:

anonymurse · Dec 30, 2007

You don't wear scrubs? What do you wear--a space cadet outfit?

No, I wear my Corporal Max Klinger white dress with flying nun cap. The buzz cut serves admirably as velcro to retain the cap.

What do you wear to scrub in to work at your desk? Scrubs, certainly.

See? I do what makes sense in my situation, you do yours.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 30, 2007

nurses are professionals, and as such we should be entitled to wear what we choose -- as long as it is neat, clean and professional. i am not a fan of employers trying to dictate what we should wear, and any man whose employer wants him to wear pink or lavender has my sympathy. i don't look good in, nor do i choose to wear pastels. and i think that when my employer started trying to dictate what color i should wear to work would be the day my resumes go out!

Lucid Vital Nurse, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2007

Well, actually it is my (our) problem as male nurses. If patients or peers snickers laughs and/or makes snide comments it may lead to breakdown in communication, teamwork and patient care.
Sure if he wants to wear it then fine. I think the issue is when units or clinics have mandatory colors. The ICU that I worked in had purple.. I was constantly being called Barney... I opted to wear my BDUs most of the time.
Maybe it is just me... but if a doctor were see me, a grown man, in the ICU with tinkerbell on my scrubs... well lets say that there would be laughs.
That being said.. the only "print" scrubs that I own have UK basketball stuff on them. I rarely if ever wore them... save maybe days of big games.

Response: There is only one hospital (where I worked) where there was a dress code enforced, and it was to distinguish the RN's from the LVN's from the Nurse Technicians (NA's). The color of the Vocational Nurses was like an ugly, putrid green. I wore it once then never again. The supervisors never said anything about it or never repremanded me. If I had been spoken to, then I would have had to "man-up" and wear the damn thing. If the color for LVN's was pink, then I would have gone to the Union about it or looked for other options. There is always another way around an issue! If the uniform is that bad, then either: noone can force to wear it; or it's time to find another employer. The great thing about being a nurse, is that there is always work and you have options! :lol2:

AmaurosisFugax · Jan 2, 2008

I think that while many of these things seem trivial to the casual observer, the public's perception of nurses is critical to advancing our profession and sometimes even critical to getting the job done with an individual patient.
If I'm talking to the family members of one of the special needs children that you mention, I'd like them to focus on our discussion, rather than the fact that I look goofy in pink, for example.
As we struggle to gain respect and compliance from patients and seek autonomy from other health professions, whether we look competent can be as important as whether we actually are. Sometimes it really does lie all in the perception.

I would think a scrub is a uniform & therefore professionally appropriate no matter how goofy it may look in real-life situations & pts understand that. Just as a lawyer in a suit or a fashion buyer in a short skirt & heels would be perfectly appropriate but for a nurse those would be completely out of place.

Personally I dont even remember what color scrubs the nurses wore when I was getting Tx (maybe ciel blue or teal or maybe seafoam who knows) just remember the wonderful care I received.

AmaurosisFugax · Jan 2, 2008

If I were a guy I wouldn't want to wear feminine colors. It's a valid complaint.

Uh...when a guy becomes a nurse hasn't he already crossed that Rubicon of what's traditionally masculine vs feminine? So why be bothered by what's a (conventional) feminine color? (And BTW that changes too like body piercings).