“Clothes make the man” (or woman). I, for one, can’t wrap my mind around the concept. But whether I like it or not the ‘clothing’ of a nurse has definitely ‘made’ them.
What other profession out there can solely be recognized by a uniform? I mean the word/term ‘nurse’ and its profession conjures up all those wonderful images of the traditional white uniform, the hat, the skirt, the white pantyhose, the white shoes, etc.
Before I became a nurse I sheepishly equated nurses/nursing to good ole’ Nurse Ratched (sorry!).
Uniforms of old
Isn’t it funny how in the beginning of our profession, the uniform was designed to signify and separate us from the un-trained? In the first years of Flo’s nursing school, the uniform communicated respect and formal ‘training’. Centuries later the uniform still does that very thing — with the added flare of controversy (the debate of color coded care).
Uniforms today – fit and function (finally!)
Over the years (thankfully) the ‘style’ of our uniform has definitely evolved to meet the needs of our evolving responsibilities and diversity. The ‘fit and function’ of the original left a lot to be desired. These days the ‘fit and function’ of my scrubs are THE reason I wear them. With the million and one things we do every day I need my uniform to ‘stand the test’ so to say. Yes, I’m happy to report I never had to wear a skirt. Although as a nursing student I DID have to wear an all white uniform! I was a walking Q-tip (with my shiny bald head)! Needless to say, I vowed to never wear all white again.
Uniforms tomorrow – can scrubs do it all?
It begs the question: What will the uniform of the future bring us? I, for one, would like to see the ‘fit and function’ part of our scrubs taken to a new level.
- How about a nursing uniform that doubles as a protective gown (for all those patients in precautions)? Could you imagine the amount of time and energy we could save if something was devised that eliminated the ‘gowning up’ procedure??
- Some sort of cool stain-resistant feature would be worth it’s weight in gold. Hey, maybe we should consult NASA?
- Heck, maybe even extend it a little further. What if we had a pair of scrubs that worked as a protective gown for our ‘precaution’ patients, but then somehow had a built-in set of ‘gloves’???
Whoa. Now that would be awesome (OK, so I’m a sci-fi fan – how’d you guess).
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This article was republished with permission from SCRUBS Magazine.
When I graduated nursing school, the entire class was adorned in white. Over the years (most of which was spent in ICU or ER), I know how impractical a white uniform is in those areas (especially now, where peroxide isn’t ubiquitous throughout the hospital to take care of those blood stains).
I took greater pride in my school graduation pin than in wearing whites. Though, having a military background, I kept my whites essentially as a “dress uniform” for those occasional events that command the wearing of professional wear (they don’t happen often, but…).
The reality is, with the expansion of care responsibility to multiple professions, it’s difficult on any given day who (as a patient) is providing your care. It could be an RN, or LPN/RPN, or NA/STNA/Paramedic, or OT/PT, etc, etc.
For myself, and keeping within the guidelines set out by my employer, we utilize the NOD protocol (Name, Occupation, Duty – essentially, who I am, what’s my profession, and what task I am there to perform), plus each patient has a whiteboard indicating all of the staff caring for that patient.
Gone are the days where you had your staffman wearing the long lab coat, being followed around by their fellows, residence and interns/clerks (wearing the short lab coat), nurses in white wearing caps with double bands (RN’s) or single bands (LPN’s/RPN’s); those that provided 90% of the care you received. I know there was a great deal of pushback when a local hospital began dictating uniform colours; not so much because because of the colour scheme but rather the opinion that if the hospital was going to dictate uniform colour, then the hospital should also pay for those uniforms – I personally don’t disagree with this line of thinking.
For myself, I identify myself to my patients, often greeting them with a handshake if possible. If I am identified by a patient as being another profession other than the one I am, I introduce myself (again) and correct the error. I don’t necessarily feel that a particular uniform colour is THE answer.
It is really sad to hear people referring to “the nurse” to anyone who wears scrubs. As a home care Clinical Coordinator, I have noticed that private house keeping companies are now using scrubs as their uniform. Patients are not just forgetful, but now almost anyone that walks in a patient’s home could be wearing scrubs making it even more difficult for them to define who the nurse is.
The white uniform still respected and easily identifies the nurse. It is an icon of nursing. Wearing the white uniform to me is wearing my PRIDE. The white uniform is a representation of my professionalism, those who mentored me, the hard work I put in to earn my whites. The white uniform gives me confidence and courage to care for others. It keeps me grounded and reminds me of the reason I became a nurse.
I encourage new generations to wear their PRIDE because you put all the effort to earn your white!!!
When I am in the hospital or a doctor’s office as a patient, I cannot identify among my caregivers who is an RN, who is an LPN, who is an nursing assistant. And other ancillary personnel often wear scrubs. If they have nametags on, they are very small. And many wear lanyards with their ID on it: those have REALLY small print and are often flipped over with the back not the front showing. Most of the staff do not introduce themselves: they do not give their name nor do they state what their work status is. I have started just out and out politely asking every person their name and what their job designation is. I sometimes get kind of snooty attitude from staff when I do this, but decided I do not care. I want to know who is caring for me.
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The director of our RN program hated wearing her cap, and she mercifully didn’t make us wear one. Unfortunately, we still got stuck wearing all white. She said the cap got in the way too much during hands on patient care. I loved wearing scrubs when I did ER and ICU bedside nursing. I always made it a point to introduce myself as my patients’ nurse. So they never had a problem knowing who I was. And since nursing is no longer a women’s profession, it’s kind of silly to only have female nurses wear the cap and not the male nurses. And for anyone who had heavy periods, white is a nightmare color.
