Chennai Uniforms

According to studies made, by changing the colors of the doctors and nurses uniforms to scrubs; it helps to allay the patients’ anxieties re hospitals. The reasoning was that hospitals were associated with white; pain; illnesses and death. . That’s why even the curtains in most hospitals are in colors now. Besides, the splatter of blood is easily visible in white. Whites also indicate sterility and are quite conservative. Scrubs are more practical, easy to maintain; do not need ironing and are cost effective and more durable. Pretty colors can bring happiness and an upbeat attitude among the patients.

A lot of people have problems with white uniforms because nurses deal with bodily fluids all day and their uniforms get soiled. It is nearly impossible to keep them clean. The white uniform also has the angel image problem. It harks back to the time when nurses were thought of as spiritual characters that provide emotional comfort, not professionals who save lives.

When you are perceived as an angel, people don’t have a problem asking you to work 15-hour shifts without a break.

Potential drawback on this:

In a lot of hospitals, nurses are being replaced with technicians to save money. Some hospitals require everyone to wear generic scrubs and forbid nurses to identify themselves as registered nurses. If they did, the patients and families would know just how few nurses there are on staff.

White uniforms do have the advantage of being distinctive, and obviously they would help patients identify nurses, given the profession’s traditional association with the color. Moreover, some may see white as preferable to what the article describes as “pajama like scrubs splattered with colorful flowers, images of SpongeBob SquarePants or candy canes,” which may encourage people to regard nurses as something other than serious professionals. So the white uniforms can enhance or restore professionalism to this field; however, it can prevent individual expression. Some scrubs are quite attractive and if you have an unflattering figure, it can hide a lot. They come in pretty standard sizes of Large- Medium and Small and are quite inexpensive. .White uniforms are much more expensive.

Nursing uniforms in colors or scrubs can actually be a factor in short-staffing and the shortage. It can improve the morale among nurses. Thus, the improved image of nurses makes for an increase in numbers of potential nurses

We guess it depends on the hospital?

There are no standardized color codes for nurses, although, in certain hospitals we have noticed that certain types of nurses will all wear the same uniforms. These colors are not followed nationally, regionally, or even necessarily on a day to day basis by those nurses though.

I am a big fan of nurses wearing a uniform but an even bigger fan if the uniform identifies them as a nurse, and there lies the challenge. For me the whole reason for wearing a uniform is so that patients can identify us as a nurse.

 

Nurse’s uniforms over the years have seen more changes then Michael Jackson’s face. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify the who’s who of the hospital staff. Do you believe that nurses in your hospital are easily identifiable? If they are not identifiable now, when do you believe they were (if ever)?

 

I liked it when I wore a nurse’s tunic with the buttons on the side and up to the neck. This was a useful article of clothing for male nurses as it made them quickly and easily identifiable as a nurse. While it may not be practice to go retro in the nurses uniform’s fashion stakes, my concern is that the recent titillations to nurse’s uniforms have done little to make them stand out as nurses.

 

From the patient’s perspective hospital staff’s uniforms are all blending in to a montage of fabric patterns that the untrained eye can barely distinguish. Nurses can now be easily be confused with a member of the domestic or cleaning staffs that are often on the wards. Recently I was in a hospital in Chennai and the staffs that were the easiest to identify were the student nurses from university. It was such a simple idea but it works really well the nurses had an embroided insignia that identified them as a student nurse. Maybe all our uniforms should be embroidered front and back so to identify the wearers’ role. It wouldn’t matter then if there were variations or different options in the uniform range as everyone role would be clearly plastered on their chests.

 

Would this simple idea work in your hospital or nursing home or are you already using it? Specialist nurses that work in the hospital but those who don’t wear a uniform can easily be confused for doctors. ID badges are too small for most patients to read easily so offer little insight into who the staff is and what they do. Maybe a system of fabric vests like workmen wear (but not fluoro color) worn over their clothing and with the nurses’ role printed onto the front and back of the vest would help (e.g. “Nurse: Diabetic Educator”).

 

Nurses’ uniforms need to be comfortable to wear, easy to maintain (wash & wear) and make the wearer feel that they are able to carry out their duties while maintaining a professional appearance. I believe it is also vital for the uniform to identify the wearer’s role in an unambiguous way.

 

What do you think?