Tag Archives: nurse news

What Does Your Scrub Style Say About You?

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Last Friday on our News Round-up I mentioned an interesting blog post over at Nurse Ratched’s Place concerning “old school” white nursing uniforms versus modern print tops and whether or not a patient’s perception of you or level of respect changes when you wear one over the other.  That post really got me thinking about uniforms and my own perception of people directly related to what they are wearing.

I know that my perception of people (not my respect level) can have something to do with how they are dressed. I’m more likely to take someone more seriously when they are dressed in a more professional manner than someone just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I might deem them to be more of an “authority” even though logically I know that could be the complete opposite of the truth.

However, in most cases when I see a nurse in print scrubs, I don’t find myself thinking that they look unprofessional.  I love the self expression that print scrubs give to people who have to wear uniforms on a daily basis.  Tafford prints are selected to allow nurses to express their sense of style while remaining a professional appearance.  What one wears has increasingly become a platform of self expression and creates an image into who we are. A uniform, to some degree, takes that form of self expression away. So when I look at nurses in print scrubs, I often feel like I get some insight into who they are based on their style of  scrub top, which helps me relate to them and feel more comfortable around them.  Personalized scrubs help bring a little life into a place that can be  sterile and intimidating. It can be very comforting to those that are in the hospital for an illness to see something bright and cheery – especially for children and the elderly.  Part of a medical professional’s job is to keep the patient calm, comfortable and prevent stress from interfering with the healing process.  Fashionable or fun uniforms play a small part in this process.

I don’t have the answers to the debate and, from the nurses and medical professionals that I’ve spoken with, there doesn’t seem to be a clear cut answer. At the end of the day, my level of respect for the nursing profession doesn’t waiver based on what scrubs you wear but rather on how I was taken care of and how I was treated.  How well you are able to perform your job matters more to me than if you have an affinity for floral scrubs or if you dress formally in a starched white dress.  Thanks to Nurse Ratched for a thought provoking blog post!

Do you prefer solid scrubs or prints and do you think perception changes based on your choice? Have you ever seen this elevation of respect that Nurse Ratched talks about when wearing a more “old school” hospital uniform?

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Guest Blogger – madness: tales of an emergency room nurse

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This Nurses Week, we’ve asked our favorite Nurse Bloggers to contribute posts explaining why they became a nurse and their feelings on being a nurse.  Today’s guest blogger is madness: tales of an emergency room nurse, an ER Nurse working in the Inner City and blogs about her experiences.  Thanks, “madness”!

Nursing is crazy, but worth it.

When someone comes to triage with chest pain, we take them back immediately and they get an EKG. The goal is: patient gets an EKG and it is read by a doc within 10 minutes of  arrival.  If it is a STEMI (ST elevation MI), we activate a system that is called a Level I MI protocol. A cardiologist is notified along with the CV lab team.  We start an IV, give aspirin, Plavix. Labs are drawn.  We start a nitroglycerin and heparin infusion.  We may give  Lopressor. Our ER has become so good at this that we have actually had patients go to the cath lab in 15 minutes.  Often times we will hear later that they had significant blockage and how many stents were placed.  Because we are such a good team, the patient suffered no heart damage.

When someone comes in with stroke symptoms that started less than 3 hours prior to arrival they go immediately back.  We activate our Level I Stroke Protocol.  A neurologist is called.  The patient is taken to CT for a head scan right away. Once it is determined that there is no hemorrhage in the brain and that the patient meets criteria, TPA, a clot busting drug is started. I have seen people come in with stroke symptoms that are resolved before they leave the ER.  They suffer no residual effects of the stroke.

Those are two examples of why, despite the stress and craziness of the job, I remain a nurse. We can make such a difference in peoples lives.

Want to share your own feelings on being a nurse?  Head on over to Facebook and post your story on our wall.  If you want to read more content like this, check out madness: tales of an emergency room nurse.

Thanks for visiting our blog to celebrate Nurses Week.  Check out Tafford.com for great Nurses Week gift ideas including medical scrubs or give the gift of choice with a Tafford scrubs gift certificate.

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Guest Blogger – The Nerdy Nurse

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This Nurses Week, we’ve asked our favorite Nurse Bloggers to contribute posts explaining why they became a nurse and their feelings on being a nurse.  Today’s guest blogger is our old friend Brittney Wilson, AKA: The Nerdy Nurse. Brittney is a staff nurse who works night shifts on a medical surgical floor.  Thanks, Brittney!

Most little girls play with dolls. They hold and caress them and tend to their every need.  They love them and imitate their parents and other adults around them in the manner in which they care for their plastic little angels. They feed, clothe, and protect these toys that are representations of infants and children.

In a similar tradition of the  doll play experienced by little girls, many nurses can proudly proclaim that they always knew they wanted to be a nurse. They remember being able to proudly answer “nurse” whenever asked, and even if it didn’t happen early in life, at some point, they became what their they dreamed of as a child.

Even they  hadn’t always dreamed of being a nurse, likely, before they invest the time, money, and tremendous amount of effort into becoming a nurse, most come to the realization that nursing is something they want to do.

I wish I could say that I was one of those people. I wish I could say that I had dreamed about being a nurse as a little girl, while I cared for my dolls, and was proudly able to answer “nurse” any time someone questioned what I wanted to be when I grew up. But, alas, my answer to that question seemed to change with the season. I can remember wanting to be anything from scientist to a lawyer. But nurse? No… I never remember dreaming about being a nurse. I never even remember thinking to myself that I wanted to be a nurse.

When I filled in the blank of major, on my college applications, I knew I could be a nurse. I was sure it was something I could do. But, I went full-fledge into nursing school without ever knowing that I wanted to be a nurse.  I told myself on occasion that I wanted to be a nurse, but I know that lust for the profession, that so many others seem to be born with, was not there for me at first.

I didn’t dream about being a nurse until 6 months after I passed my NCLEX and was practicing on the floor.  For me It took diving in, head first, in order to realize just how wonderful and exciting the nursing profession can be.

One morning, after I had made my rounds and was hurriedly working on my plan for the day, there was a moment when I suddenly felt a calm come over me. The heaviness of what it meant to be a nurse suddenly presented itself to me, but in a wonderful case of irony, this heaviness was not a burden, but a justification, of sorts for why I became a nurse. The proverbial light bulb went off, and  I would almost bet money that if you were standing beside me at the time, there would have seen one floating above my head.   This flash finally illuminated to me why I became a nurse: Nursing is about doing the right thing.

My path became illuminated. I understood what it meant when  the nursing teachers kept preaching about integrity. It all made sense to me now. Nursing is not just about caring for patients, completing technical task, and documenting care. Nursing is about fighting the good fight. Nursing is about understanding the comic book phrase of Uncle Ben “With great power comes great responsibility”.

Being a nurse is so much more than patient care. It is an opportunity to stand up for what is right. Every day we have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our patients by doing the right thing.  It is that responsibility and that faith that my patients place in me that have made me want to be a nurse.

Want to share your own feelings on being a nurse?  Head on over to Facebook and post your story on our wall.  If you want to read more content like this, check out The Nerdy Nurse.

Thanks for visiting our blog to celebrate Nurses Week.  Check out Tafford.com for great Nurses Week gift ideas including nursing scrubs or give the gift of choice with a Tafford nurse gift certificate.