I’ve been in the hospital as a patient twice last year. All those assigned to care for me also introduced themselves as well as write their names on the whiteboard in the room as well as the name of the charge nurse. It wasn’t about what uniform they wore. They effectively communicated to their patients who they were and provided excellent care.
When I went into Case Management, I had an ugly green lab coat. I only wore it when I helped with patients while I was in the room with them. Luckily, I didn’t have to wear it.
Sadly, the white cap, white dress, and white stockings have been taken over by the degrading sexy nurse image. I’m sure all of you HATE that as much as I do.
In our hospital, nurses wear all white, nurse assistants wear green, and respiratory therapist wear blue. It is professional and delineated the different roles well. This helps patients/families know who is in their room (which our patients appreciate). As a nurses for 20 years, I think nurses wearing white reflects professionalism, prestige, and uniformity. I think all hospital should go back to this.
This is so nostalgic and I love it. I worked so hard to earn that cap and the right to wear all white uniforms. I think you can still get Clinics white shoes – just remember to wash the shoelaces every once in a while. It is a shame that the profession has become so sloppy. And it is a bigger shame that the patients will say “but the nurse told me ….” when, in fact, that was a housekeeper. Because there is no identity hints, it is easy to get confused. The nursing role has changed over the decades making us more valuable as healthcare team members. It’s time to take on the professional role again instead of the mall rat slacker in scrub pants and a tee shirt. We don’t wear caps any more because they always got caught in the privacy curtains. There has to be a better way to universally identify an RN.
I miss seeing the NURSE in her uniform – including the cap (not hat). When being a patient, it is very disheartening to not now who is in your room.
The loss of professional recognition related to the laxity of today’s scrubs is very sad. In my era (I am a working case manager in an acute hospital) no one knows who is the Real Nurse. RNs used to take pride in their position. We were respected. Maybe we should go back to our origins. I’m proud of my special place in the health care world. Maybe it’s time for us to delineate ourselves again
I agree, nurses should be recognizable. Some sort of distinguished apparel item would be helpful for the patients as well as DRs, ancillary staff and family trying to locate a nurse. Hats are definitely cumbersome piece of apparel and for male nurses many of them shave their heads. Maybe large letters spelling “NURSE” front and back on scrubs instead of the tiny name tag?
As a travel nurse certified case manager I have been in many hospitals over the last 4 years and I agree, that some type of color conformity in scrubs should be worn do that everyone knows who the RN is, who the LPN is and who the CNA is. One of the hospitals was leaning toward having only RNs wear white scrub pants, but any color scrub top, and the CNAs would wear only a certain color scrub pant and so on. Every hospital I have worked in required the Casr Manager to wear a white almost to the knee lab coat and had “Case Manager” with the person’s name and degree and certification abbreviations printed on it.
AGREE!!!
I agree with parts and wholes of everyone’s opinions. I loved my ‘whites’. I worked long and hard to earn them and for me they were my badge of achievement. I loved my cap. It was the same for every health institution across the country. You walked into any hospital anywhere and you knew who to go to. OR – green scrubs, nurses – white with caps, MDs – white lab coat, housekeeping – blue. Easy peasy. To this day when I am in a memory impaired unit I wear my whites. I have even put on my cap. Those residents take their medications and trust me more when I do that.
Remember when men wore hats and suits and coats to work? Travelling on a plane meant you dressed up. No one went to church without their best of clothes. There was a sense of pride and differentiation between ‘work’ and ‘play’, being out and about or staying at home.
When everything becomes ‘casual’ or ‘come as you are’, what becomes special, different, important?
Linda, you are so right! We’ve become too lax with regard to professional attire! It’s like it’s always “casual Friday” in the clinical setting. In the 70’s, as a college student, we were proud to wear our caps, with different colored stripes indicating what year we were in, being our college’s colors. Pastel yellow tops & white pants finished our student uniform. Again – so proud to be wearing it. For our pinning ceremony, the night before our college graduation ceremony, we wore all white dresses, & our bright new caps now bore the thin black ribbon of a graduate nurse. It was quite an emotional experience, knowing thousands of Nurses had preceded us through this journey.
We were our uniforms to work, slowly making the change from dresses to pants, & nursing shoes to white leather tennis shoes. The caps eventually sat in our lockers, as they got knocked askew many times a shift.
I’ve been an OR RN for 35 years: meaning I live in green scrubs. But going to work, our hospital still expects us to wear “business casual” in each morning, & home each evening. It does remind me of older times, in my youth, when my Dad always wore a suit, a fedora, & dress coat/shoes to work, Church, visiting family, etc. Mom always wire a dress, hat, gloves. Looking nice was the norm, & expected! The hospital I’m at now had color schemes for every unit’s scrub wardrobe. They mix & match but always in “their” colors, so the rest of us knew where we all work. Name tags have a big “RN”, “CST”, LPN. CNA, etc, on them so it’s clear who the Real Nurse is. But sometimes I miss those simpler, nicer times.
I agree with everything you say. I also think that most people look sloppy in scrubs and many wear dirty shoes. I take a lot of pride in my profession, but it saddens me to see nurses today act so casual about their appearance. I wore scrubs when I worked L&D and NICU, they were clean scrubs provided by the hospital. From the looks of some, I have to wonder how many people wear a clean pair of scuba everyday. It is also impossible to tell a nurse apart from other health care workers. I still have my cap– it is beautiful and perfectly white and clean.
Scrubs that stay up. What a concept. How about scrubs that detect your body temperature and adjust to cool you off or warm you up
Wouldn’t that be great? It’s always so cold in the OR, thin scrubs offer no warmth! Long silk underwear come to work with me, even in summer, as the scrub jackets they give us along with our scrubs offer little warmth!
I would settle for a pair of scrub pants that would stay up during my shift! Dare to dream. 🙂