# Can we please bring back traditional white nurses uniforms??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 8, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642 "2019-05-08T00:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 8, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/41 "2019-05-08T16:12:58Z")
While we’re at it, can we put nuns back in long black dresses with wimples? How can I decide to rescue a flaming bus full of orphans and nuns if I can’t recognize them as nuns??? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/42 "2019-05-08T16:27:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Red scrubs = technicians, who do things like take x-rays or draw blood or die on away teams Lord help you, **Little Nemo** , I spent **way** too long trying to puzzle out what medical-care task the phrase “die on away teams” could possibly be a typo for before I got the Star Trek reference. There will be retribution. [_shakes fist_] ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/43 "2019-05-08T16:42:35Z")
Anyone remember candy stripers? My first sister was one in the 60’s and I remember the vertically striped smock that she used to wear over her white uniform. Apparently, it’s still a thing! Though I don’t recall seeing any of them at our local hospital (which I spent way too much time in when my Mom was hospitalized. [http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20120105/ISLAND07/701059993](http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20120105/ISLAND07/701059993) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/44 "2019-05-08T21:15:05Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > While we’re at it, can we put nuns back in long black dresses with wimples? No, sorry, health codes won’t allow it. Far too many egregious injuries were occurring as nuns were trying to use the wimples to fly while playing lawn darts, resulting in the banning of the equipment for both. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/45 "2019-05-08T22:13:38Z")
[This is a traditional English nurse uniform.](https://cdn1.thehunt.com/app/public/system/zine_images/6726486/original/66667ff21bfe82b05711ae131425c551.jpg) In the early 20th Century they wore something [very close to a traditional nun’s uniform.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/d7/13/cdd7138bdd6bcf1cfccc16b500b7b8e6.jpg) > [@lingyi](#): > > Did you buy your own uniforms/scrubs? My mother bought her own uniforms - dresses, pants, shoes, etc. I don’t know if any of the hospitals she worked at gave her a clothing allowance, or if my parents took a tax deduction on them. She had two caps. She’d wash and starch one by hand while wearing the other one. I have no idea where she got the caps or what she’d do if she needed a new one. Practical nurses wore white, but as I noted, no pin and no stripe on their caps. Female aides wore a sort of jumper-like outfit with a plain white blouse. As an ordinary aide I wore a regular white shirt, white pants and regular dress shoes, although I was allowed to wear shoes with those big foam rubbery soles as long as they had leather tops and were polished. No tunic, that was for male nurses like Mean Mr. Mustard. (I’m a guy, by the way. No need to apologize. I learned years ago that Dopers found my posting style to be somewhat “androgynous.”) Volunteers wore pink and white jumpers, aka Candy Stripers. I think even the volunteers in the gift shop wore them. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/46 "2019-05-08T22:13:56Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You can’t tell who’s an orderly or janitor or a nurse. I think different colors for different job duties would work. With a key posted on the front door. Those methods of distinction won’t be adopted for another few centuries, mainly because the Federation of Planets won’t be invented for another couple centuries… :dubious: > [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > No, sorry, health codes won’t allow it. Far too many egregious injuries were occurring as nuns were trying to use the wimples to fly while playing lawn darts, resulting in the banning of the equipment for both. Oh, was that the rationale they used? I figured too many people were copying me and playing Nun-skeet with the lawn darts (and actually getting good at it). :eek: > [@Kimstu](#): > > I don’t think the nearly 10% of US nurses who are male are going to be too happy about being expected to wear that white dress. Not to mention the nylon pantyhose. Then again 10% of those 10% probably got into the profession so they could wear those uniforms throughout their work day. Call 'em 1-percent-ers. 