Nurses wear uniforms. This is a fact of life. Some patient care facilities use various colored scrubs to denote nursing staff, while others give you carte blanche to mix and match scrubs or other nursing uniforms.
When you arrive in nursing school, particularly as an undergraduate new to the field, you’ll be required to adhere to a strict uniform code during clinicals at the very least. Most nursing schools not already part of a hospital commonly affiliate themselves with a number of patient care facilities. These institutions require you be identified as a student nurse at all times.
Nursing school uniforms typically must be ordered from a specific vendor or your school bookstore and include a school of nursing insignia or sew-on patch from your particular school. Expect to be given very clear requirements for color and style as well, for both men and women. Uniform specifics are given when you start school and maybe available information included on some school websites, along with other criteria.
Disgruntled that you could be required to wear a “stiff” nursing uniform? Cheer up, today’s modern nursing school uniforms are a much more liberal and comfortable alternative to those required just a few decades ago. You could be required to don a skirt and one of those old fashioned white nurses’ caps….
Besides the actual uniform, nursing students usually have further dress code requirements to fulfill, particularly during clinical rotations:
Why nursing student dress codes and uniform standards?
Student nurses in clinical settings are ambassadors for their school. They work with the public – patients – and they work among many other types of medical and healthcare personnel. It’s imperative that students are easily identified by both hospital staff as well as patients. Also, part of the role of professional RNs is to present themselves according to hospital dress codes. Student nurses are no different and are in training, therefore expected to adhere to even stricter codes.