The uniform was probably both the best and worst part of being a nurse for me. On the plus side it showed everyone who you were and offered you the opportunity to use if to your advantage or if necessary hide behind it. Also it saved having to worry about what to wear each day. On the negative side some of the uniforms I have worn during my career have been less than comfortable to wear and less than flattering to be seen in. I had already been thinking about blogging about this very issue when I read about just that on both Kim’s Emergiblog and Tom’s Random Acts of Reality, which got me thinking about the whole thing even more.

I was 18 when I started my nurse training and was issued with a very nice lilac striped uniform and an ordinary nurses type hat. A year later I was ‘awarded’ the Middlesex hat which had to be folded from a semi circle, and was neither hygenic, comfortable or useful but I was seriously proud to wear it. I have trawled the internet and found what may have been a for runner, though we didn’t have the bit under the chin thankfully. Maybe I need to scan a more personal picture?

Uniforms have changed a lot since 1980, few nurses wear a uniform dress any more, for reasons of practicality (infection control and moving and handling mainly), but as far as I can tell people seem to be less proud to wear their uniforms now. I remember not so long ago, that the cleaning staff at a hospital I was working at were issued with uniforms that looked almost identical to those of the nursing staff. If you look similar to a cleaner when you are at work, then why would you be proud to wear your nursing uniform. The hats have also gone; a pain to wear and again an infection risk (apparently), there is now little opportunity to show yourself as a different rank or type of nurse from anyone else.

The first time I had a job where I wore no uniform felt really strange. Seeing patients and providing care and treatments wearing my own clothes was more of an issue than I thought it would be. Being mistaken for a doctor was one problem, but as I have never wished to be one of those, was not difficult to sort out. But it showed that patient’s had difficulty in working out who you were and where you fitted in the big picture was an issue especially as I was learning to be a specialist nurse at the time and would have loved to have been given the opportunity to hide behind my blue district nurses dress at times. To tell people, without opening my mouth that yes, I am a nurse.

My message to nurses out there are: Look smart (if you can), be proud and wear your uniform with pride. Let people know that nursing is a worthwhile profession and it is ok to be a nurse.