# American nurses - why do they look like crap? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144 "2003-06-02T16:00:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/101 "2003-06-04T04:34:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\* > Oh, and until you go around wearing a skirt and pantyhose, don’t you DARE tell us women that pants aren’t more convenient. Have you ever worn a skirt and pantyhose? Then shut the fuck up. > \*\* And what would you say if he had actually worn one? ---
**Author:** ![Purple\_Scottie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@Purple\_Scottie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purple_Scottie)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/102 "2003-06-04T09:48:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DoctorJ \* > \*\*No, no, no! You’re forgetting Dr. J’s Rule #1: _Never_ shower, change clothes, or fuss with your hair when you’re on call. The goal should be to look (and smell) like you’ve been there for 30 hours straight. If you do, people will help you get your work done so you can get out of there; if you look fresh and ready to go, they’ll work you like you are. > > Learn well, grasshopper. > > (Of course, the new work hours rules may render this moot, as they’ll have no choice but to help get you out.) > > Dr, J \*\* Alas, I will still be an exploitable source of labor for another year (I’m just winding up M3 year). Also, I’ve discovered that some sadistic residents actually enjoy coming up with more and more scut to be done whenever they sense medical student fatigue. It is the only excuse I can come up with for being sent to do a H&P on a consult at 4 p.m. post call when I hadn’t gotten any sleep. Of course, that particular consult was made even more enjoyable by the fact that the resident couldn’t remember the patient’s name, medical record number, or room number. Being told that the patient is male, probably on the second, third, or fourth floor, and is in renal failure doesn’t really help narrow it down much. By the time I found the patient (awesome nurses who looked rather neat and professional in their scrubs helped me out), did the H&P on a rather not-nice patient, and wrote it up, the person who sent me to do this had left and never would return my pages. I finally gave up and went home only to be yelled at the next day by a resident higher up for not having the H&P and orders on the chart – they were done but without a doctor’s signature they were worthless. Sorry to ramble off, but I’m still pretty burnt out from this past year and studying for boards and the step isn’t helping much. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/103 "2003-06-04T11:18:47Z")
I got a bit curious about this – I work in a hospital and no-one but the theatre and x-ray staff wear scrubs. I thought maybe it’s cause I work in a private hospital but a few inquiries later and public hospitals have similar dress codes for staff. At my hospital the uniform for a nurse is a dress shirt in whatever colour is appropriate (green pattern for registered nurses, blue for enrolled nurses and a million other variations) and similarly coloured slacks. Female nurses also have the option here of pants or a skirt (and the receptionists, who are also RN’s have a dress option as well). Anyone who’s possibly going to come in contact with body fluids have a few different protective items they have to wear – clear plastic aprons, gloves and these plastic shoe covers for when they have to help someone shower. These seem to work fine – after lots of work on wards with cancer and stroke patients I’ve yet to see anyone have a garment stained. I’m an orderly and my uniform is a white shirt (looks a bit like the stereotypical dentist shirt) and grey pants. If anyone’s going to come in contact with crap it’s the people in my job as we always assist with any patients that can’t move by themselves. They are always the people that have incontinence issues or fresh wounds or something similar and it’s obviously very hands on since we’re supporting them. While I certainly would like it if everyone wore scrubs here (easier ironing ;)) , wearing a sensible uniform instead doesn’t seem to raise any real issues. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/104 "2003-06-04T12:29:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by genie \* > **The other day on an old TV show I saw a nurse in a nurse cap and thought, “gosh, what a useless and impractical little item. Why in the world would she want to wear that?” (Yes, I’m familiar with the evolution of nurse’s uniforms. I know where the cap came from.)** Okay, where did it come from? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/105 "2003-06-04T13:21:54Z")
[Here’s where the caps originated](http://www.civilization.ca/hist/infirm/inevo03e.html). ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/106 "2003-06-04T15:29:30Z")
I’m still waiting to hear about **Francis** ’ experiences on the hospital’s front lines, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/107 "2003-06-04T15:41:53Z")
