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?
Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.
There are different lengths for different positions. An RN can wear a lab coat. I wear one if I am speaking at a class or as a representative of the nursing profession. I have other colors to wear at work if it is cold. Now I have a friend in who did her NP and she wore a longer white coat. I am in a MSN program so I think it is expected to wear a longer white coat with the masters. The doctors have an even longer coat! Residents and interns, we can tell their year by length as well.
That sucks. I'm sorry. You know, William Gibson wrote about a character (I think it was in All Tomorrow's Parties) who paints his dress shirt white everyday to hide that it's worn and fraying. I imagine that's what would happen to me with a lab coat.
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?
1) I haven't worked on the unit in awhile but WHAT is a skin team nurse?? This sounds naughty.
2) I don't wear a white coat because I get a big greasy spot on the back of mine from my well-oiled hair...it's so bad people don't even notice all the butt wrinkles and gritty dirt from where I rolled on it with my chair.
Skin team nurses make rounds throughout the hospital assessing, treating, or suggesting recommendations for treating skin alterations, wounds, etc. They're also called wound care nurses. I thought most hospitals had skin team nurses...
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I'm late to this discussion -- but I'll bite.
I wore a white lab coat, when I wore one, because as a clinical instructor on my own unit, it helped my colleagues to identify why I was there today. White lab coat meant I had students on the unit, and I wasn't necessarily there to help them pull up their patient in bed (although if I had the time, I'd get a student in there to help while I would supervise and clarify expectations.) Just scrubs meant I was there as staff and had an assignment.
I loved the teaching, was proud of the white coat with my name and role embroidered on the front and enjoyed being on my own unit. But in the end, I hated the hours . . . I couldn't wait to get back to my three 12-hour shifts a week.
I can't answer why normal staff nurses would want to wear a lab coat. They are hot and I would imagine easy to get soiled during patient care. I have never worn one while working as a bedside nurse. I do wear one when I am working as a clinical instructor so that I am identified as an educator (as the last poster said).
I think white coats should be worn by advanced practice roles or educators. That said, I don't think it should be some status symbol, but just a means of identifying certain roles. I also don't think there should be some special rule or anything--just an understanding. I hate when people try to alter their appearance in some attempt to appear more important. It actually kind of disgusts me how much more respect I get from people when I'm wearing a lab coat as an instructor. Kind of sad that a simple piece of clothing can make people treat you differently.
I didn't read thru all the responses, so forgive me if this has already been mentioned. Medical students (not nursing students) wear a short white coat; mid-level providers wear a hip length coat, and full-fledged MD's wear the long white coat. This is simply tradition, and signifies your position in the medical world. That said, way back when I was in nursing school in the 80's, we were required to wear a long white coat over our street clothes when in the hospital. If we were doing clinicals, we wore our student nurse uniform.
This was my understanding of "white coats" as well.
I was surprised then to see nurses wearing the long white coats when I started my nursing career. But I think the East Coast and the West Coast have different rules, so to speak.
I wear a shorter lab coat and have three: olive green, royal blue, and white. The white one was given to me by my nursing mentor and I so appreciated her help during nursing school and at work.
I work wound care now - I wear a clean lab coat every day. Then when I get home, I head straight to the basement and the laundry, toss my clothes into the washer, head upstairs for a shower.
Skin team nurses make rounds throughout the hospital assessing, treating, or suggesting recommendations for treating skin alterations, wounds, etc. They're also called wound care nurses. I thought most hospitals had skin team nurses...
Yep, we have them at my old hospital and they are/were called skin team nurses.
Did you have to wear a full white uniform with nursing cap? I think my class was the last class to have to suffer the humiliation of that at our college. The hospital nurses were moving on to colored uniforms and scrubs....you could literally see their snickering thoughts about our caps fleet across their faces.
A radio talk show doctor loved to tell the story about becoming a medical intern and proudly wearing a white lab coat. (This was 40 + years ago). We was wearing his white lab coat while he stopped to get groceries and a LOL, (in my days LOL meant little old lady), stopped him in the aisle. He was certain she was going to ask him medical advice or praise him for being a doctor. She asked him if he was the butcher!
I wore a white lab coat 5 years when I was House Administrative Nurse. I felt it gave me a little psychological boost (kind of like a shield) when I had to deal with visitors or staff in difficult or uncomfortable situations. (Telling family their loved one had died.)
mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN
3,319 Posts
There are different lengths for different positions. An RN can wear a lab coat. I wear one if I am speaking at a class or as a representative of the nursing profession. I have other colors to wear at work if it is cold. Now I have a friend in who did her NP and she wore a longer white coat. I am in a MSN program so I think it is expected to wear a longer white coat with the masters. The doctors have an even longer coat! Residents and interns, we can tell their year by length as well.
It is not as simple as wearing a "white" coat.