Would you quit over white uniforms?

Nurses General Nursing Nursing Q/A

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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.

Sorry, but what arrogance is implied?

It further implies that nursing staff doesn't matter. Just a necessary evil required for the hospital to make profit, and they will dress that necessary evil as prettily as required for guests to give those good HCAHPS ratings! Everyone knows who has a CLUE about patient care that white scrubs are a horrible choice, as well as just common sense. Who wants to select the rest of their wardrobe around it? I'm a guy, but I can appreciate that women might not want to do that.

I'm another old fogey who started out in real "whites" and had no problem with it. In my experience, nurses got taken a lot more seriously and treated with more respect back when we looked like we expected to be taken seriously.

However, I disagree with you about the pantyhose -- although I'm not wild about them in general, I've always worn support pantyhose when working floors, because my legs feel so much better at the end of the day!

Do you feel like nurses were respected back when you started because of what they wore, or because the patient was not "The Customer" and hospitals were more about curing what ails and comforting what cannot be cured vs. HCAHPS scores and bribing patients with meal-trays after cafeteria hours and narcotics on demand?

I think the white scrubs symbolize the notion that nurses are chaste/virginal and that's just disgusting to me. I'm perfectly capable of wearing whatever color clothes I choose without people having to be scared and disapproving that I may be an adult person with a normal sexuality. I'm for whatever color scrubs you want to assign me, but not if it's based on something weird like that. I mean, how about making nurses all wear red scrubs to indicate that most of us have menses? Ugh.

Where do people get these ideas from? The white uniforms started around the same time physicians switched from dark frock coats to white coats for sanitation purposes (nothing to do with anyone's sexuality). Nurses prior to that time also wore dark uniforms, and nurses and physicians wore the same clothes over and over, day after day, and no one had any idea what stains and bodily fluids were in the dark fabric. The switch to white coats and uniforms for physicians and nurses went along with other radical breakthroughs like handwashing.

This one is a no brainer. :nurse: ALL nurses should have to wear a traditional white dress uniform, complete with the little white and red nurses cap. (including the men) Lets face it girls (and guys), the only one in the hospital of any real importance is the physician. Doctors have all the power and earn about 50 times as much as we do. We should all be down on our knees kissing their doctor bums and thanking them for letting us do all the work on their behalf.

Well if you want to be technical about this, you all wouldn't have your jobs in the hospitals if it weren't for the doctors who admit the sick patients(who without them you also wouldn't have a job).

Just sayin'.

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

Funniest thing on one dress code at my job a number of years ago was "No inappropriate underwear." And this was well before thongs. We all wanted to know WHO is going to check? Apparently some female wore red-hearted underpants and white bottoms. She maintained that they were "meant to be seen". Yuh, well, everybody saw 'em!

Considering I just took off my white scrubs about 2 hours ago... Yeah no I won't quit my job. We can wear white or blue. I bought white to break up the all blue. White scrubs and a paycheck versus quitting because of white scrubs??? I take the white scrubs and paycheck Alex.

Seems like such a trivial thing to want to quit over. I quite like the institutional look. More power to the staff IMO.

Quit? Of course not. I survived just fine for years in white uniforms. I guess I just don't see the big deal. I actually wore white and made those uniforms last without looking all stained up. Stains show up just as starkly on ciel blue.

Compared with many jobs where you need to wear suits, take clothes to the dry cleaners or look upscale/stylish, nurses have it easy. I spent a lot more money dressing for work when I worked in offices than when I became a nurse. My entire working wardrobe now is 4 tops, 4 pants, a jacket and a pair of Danskos.

Specializes in L&D.

No but considering I work in labor and delivery....it would be very impractical.

Specializes in ICU/PACU.

What about all blue or all green scrubs for nurses? Why the white. No, I wouldn't quit, but I would rally with my coworkers to get the color changed to something more appealing.

Specializes in Urgent Care.

It wouldn't bother me. I'm a new grad in California. I'll take the job even if they made me wear neon yellow scrubs with zebra prints.

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

No, I would not. White was our uniform color at a previous job. I certainly don't prefer white uniforms but it's not that big of a deal to quit.

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