Well, I have to admit, I am a fan of vintage fashions, and wish we could go back to wearing hats and gloves when going on, and regency dresses and pelisses and bustles. That being said, not while one is taking care of patients. Didn’t the original nurse’s headdress cover the entire hair and have a veil under the chin? I would assume this was for sanitary purposes. Also, I think there’s a word for the OP, well, actually a few: drawing room soldier, powdered officer, fop, dandy. He reminds me of those 19th century officers who wore full dress uniform at all times and hung around in drawing rooms with jeweled snuffboxes and powdered wigs. And he NEVER saw combat. Or worked in a hospital. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/108 "2003-06-04T15:57:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Green Bean \* > Why do American nurses “look like crap?” Well, because they dress and groom themselves in a way that helps them do their jobs effectively. Nurses are the true angels, and I find it disgusting that you would criticize them for not dressing in a way that you find aesthetically pleasing. Couldn’t agree more. During my only time in hospital I was blown away by the level of care the nurses gave me. Since then I’ve greatly respected nurses and believe that they should be looked after (pay and conditions) a lot better than they are, well in Ireland anyway but from what I understand it’s pretty universal. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/109 "2003-06-04T16:41:08Z")
I don’t get why someone would say scrubs don’t look professional. They’re by and large the standard of the profession, which makes them, by definition, professional. If you keep your scrubs neat, clean (well, as much as you can), and in good repair, and they match and fit you properly, and your personal hygiene is reasonable, what’s the big deal? I think a lot of the problem is that many people wear scrubs that don’t fit them very well, and it’s hard to look professional and well-groomed when you’re wearing ill-fitting clothes. Standard-issue scrubs from the hospital (as well as basic scrubs from most companies) are unisex, so they’re really sized and proportioned for men. The things designed and proportioned for women tend to be way more expensive. Also, when I was working at Life Uniform, we had payroll-deduction accounts with a lot of the local hospitals and medical offices, and only a handful of styles were allowed for the payroll deduction programs. If the particular pant your department approved didn’t fit you very well, you could either look like ass or do without your payroll deduction for your uniforms. Assuming, of course, that your supervisor didn’t notice you weren’t wearing the approved uniform. Most people who buy their own scrubs figure out eventually what works best for them in terms of fit and affordability. It can take a while, though. It took me 3 years to find the White Swan line of basic scrubs, which are cut much shorter in the legs and crotch than standard unisex scrubs, so I don’t have to pull the waistband up to my boobs. They sell for $20 a complete set at the local independent shop, too. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/110 "2003-06-04T16:52:24Z")
I too think that Gytha put the debate to rest. Well, what do you expect from such a skilled witch anyway? Well, maybe a pint of scumble? Yes, I said a pint. I’ve got a few rooms of paint to strip. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/111 "2003-06-04T17:02:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Francis E Dec, Esq \* > \*\*Clothes don’t have to look like you-don’t-give-a-shit-how-you-look to be comfy. > > For nurses that are doing messy work, fine. But what about the nurses in clinics where the most they are doing is taking temperatures and maybe drawing a little blood. As a patient I already feel like a non-person. (I’ve reached the point where if I make an appointment at 3:00, I know that _really_ means 3:30, so that’s when I show.) That the nurses feel free to see me while in their pajamas just adds to that.\*\* Even “only” drawing blood the nurses are exposed to infectuous materials. Scrubs are an idea choice to wear because they are cheaper and easier to clean than the more traditional nurses garb. It’s far cheaper to have 10-20 sets of scrubs on hand for each nurse/doctor and have them change each time they get sprayed in someone’s blood than it is have 10 cute little nurses outfits that have to be bleached and starched each time they’re washed. Also, keep in mind there is a psychological benifit to darker uniforms. It’s a lot harder to see your blood spray on the people working on you if they are wearing darker colours… blood is a little visible on white. So basically it comes down to cost, the hospitals are going to do what’s cheaper. Do you really want to eat the cost of cleaning those pretty little nurses hats? Because that’s who will pay for them. Yes candystripers look cute in their little getup. But they don’t actually provide nursing care, so they aren’t exposed to infectuous materials the same way nurses and orderlies are. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/112 "2003-06-04T17:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*I was just watching a CNN broadcast from Iraq, and I saw some British soldiers. Man, that was depressing. I remember when they used to march about in these snazzy red coats and tall hats, with these neat-o rifles and foot-long bayonets. Now, they’re all wearing these ugly, rumpled greenish things, with fruit bowls on their heads. And their rifles - you call that a rifle? The thing’s barely 3" long! > \*\* I think those rifles are a little longer than 3 inches. That’s what he said! Thank you, I’m here all week. ---
