Would you quit over white uniforms?

If your facility went back to white uniforms for licensed nursing personnel, would you quit? Just wondering as I've heard discussions about some facilities going back to all white for nursing staff.

Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.

I know a big, big fella who went through school for his ADN , and he made sure that white was not a requirement before he would even apply to a place. He gets boils on his upper, inner thighs every so often. He has to not only wear a large-size bandaid, but he also places thin self-stick sanitary napkins on the inside of his pant legs to cover all the bases if there is drainage that the bandaid can't handle.

I'd bet that if his place of employment made white mandatory, he'd be one of the first one's out the door, poor guy.

Good grief ladies..You haven't figured out yet how to manage to keep your menses from staining your clothing...really...really? You're clutching at straws and throwing out red herrings!

There are tons of products out there to protect your clothing... including liners, lightweight water proof underwear etc etc. You double up...use both tampons and pads..and liners and waterproof garments. You do what it takes regardless how heavy your menses!

It doesn't matter what color you wear..the staining you allow to penetrate your clothing is visible to the rest of the world....and so is the offensive odor you carry around on those 'dark' pants!

No nurse who can't/won't/doesn't handle her personal hygiene, not to be visible during menses, whether she is in shorts, a swim suit, tight jeans ..or a white uniform...quite frankly should be ashamed that she has so little respect for herself that she can't figure it out...and do what is necessary to prevent accidents from happening.

Sorry, that '"menses' argument is so bogus, mostly used to try to embarrass and intimidate the members of the administration :-)

Any woman, nurse, who can't find some way to handle what women for hundreds of years have managed...to prevent soiling their clothing, whatever color, or revealing the state of their menstrual cycle through improper attention to detail ...has a real problem and isn't trying hard enough.

Your grandmothers did it with torn rags which they washed by hand with a wash board and managed to maintain their personal hygiene and their dignity.

Women today have hundreds of products to manage all levels of menstruational flow, even perimenopause, ....which includes appropriate medication to manage any problem that does not require surgery!!!

Sorry...good try though :-)

Nowadays it's hard to find a job. To quit over a color of fabric is foolishness. Be glad you have a job.

Specializes in Rehab, Hospital, Travel Nurse, VNA,.

Of course not, that is silly.

Honestly, I've thought about this question many times. What I have all but concluded is that while I probably would never have entered nursing if nurses were required to wear white, I probably would not quit. Frankly, as depressing as the thought of wearing white is, I need to be able to pay my bills.

Nope! No doubt it would take some getting used to (laundry routine, appropriate undergarments, etc) but I'd work with it.

Caps--maybe, if the bobby pins consistently gave me headaches. Definitely would line another job first.

I would not quit

Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Somebody working in a hospital somewhere, who probably never did bedside nursing, decided that the customer liked color coding best. Or maybe the customer, after a three day stay in the hospital, once in five years, answered a questionnaire about the color of uniforms.

As I posted earlier, I really don't care what color I wear. But the closer my own facility gets to that place, the more resentful I find myself. It's really soured my mood.

Why would a boss deliberately antagonize half their work force?

One reason I wouldn't quit is because I wouldn't mind throwing my uniform in a steaming hot washer full of bleach. I like bleach- it's a very good disinfectant and sanitizer. I wouldn't mind wearing a hat either except that it would probably get knocked off in my job because I have to stoop down and wipe up blood spills and move cords and hoses from behind the machines and chairs (dialysis). Plus I'm not sure if it would give me a headache. I get aggravated about my stethoscope on my neck, weighing on my shoulders, or slipping off and getting hung up in my jacket etc.

Yes, I would quit.

Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.

If, prior to my retirement, I had been made to wear white, again, as I did when I first entered nursing in the mid 1950s, I would have complied, as long as I, and my coworkers, were given sufficient staff. I wonder if the quid pro quo would have worked? Caps, would be another story, as due to the meds that I must take, my hair is way too thin to keep a cap in place.

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