Nurse uniform

A nurseuniform is attire worn by nurses for hygiene andidentification. The traditional nurse uniform consists of a dress, apron andcap. It has existed in many variants, but the basic style has remainedrecognizable

History

In Britain,the national uniform (or simply "national") was designed with theadvent of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948, and theNewcastle dress.From the 1960s open necks began to appear. In the 1970s, whitedisposable paper caps replaced cotton ones; in the 1980s, plastic apronsdisplaced the traditional ones and outerwear began to disappear. From the1990s, scrubs became popular in Britain, having first appeared in the USA;however, some nurses in Britain continue to wear dresses, although some NHStrusts have removed them in favour of scrubs as in many othercountries.The first nurse uniforms were derived from the nun's habit. Before the19th century, nuns took care of sick and injured people so it was obvious thattrained lay nurses might copy the nun's habit as they have adopted ranks like"Sister". One of Florence Nightingale's first students (Miss vanRensselaer) designed the original uniform for the students at MissNightingale's school of nursing. Before the 1940s minor changes occurred in theuniform. The clothing consisted of a mainly blue outfit. Hospitals were free todetermine the style of the nurse uniform, including the nurse's cap whichexists in many variants.

Standard nurse's uniform

Historically, a typical nurse uniform consisted of a dress, pinafore apronand nurse's cap. In some hospitals, however, student nurses also wore a nursingpin, or the pinafore apron may have been replaced by a cobbler style apron.This type of nurse's dress continues to be worn in many countries.

Traditional uniformsremain common in many countries, but in Western Europe and North America, theso-called "scrubs" or tunics have become more popular. "Scrubdress" is a simpler type of uniform, and is almost always worn inoperating rooms and emergency rooms.

Nurses have a variety ofroles in the 21st Century and therefore have a variety of "uniforms".Nurse scientists may wear a lab coat, while nurse executives may wear a suit.The "uniform" will vary by country and role.

Alternative nurse uniforms

Since the late 1980s,there has been a move towards alternative designs of nursing uniforms in somecountries. Newer style nurse's uniform in the United Kingdom consists ofeither:

1.     A tunic-style top and dark blue trousersthat are optimally designed to prevent cross-infection, the colour of whichdepends upon the grade (or, more recently, band) and gender of the nurse – thecolour varies between NHS Trusts. The tunics often feature piping around theedges of the uniform.

2.     A dress in the same colour as thetunic-style top.

Male nursing uniform

In some countries thenurse's uniform is now gender neutral. When this is not the case, male nurseswear a different uniform to their female counterparts. In the UK, male nursesoften wear a white tunic with epaulettes in a colour or quantity thatrepresents their year of training or grade. However, in many trusts the whiteuniform is now obsolete and uniforms are non-gender specific.

Nurse uniforms vs. scrubs

Those who prefer the newscrubs; disliked the old white nurse dress uniforms.Beginning in the1990s, and until the present time, the traditional nurse uniforms have beenreplaced with the "new" scrub dress in some countries. Most hospitalsin the US and Europe argue that the scrub uniform is easier to clean than theold nurse uniforms.The nurses who wear the uniforms are divided into two camps:

·       The nurses who liked the old white nurse dress uniforms; they argue thatnurses who wear scrubs are seen by the patients as cleaners or surgeons andcannot be identified as nurses.

In many parts of theworld, nurses continue to wear a uniform consisting of a dress, pinafore andcap. The traditional white uniform for male nursing staff is now going out offashion, except for student nurses. A tunic of either the dental surgeon styleor a V-neck with a collar is very often used. The colours vary with grade, areaof work, and hospital; however, the male equivalent of a sister (that is,charge nurse) tend to be shades of blue or dark green: often, this is the onlycolour to be recognised by the public as signifying a person in authority.

Nursing jewellery

Nurses were activelydiscouraged from wearing jewellery which might distract from their purpose andget caught on patient skin during care activity. A fob watchor pendant watchis considered synonymous with nursing. The fob watch frees the nurses' handsfor client care and prevents the wrist watch becoming a vector for disease.Watches are sometimes given as a token rite-of-passage gift from parents toyoung nurses, who are making the transition into nurses' quarters and live awayfrom home for the first time