8 replies to this topic

[ILNurse1984]

Hi Everyone,

I have been sitting here thinking about my almost 22 years as a nurse and began to wonder about something. Whern I started working in December of 1984 the hospital I worked at (Good Shepard in Barrington IL) required us to wear the classic white uniform and cap. Nurses in certain departments though, were wearing scrubs (EX: OR, and Delivery). I was required to wear a cap unitl early 1987 when we finally ditched them. I worked in post-op. The scrubs did not come onboard until the summer of 1990.

So my questions...

Was my hospital unique with the cap requirement in the mid-80s?

When did your hospital stop requiring caps?

When did scrubs come into your life?

Thanks,

Marcie Konkol

[aussie-margaret]

I started my training at Westmead Hospital, Sydney in 1984

the uniform was provided by the hospital ( 5 uniforms and 2 caps and 1 jacket) and was:

blue and white striped uniform with white collar

dark blue stockings

dark blue shoes

white cap with star(s) - number of stars for each year of training on the front of the cap - distance to be worn from the hairline (1 cm for each year of service was permitted)
long hair up under the cap

no jewellry apart from plain wedding band
earings for newly pierced ears permitted for 6 weeks - earrings covered by bandaids or micropore and a weekly trip to staff health for a renewed medical certicate which had to be carried whilst on duty and produced if asked.
fob watch only - no wristwatches permitted.
I got in trouble for putting my fob watch on a blue ribbon and wearing that instead of having the fob pinned to my uniform

dark blue jacket

no vests allowed
jackets could only be worn at the nurses station


males wore trousers and a top in the blue/white striped material


the caps no longer had to be worn from around the end of 1986 from memory

I used to wash the cap and buy liquid starch and lie the cap along the bathroom sink and soak it in starch - used to dry rock hard and in the correct shape
it used to have a cord at the back to pull in to cover the hair, so only the front of the hair was visible ( to what ever it was supposed to be permitted)
One time I starched it so much - it cracked at the top and my mum had to sew it up alittle

had to secure it in my hair with hairpins

when you rotated through Operating Theatres, you could wear scrubs whilst in the dept only - the colour of the elastic hat designated staff eg. RN, student nurse, Dr, visitor or whatever



RN's did not wear caps

Pupil midwives wore the cap - no stars, and a little ruffle along the edge of the cap and RN uniform




I currently work in emergency and emergency staff can wear scrubs as of a few months ago - and we have to pay for them (hospitals no longer provide uniforms)

[aussie-margaret]

oh yes - no uniforms to be worn outside of the hospital environment

only to be worn walking to the staff accomodation down the road, or in the car driving home

uniforms not permitted to be worn, if travelling to work or going home eg, on the train


the night superviser used to wait outside the front entrance (behind the pillars) sometimes to try to catch student nurses slipping out early after a night shift

wards used to ring ahead, to advise the superviser was on her / his way. the student could then go into a infectious room or the pan room, and be safe from the superviser glare

the superviser would often check to see if antibiotics had been prepared ahead and left under the bench in the preparation room - this was not allowed

no knitting allowed at night and any non-nursing material for reading was frowned upon

[3boyzmom]

Wow margaret, things sound stricter there than they are in the US!

I can't remember exactly when the caps and white uniforms went; but I seem to remember the caps going first. Most nurses were happy about it but I missed my cap

I'm sure it all happened in the '80's but have no recollection of exactly what year.

I miss looking like a nurse. I know I'm in the minority. I thought the white uniforms and caps looked professional (well except when one used poor taste and wore something that underwear shoed through, etc.)

I can tell I'm getting older (I'm 47, lol) when I begin thoughts with "back in my day....." but seriously, you could tell a nurse from a housekeeper from a lab tech by what they wore. You could even tell an RN from an LVN by the caps. You didn't have to be close enough to read someone's nametag to have a general idea of their function. And the kinds of nametags we have now have an uncanny tendency to flip over backward while being worn, so that even up close all anyone can see is the back of the thing!!!

[lvnbarbie]

Hi .......I work at a nursing home in ca and we STILL wear solid white uniforms..........we stopped wearing the caps two years ago though.......Some of the older nurses still wear the stockings and zip up dress/skirt uniform.....I can't bring myself to wear those though....boyfriend said I looked ready for porn try outs when I tried one on at the scrub store... ......

[Sophie]

Hi .......I work at a nursing home in ca and we STILL wear solid white uniforms..........we stopped wearing the caps two years ago though.......Some of the older nurses still wear the stockings and zip up dress/skirt uniform.....I can't bring myself to wear those though....boyfriend said I looked ready for porn try outs when I tried one on at the scrub store... ......

I didn't think anyone still wore the traditional uniform. When I was a little kid the nurse at my doctor's office wore the all white uniform and the cap, but that is really the last time I can remember seeing that uniform.

[steph7cdc]

Hi Everyone,

I have been sitting here thinking about my almost 22 years as a nurse and began to wonder about something. Whern I started working in December of 1984 the hospital I worked at (Good Shepard in Barrington IL) required us to wear the classic white uniform and cap. Nurses in certain departments though, were wearing scrubs (EX: OR, and Delivery). I was required to wear a cap unitl early 1987 when we finally ditched them. I worked in post-op. The scrubs did not come onboard until the summer of 1990.

So my questions...

Was my hospital unique with the cap requirement in the mid-80s?

When did your hospital stop requiring caps?

When did scrubs come into your life?

Thanks,

Marcie Konkol

I graduated in 1986 and have never worn anything but a nursing school unifrom and scrubs. We were the 1st class in my nursing school to get rid of the hats. We refused to wear them becasue they fell off in dressings and in the hopper. All my jobs were in critical care of some sort and we were allowed to wear scrubs. I don't know what the ruyles were elsewhere. I have worked in VA and DC. I went to school in Va

[cardiacmarty]

At the hospital I worked at in '84, they had done away with hats after a particularly large influx of male RN's, and the advent of a nurses union.