😃 –G! I don’t need no needle to be givin’ me a thrill And I don’t need no anesthesia or a nurse to bring a pill I got a dirty down addiction that doesn’t leave a track I got a jones for your affection like a monkey on my back …–Jon Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi) …Bad Medicine …New Jersey ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/47 "2019-05-09T00:53:46Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > This is the traditional nurse uniform??? Doesn’t look the slightest bit like what I had in mind, and I wouldn’t have identified it. It looks like a French maid traditional dress, except for the color. Why would a nurse wear an apron??? > > The traditional nurse uniform, in my mind, looks like the first picture on this page : [Articles: Nurse Uniforms, What Happened?](http://www.marchdecember.com/articles/2004/08/nurse_uniforms.shtml) Scroll down midway here for a still from [Call the Midwife](https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/736109/call-the-midwife-christmas-series-6-time-when-cast-latest-news). Blue & white nurses outfits with aprons. StG ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/48 "2019-05-09T01:47:48Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > [This is a traditional English nurse uniform.](https://cdn1.thehunt.com/app/public/system/zine_images/6726486/original/66667ff21bfe82b05711ae131425c551.jpg) > > In the early 20th Century they wore something [very close to a traditional nun’s uniform.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cd/d7/13/cdd7138bdd6bcf1cfccc16b500b7b8e6.jpg) IIRC they were addressed as “sister” and in some countries continued to be so into contemporary times. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/49 "2019-05-09T03:57:39Z")
My friend Mike is a nursing student and his scrubs are green. (He had to buy them himself.) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/50 "2019-05-09T06:18:01Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > I was actually in an emergency department not so long ago. They gave me a card explaining ER procedures. One of the things on there was that nurses wear a certain shade of blue and patient care technicians wear a different shade of blue. (I forget what the exact shades were.) I honestly was in no condition to differentiate subtle differences in blue. > > And I always thought white coats were for doctors, but some nurses and therapists wore white coats over their scrubs. My brother went into his first ceasarian (feeling pleased with himself for wearing the correct colours) and the registrar turned control over to him:) (They were all masked) Because obviously, the only person with such disregard for protocol as to habitually wear student colours was the senior surgeon, right? I’ve always thought that more likely the registrar knew that my brother was a student, and was only pretending to mistake him for a senior surgeon, but my brother was always a sucker for believing what people told him. White coats and nurses uniforms were discontinued to shift the cost of cleaning from the hospital to the staff. The insitutions pretended that this was for patient benefit, but the medical system always claims that every policy is for patient benefit. It’s just what they say. > [@Stuntman\_Mike](#): > > These gals are all wearing different colored smocks and scrubs these days, which is confusing as fuck to me. > > I don’t need this headache when trying to identify a nurse. Who the hell is who around here?? Take my blood… please. > > _(Tongue firmly in cheek, BTW… before anyone accuses me of having a loose wire)_ The mother of a friend, working as a senior nurse in geriatrics, wore a nurse uniform as her personal work clothes after the hospital got rid of nurse uniforms. Because the patients (old people) were more comfortable having a nurse in nurse uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/51 "2019-05-09T06:28:22Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Banned in UK NHS hospitals - they’re deemed to be unhygienic (long sleeves and worn more than once before washing). What with additional rules around no trailing fabrics (long sleeves, ties, scarves, jewelry), a lot of hospital doctors tend to wear scrubs too, just to really confuse everyone. > > NHS does the different coloured scrubs thing for different roles too - but I think different regions have different colour rules, so no one is any the wiser. Long sleeves are banned in the hospital I was in last week (vic.aus). They took notes by writing on their wrists. But my mother wore a fresh white coat every day. And it was boiled when it went to the laundry. And she took notes on her cuff, rather than writing on her wrist. She did /not/ approve of me writing on my skin: probably inks are safer now, but she didn’t think they were safe then. (And when the doctors aren’t in scrubs, I can identify them by the way they dress. They dress differently than nurses and techs/assistants/porters. It’s a cultural thing.) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/52 "2019-05-09T08:19:57Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > IIRC they were addressed as “sister” and in some countries continued to be so into contemporary times. ‘Sister’ still exists in the NHS - it’s a title given to certain senior nurse grades. I have ‘no’ idea how this works for male nurses. [One such example](https://www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/your-care/your-visit/nurses-roles-and-uniforms) from an NHS hospital ---
