In this day and age, most nurses now wear scrubs to work. But will the traditional all-white nursing uniform make a comeback? We asked our Facebook community about it—here are their views.
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Many members of our community were against the traditional dress uniform on the grounds of practicality.
“God no thanks! Love my dresses but belts too restraining and hats a total waste of time! White uniforms completely impracticable especially when dealing with bodily fluids and my old white uniforms were so transparent my knickers could be seen!!!” – Jo L.
“There is at least once a month that I couldn’t imagine being in white pants.” – Vanese H.
“No. Classy as they were, this is hard work, and work clothes should be worn. I can’t imagine how their feet would hurt after 12 or 13 hours.” – Marcy L.
“God no! Been there did that and the stupid cap kept getting caught in the bedside curtain!” – Lisa S.
However, some think otherwise:
“Yes! To me it represents cleanliness and most of all it helps distinguish the Nurses from all the other people that work in Healthcare!” – Gracie M.
“I would love it!! And, I’m young. I think it is classy looking. I think it shows pride. And, I love my cap. We worked too hard to not wear them. Plus with many patients they can tell who the nurse is from other staff. Wearing different colors depending on the hospitals choice is confusing to many patients. That’s what they tell me.” – Kathleen E.
“Absolutely!!! White represents purity of heart and mind when it comes to caring for the sick. That is a tradition worth going back to.” – Patricia G.
Other community members even saw the traditional nursing uniforms as a little demeaning.
“Nursing caps have been proven to be a source of infection. Dresses are a representation of how women were stereotyped prior to the 1970s. Our profession should be enhanced by our practice not clean white dresses and caps.” – Jen C.
“Um no…Even in scrubs I have patients that treat me like I work at a bar. And how exactly are you supposed to look under the patient’s bed for their lost remote with a skirt on?” – Michelle D.
“Did a man want to know this? I don’t want to wear white anymore. I did years ago and hated it. I never wore white anywhere else. But I have been asked by quite a few men if nurses still wear them ‘sexy little dress uniforms.’ Ummm no. I’m not lady enough…sorry.” – Davi S.
“Our butts would constantly be on display…guess that would make a lot of little old men happy though.” – Vanese H.
Meanwhile, other nurses want a compromise:
“For formal, yes; but for everyday work no…they would get so dirty and let’s face it we need pants.” – Heather W.
“I agree with the white but wouldn’t want to wear a dress again. You appear more professional. I don’t like the fact of no nurse’s caps. To me that distinguished me from everyone else. As far as the shoes, I’ve never seen shoes worn like these in the 30+ years I’ve been a nurse! White tennis shoes works fine.” – Sue S.
And our male nurses pitch in:
“Ummm nope…dress wouldn’t look good on me. Well I think it wouldn’t.” – Mike D.
“Ah, no. I don’t have dress legs and I’m sure my hair is too short to pin my nursing hat to. Lol.” – Jeremy T.