Fashion

[happycat]

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@depglass wrote:

Do you remember when nurses wore nothing but white uniforms?  Can you imagine the amount of care those uniforms needed when your job consisted of dealing with blood, vomit, and heaven knows what else all day?  Now they wear easily launderable scrubs.  And the starched white hat is nowhere to be seen.  

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I don't know how they kept those white uniforms white all day.  Maybe they had extras in their lockers or something. 

[sandy53]

The nurse's honor guard at my niece's funeral (2 years ago) wore white uniforms, caps, white stockings and shoes, and navy blue capes.  It made me cry.  My niece was in her 20's and had only begun her nursing career.  That they honored a young nurse in that way was very moving to me.  They did a final call to duty and extiquished the Nightengale Lamp.  

[Nataliesgramma]

I remember someone saying that you could tell where the Nurse grduated from by looking at their cap when they walked down the hall.....

[esther22]

I remember the white uniforms, hose and shoes we wore many years ago. My class in my nursing school was the first to wear polyester white uniforms. They never wrinkled, didn't need starching OR ironing!!! Just wash and hang to dry. We received plain white caps after our first year of school, then got our school pins and black velvet cap stripe upon graduation.  We had navy capes with a bright red lining and gold buttons that we wore for special occasions. I went to school for three years, all year long: class from 8-5 mon-fri as a freshman, then class before and after "floor duty" staring 3 months after staring the program. We got one week off in summer, one week off at Christmas, and that was it. We had MANY hours of Medical-Surgical nursing, and as Seniors spent 3 months in each speciality: OB (1 month each in L&D, Nursery, Post Partum), 3 months in Peds, 3 Months in Psych (3 months living in the local Psych hospital !!!!!???!!!!). Then we rotated learning to charge different floors and specialties.We worked doctors offices and did required "volunteer" work. I was well prepared when I graduated. State Boards for licensing took 3 days, 8 hrs each .  We got results 3 months later. I have MANY memories of my nursing school time and thank God every day for them. They helped to make me the person I am today. One of my many (!) memories I tell younger nurses is as a 1st year student, giving an enema to an old man who kept saying "I can't hold no more". My instructor' who was with me, said to me "keep going" (HHH enema). Well he COULDN'T hold NO MORE! and let it out all over me.  The whole front of my uniform was BROWN!!!!.  AND it was lunch time!  I cleaned it off best I could, then put 4 inch adhesive tape like an apron, and went to lunch !! not now. I should have kept more notes so I could write a book!!

[Carmie]

When I first became a hair stylist, I had to wear a white uniform and white shoes too. No pants allowed.

A few years after I started to work, we were allowed to wear colored uniforms, then later uniform pants suits.

My family owned a restaurant.  Every morning, my mother would put on a fresh white dress uniform and white shoes to go to work.  

Many professions wore that white uniform with white shoes, but only nurses wore that starched white hat.

Things have sure changed...a lot.

[ECBG]

@depglass My sister, whom was an RN, and my aunt whom was the top nurse at our hospital discussed nurse's hats one day.  They said they carried a LOT of germs and were glad they weren't used any longer.

[GrailSeeker]

I wore scrubs everyday to work for almost 20 years.  They were very durable.   I had a huge variety collected over that time and scrubs for every holiday and season.  I got more compliments from patients on my Halloween scrubs than any other holiday!  I still got really tired of them, though.

We were told that the reason that white uniforms were done away with was because they caused anxiety in patients.  Some people became scared of the nurses caps and uniforms in particular. 

[blackhole99]

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@sidsmom wrote:

Well, it's not 1955, so.....

Doctors were able to smoke in their offices during that time, as well.

Just something to remember.

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I worked as a unit secretary in a hospital in Maryland in 1974. The docs smoked right at the nurses station and I had to get them coffee while they checked their patients charts. I left there in 1979 and they were still smoking in the hospital, nurses and patient's too

[Mom2Dogs]

@Nataliesgramma ...that is true as my mom picked a nursing school based on the cap....She went thru nursing school later in life, had 2 teens at home and also was diagnosed with a serious illness during her time in nursing school, but she graduated with her class.     I remember her studying in our home office.... all that math, I don't know how she did it...she loved being a nurse.

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@Nataliesgramma wrote:

I remember someone saying that you could tell where the Nurse grduated from by looking at their cap when they walked down the hall.....

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[Group 5 minus 1]

I remeber what a hassle it was to get permission to wear earrings (pierced).

Finally we were allowed to wear small peirced or gold studs.