Why do the nurses tie their masks on by crossing the strings over the back of their heads and the doctors don’t? Inquiring minds want to know.
Not my area of expertise, but I assume it’s because they are wearing different styles of surgical caps. Women, even in the army, tend to have longer hair than men, and needed the poofier style surgical cap that could accommodate their longer hair. Men on the other hand had shorter hair, and (at least in the TV show) are seen wearing a tighter fitting cloth cap.
Looking at old photos on google, it appears to my untrained engineering eye that the show is reasonably accurate with respect to the type of head coverings worn in that era.
Pippers was asking about the masks that go over their faces, though.
Thought I was the only one that wondered this. I assumed that on a woman’s smaller head, they just fit better that way.
I called my mother and asked. She is a retired Nurse Anesthetist CRNA.
Tying the strings is/was a personal choice. The mask has a tendency to sag open on the sides when tied at the neck.
Tying it up high on top created a snugger fit.
My mom saw doctors and nurses tie it on top of the head. My mom said she never tied it that way.
My WAG, for tv, it looks better because of the camera angle. We see the nurse in profile. A mask sagging at the cheek isn’t as photogenic. The doctor is filmed from the front. We don’t get that unflattering angle.
I know. The masks over their face appear to be tied differently based on the type of cap that the mask strings are tied over, on top for the tight fitting cloth cap and on the back for the poofy style cap. I assumed that this was because the poofiness of the second type didn’t allow the mask to be tightly tied on top, but aceplace57’s post indicates that it’s more a matter of personal preference.
My mother was in nursing school during the Korean War. I’m sure she wore that style gown and mask.
She still has her original uniform with the Cape, pin and hat. The cape was used like a coat when they were outside.
She went back to school in 1967 and got her CRNA and did anthesisia for almost 40 years.
Ah-ha, that makes sense. From seeing them in regular fatigues it does seem that most of the women had long hair. So putting it in a bun and crossing the strings over that would work. I did also notice that Colonel Potter always had tape on his glasses that adhered to the sides of his cap (while he was in surgery). Must be one of those little details given by the people tasked with making the show as real as possible.