I have been spending my time in hospitals, Doctors' offices and clinics of late because of various ailments that afflict those of us of retirement age. I like to learn about people, habits, customs and behavior of those I observe as I often wait to be served. I was struck the other day by the pristine appearance of a very competent doctor. He was dressed in a white shirt, a nice tie and he had on a very white, starched lab coat over his clothes. It was very striking. He was a new doctor for me and did I ever get a good impression.
In contrast to that, I visited an office that all were wearing different colored, differently cleaned and differently fitting sloppy medical scrubs that frankly mirrored the unorganized, sloppy and uncaring work habits of those who were wearing them. I'm not sure I am going to be happy visiting there again.
What is my point? I am a retired Army officer of 30 years service. Those who have any experience in the military know that we pride ourselves on appearance, discipline, uniformity and getting the job done. For years and years, we were not allowed to wear our military work uniforms (fatigues) off the base because we believed they did not project a professional appearance; we had to change into what we called a class B uniform (Khakis) or class A uniform (Greens).
We had a change of heart on that issue in the 1990's because we came to the conclusion that if we applied the same rules of appearance, discipline and uniformity to the work uniforms that we wore most every day, it would project not only a professional appearance but would reflect our pride in that discipline. You now see military traveling through airports in their various battle dress uniforms (BDU) and many of you take pride in your troops. They are properly dressed uniformly and comport themselves with pride and enthusiasm. It was a great change that we embraced!
More to the point on medical uniforms.
The uniform dilemma:
Wearing a uniform indicates affiliation with a group and evokes a sense of pride in the wearer. Some people also believe a uniform builds a spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion among members of the medical team - something that's missing from many hospitals these days.
The earliest nursing uniforms focused on both functionality and feminine virtue, to better establish the profession as one of the few in which respectable women could pursue economic independence. The original nurse's uniform was gray or blue, reflecting a nun's habit and the uniforms worn by Florence Nightingale's nurses during the Crimean War.
Today, nursing attire blurs the line between female and male, emphasizing the unisex appeal of the profession. Uniforms are a $10 billion-a-year industry, yet nurses can't seem to agree on what kind of attire is most suitable. Most hospitals leave the decision up to employees, while a few require nurses to wear uniforms. Perhaps the only way to end the debate at any given facility is for one person to stand up and say, "This is what we're going to do, like it or not."
More and more nurses and other medical personnel are wearing print scrubs to work and usually there is no differentiation between nurses and non nurses. There are those that say some of that is deliberate to hide the shortage of nurses in the work force because of cost cutting measures forced by managed care. Managed healthcare has forced many hospitals to cut costs by replacing nurses with ancillary workers who have limited training or with contract workers. Such workers wear scrubs of their choosing, making it difficult and sometimes impractical for hospitals to enforce a uniform dress code. "Putting everyone in scrubs makes it possible for hospitals to hide the fact that there aren't many nurses on the floor," notes Linda Aiken, a nursing professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
In fact, it may be a calculated move on behalf of hospital administrators to have all categories of employees dress in similar attire, masking the fact that most of the "caregivers" are unlicensed, unskilled, and uneducated. The bottom line is if a patient asks the housekeeper, "What's my blood pressure?" you have a problem Sanitary Lab Uniforms Rental.
Back to my parallel universe of the military, you all know we have a hierarchical system of rank structure for a reason. The chain of command is established to make sure everyone know who is in charge and if someone needs to get to the right level to establish something they just have to look on the sleeve or collar (now the front tab of the BDU). It seems to me that such a system exists in the medical world, also. It is abundantly clear who the doctors are. They would not wear scrubs in a million years unless they wore surgical scrubs getting ready for surgery. They wear civilian clothing, often covered by lab coats with the ever present stethoscope around their necks. So usually do physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
After that the line blurs considerably and everyone else is in scrubs. You do not know who is a nurse, a nurse's aide, a lab clerk, or an admin person or a maintenance worker. How do you know who to ask for the things you need? Why not establish a color coded hierarchical program at each facility so people know everyone's roles immediately. Nurses could be blue, aides - green, admin types - white, etc. I think that would make things flow so much more smoothly around a place particularly for the patients, the ultimate customer and very reason that everyone is there.
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