This thread is designed to explore why nursing professionals and other professionals wear white lab coats to work. As most of us know, medical doctors have had a long history of wearing white lab coats. We also see PAs and APRNs wearing white lab coats, which makes sense to me, given that mid-levels are quasi-colleagues of MDs and prescribers in their own right.
However, I have even seen nurse managers, nurse educators, case managers, and skin team nurses running around hospitals in those long white lab coats. Why? It has even gotten to the point where sometimes I'll walk onto a unit and there are more people wearing white lab coats than there are "normal employees." It's hardly even a status symbol anymore, certainly not when more people are wearing them in a given situation than not.
Some of you may disagree with this, but I think white lab coats are ugly as hell and that wearing one demonstrates an utter lack of style. It's become what people are wear when they can't figure out how to put together an impressive outfit. If I were a mid-level practitioner, I wouldn't EVER wear a white lab coat if I could help it. I'd rather wear well-fitted, professional clothing.
Besides having no style, there are other downsides to wearing those long white lab coats. For one thing, they show everything. I can't even begin to count how many times I've seen people in those coats with black pen marks all over. That's professional looking. Or how about when people drape their lab coats over the backs of swivel chairs? Someone then sits down and starts idly rolling their chair around while the bottom of the person's lab coat drags along a nice gritty, dirty floor. Then they can come back and put on their nice, gritty, dirty lab coat. Ewwwwww.
Alternatively, someone will sit down in a chair with the lab coat still on and it gets all scrunched up under their buttocks. Have you ever noticed how EXTREMELY wrinkled those long white lab coats are in the back? Bingo. That's why. Just look around next time you're at work. The backs of everyone's lab coats are wrinkled and it looks terrible.
So... what is the point of them? If you wear one of these white coats, what is the purpose? Do you like how it looks? Is there some amazing utility to these coats than isn't afforded by normal clothing? Okay -- they have a lot of pockets. I can see the benefit of those pockets if you're working in a lab or are carrying a lot of instruments. However, if you're a paper pusher like a case manager or a unit manager, then what are all the pockets for? What am I missing here?
The hospital where I work (In Ontario,Canada) it seems that they only ones who wear white coats are clinical instructors from the local college and university when bringing students on the unit, and some physicians.
Maybe because my job will not allow us to wear jackets of our choice. We have to wear a white lab coat according to the dress code policy. Who cares though?
Specializes in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine.
skglick said:
First of all, please don't use the term mid-level like we are somewhere between professional and non-professional. Secondly, we are not "quasi" anything! We are professionals working within our scope of practice. Yes, I wear a white lab coat with my name and credentials embroidered on it.
Thank you for saying that. I wanted to...you beat me to it.
I wear a lab coat (long) because I am provider and I find it is easier to talk with residents (patients for those not in long term care) and their families. People take me more seriously--I'm not the staff nurse or unit manager. I wear street clothes with my lab coat. My lab coat is clean, neat, and well-fitting. I keep an extra at work in case one gets dirty. It has my name and credentials embroidered on it.
I also want to comment on the mid-level provider thing. I don't provide mid-level care. I'm Dr. K. although I usually introduce myself as "Dr. K., I'm not a physician, I have a doctorate in nursing practice. You can call me Isabel or Dr. K. as you prefer." I worked hard to provide a high level of care and I provide much more in-depth care to my residents than the attendings who only have to see people every 60 days. I see all of my panel monthly, more often as needed. I manage diabetes, Coumadin, CKD, HTN, and on and on and on. If needed, I make the decision to use a specialist such as nephrology or cardiology. I call the attendings when I need a consult that is more general, but mostly it's "Hey, I left a DNR for you to sign" (yeah, NYS is a little slow on the realization that NPs should be able to sign a DNR/DNI/MOLST/POLST). I practice within a very broad scope of practice without a collaborating or supervising physician based on my licensure.
And who provides low-level care? RNs? If that's the case, what about LPNs and CNAs and PCA, etc?
I hate the term "mid-level". I'm not mid anything.
Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.
My husband is getting me a really nice white lab coat with My Name, MSN and I am going to proudly rock that lab coat up and down every hall I walk with my business casual office attire.
Oh the hilarity. Did someone in an ugly white coat hurt your feelings? Hang onto your undies...but I wear a white coat too...and I'm JUST a nursing assistant (required!) as a student RN I also wear a white coat....I wear a white coat to my labs...white coats. White coats everywhere.
In some cases, it is required for management to do so. I am a Nurse Manager and I do not wear a lab coat. I wear professional looking clothing, generally dark slacks and a shirt. It is actually not a good idea to be dragging that filthy thing into every patient's room. Some of the most respected MDs I know cannot be bothered to wear one that is clean. Lab techs all wear them, when, in fact, they should be wearing a clean cover gown when drawing blood. PPE. It is required in dialysis, but not in labs nor at the bedside in hospitals.
theRPN2b
147 Posts
The hospital where I work (In Ontario,Canada) it seems that they only ones who wear white coats are clinical instructors from the local college and university when bringing students on the unit, and some physicians.