**Author:** ![HollieHobby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/839c29/32.png) [@HollieHobby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HollieHobby)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/53 "2019-05-09T09:51:37Z")
In my hospital, everyone is required to wear ceil blue scrubs except for the doctors. Nurses, aides, phlebotomists, respiratory therapists, dietary, secretaries, security guards… everyone. Administration told us the purpose is so patients and their families are tricked into believing there were a lot of nurses around. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thylacine/32/1143_2.png) [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/54 "2019-05-09T09:55:36Z")
A friend of mine is a nurse who has a sideline in making scrubs tops in funky fabrics and selling them to all comers on social media. No idea if the pants are standardised but the tops must not be here in my corner of Australia ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/55 "2019-05-09T11:27:37Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > Scroll down midway here for a still from [Call the Midwife](https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/736109/call-the-midwife-christmas-series-6-time-when-cast-latest-news). Blue & white nurses outfits with aprons. > > StG Whenever one of the nurses on that show does a shift of London hospital work, she changes to a purple uniform that has a fuller skirt and big puffy sleeves–which I think looks adorable but impractical for any kind of nursing work. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/56 "2019-05-09T12:33:34Z")
I want the nurses around me to be able to concentrate on my care and not being distracted by the fit of their uniform or whatever. I don’t care if I get confused trying to identify a nurse, they all know who they are and they’ll find me if I need them. Outfits like [Nurse Goodbody](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/123004633546394526/) are only appropriate for Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/57 "2019-05-10T00:26:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I want the nurses around me to be able to concentrate on my care and not being distracted by the fit of their uniform or whatever. I don’t care if I get confused trying to identify a nurse, they all know who they are and they’ll find me if I need them. Outfits like [Nurse Goodbody](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/123004633546394526/) are only appropriate for Halloween. As we’ve seen repeatedly in October & November discussions, lots of people apparently think that kind of nurse uniform is not even appropriate for Halloween. My main complaint is that I’ve never been invited to the kinds of events where those outfits are popular. ☹ –G! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/58 "2019-05-10T03:40:44Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The mother of a friend, working as a senior nurse in geriatrics, wore a nurse uniform as her personal work clothes after the hospital got rid of nurse uniforms. Because the patients (old people) were more comfortable having a nurse in nurse uniform. I agree probably most patients feel better seeing someone in a crisp, white uniform. I believe some patients are intimidated enough by the uniform to not be candid with the doctor/nurse, and an aide is not trained to recognize everything the patient may be trying to tell them. IMHO, the only things I reliably expect an aide to fully understand are, “I’m hot/cold/hungry/lying in my own waste; On a scale of 1-10 I feel X;” and “Please call the nurse.” Of course, they should inform the team of anything the patient asks about. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/59 "2019-05-10T14:21:09Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > ‘Sister’ still exists in the NHS - it’s a title given to certain senior nurse grades. I have ‘no’ idea how this works for male nurses. > > [One such example](https://www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/your-care/your-visit/nurses-roles-and-uniforms) from an NHS hospital Charge nurse is the non-gendered term, but yes male charge nurses are sisters in some trusts. There are also senior male nurses called matrons, and male midwives. Here’s a discussion on male sisters and matrons, and whether those terms should remain in use: > **[Calling nurses 'sister' and 'matron' is putting men off the job, RCN warns](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nurse-sister-matron-women-men-shortages-royal-college-nurisng-janet-davies-belfast-a8352021.html)** > > Female-centric terminology is a 'hang up' that has been done away with in Scotland, says college chief executive ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642/60 "2019-05-10T18:54:33Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I dunno what you’re complaining about; nurses in scrubs are gorgeous. I agree. I recently spent a week in the hospital. I found the scrubs in various prints and colors cheerful and attractive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-please-bring-back-traditional-white-nurses-uniforms/833642.md?page=4)