**Author:** ![Velma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/85e7bf/32.png) [@Velma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velma)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/113 "2003-06-04T17:44:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrazyCatLady \* > \*\* > Also, when I was working at Life Uniform, we had payroll-deduction accounts with a lot of the local hospitals and medical offices, and only a handful of styles were allowed for the payroll deduction programs. If the particular pant your department approved didn’t fit you very well, you could either look like ass or do without your payroll deduction for your uniforms. Assuming, of course, that your supervisor didn’t notice you weren’t wearing the approved uniform. > > \*\* I worked for Life Uniform all through college! I’m not in the medical profession but I still own a few pairs of scrubs because I like them so much:) I loved their Apples for Life cleaner…man, that stuff could get anything out! ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/114 "2003-06-04T18:59:37Z")
I just had an idea – in the same way that restaurants hire one or two attractive women to hang around and show people to their tables, maybe hospitals should have a couple show-nurses in more traditional outfits to go around, chat with patients, and maybe twist a couple knobs now and then. ---
**Author:** ![45\_70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/5f9b8f/32.png) [@45\_70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/45_70)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/115 "2003-06-04T19:52:32Z")
All we can hope for is **Francis E Dec, Esq.** receives health care from the very few who can’t read, give shots with the gentleness of Sammy Sosa hitting a melon with a corked bat, and are dressed to the nineth degree so his fashion sense will not be harmed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/116 "2003-06-04T20:23:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lucwarm \* > \*\*I just had an idea – in the same way that restaurants hire one or two attractive women to hang around and show people to their tables, maybe hospitals should have a couple show-nurses in more traditional outfits to go around, chat with patients, and maybe twist a couple knobs now and then. \*\* One or two attractive women? 😕 I was a hostess once, and I _think_ that’s what you mean…when I was sixteen… I always figured I was just there to, you know, take people to their tables and be the person they shouted at when the wait was an hour and a half…:smack: And “twist a couple knobs”? That sounds dirty somehow. :dubious: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SeGate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SeGate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeGate)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/117 "2003-06-04T21:04:34Z")
As I am not an Esq., I’m not sure my opinion counts for much… But my mom is a nurse. She gets up every morning (at the buttcrack of dawn), curls her hair, puts on makeup, and puts on clean scrubs. At work she usually cares for cancer patients. But she has to be ready to float to another unit with no advance notice. She used to wear white nurses’ dresses and white hose every day. She finds it is much easier to lift patients and run to a code blue in scrubs. I was going to say that I would much rather have nurses wear scrubs, than to lay in a pool of my own filth while 1950’s nurse in her starched whites tries to find a way to help me up… but then I realized that even those nurses would try their hardest to help, expensive uniform be damned. A lot of patients are embarrassed by their illness (especially when they can’t control bodily functions). They only feel worse if they think they’ve ruined some pristine uniform. For the love of Mike, can’t **Frances** find a real problem to complain about?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GythaOgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/49beb7/32.png) [@GythaOgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GythaOgg)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/118 "2003-06-04T22:12:30Z")
I don’t have any scumble, sad to say - Greebo drank it all and now he’s up on the roof howling. With his fur standing all up on end. One more comment on the scrub issue. If I’m emptying a bedpan and it sloshes, or if a patient throws up or looses control of their bowels…and I’m wearing a skirt…all that goes straight onto my legs. Pantyhose are no protection. It’s on my skin, where I might have a cut, or a scrape, or anything. If I’m wearing scrubs, it goes on the scrubs. And I can go put on a new pair with a minimum of fuss. BTW, this link is for the interns and residents that I know are here. You guys do a great job, and your work IS appreciated. [http://www.nurstoon.com/comic190.html](http://www.nurstoon.com/comic190.html) The whole site is a hoot, actually, and I highly recommend it! Gytha ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/119 "2003-06-04T23:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*[Here’s where the caps originated](http://www.civilization.ca/hist/infirm/inevo03e.html). \*\* Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144/120 "2003-06-05T00:32:56Z")
Nurses do a lot of hard work… the last time I was in hospital (which was years ago), I didn’t remember how the nurses looked. All I cared about was that they were there for me and the other patients, doing their jobs. They’re caring professionals who have to do a LOT fo dirty work… scrubs are optimum. F\_X [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-nurses-why-do-they-look-like-crap/179144.md?page=7)