[Your Rx For Sanity eNews]

~*~ Nursing Image = Nursing Power ~*~

"They're rumpled and disordered," declares Sandy Dumont. "Loose, limp, and sloppy. Nurses have got to get back into uniform. Then they'll have power and authority, and be taken more seriously. Scrubs
are not a uniform."

Nursing over the last century has held varied images, including celestial caregiver, tailored and powerful military nurse, and even Hollywood sexpot, as seen on Michael Zwerdling RN's site:
http://www.NursePostcard.com. And the media continues to belittle and cheapen the image of your profession, an assault ably defended by Sandra Summers MSN, MPH, RN, Executive Director of the Center for Nursing Advocacy at http://www.NursingAdvocacy.org. But what were y'all thinking when you ditched The Cap and put on the scrubs?

Sandy Dumont is an image consultant with over 25 years' experience directing the image of executives for Fortune 500 companies
http://www.TheImageArchitect.com. And she thinks its time to resuscitate nursing uniforms. "White denotes extraordinary cleanliness and sanitation. I'd choose a modern fabric, like a wash and wear soft polyester. It would be tailored to enhance the figure, and have powerful shoulders...perhaps epaulets. This would give the new nursing uniform power and authority, and insignias could denote rank or station in the hospital."

Don't worry. Sandy says The Cap should stay gone. They're simply unrealistic given the physical exertion of your profession.

You see, nursing has an image problem with the public....they can't see you! We've all heard patients speak of "the nurse who took my blood, the nurse who cleaned my room, the nurse who took me to Radiology." Everyone in the hospital is in scrubs, and patients are not savvy enough to keep the players straight. I too have fallen victim to their confusion. As a young female doc, I am often asked dietary questions should I visit the hospital sans long white coat and shoulder draped stethoscope....my uniform.

Nursing has an image problem with doctors as well. We doctors, moaning about overload of patient demands, don't see the qualified professionals eager to accept responsibility right beside us. Sandy believes that physicians would respond differently to nurses in uniform of power rather than in rumpled attire. "I would quit my job if they made me wear something like that", opines Sandy, "and those cartoon character jackets: no wonder they have no authority."

It's not about having the skill or the training. We know that you're qualified. Ms. Dumont explains, "A uniform doesn't make you good. A uniform gives you respect." Sandy shares an example from the aviation profession. Although Southwest Airlines has loosened uniform standards for its flight personnel, you still don't see the pilots in cut-off shorts. "When we need to trust you with our lives or our families, we'd like you to look professional." Or trust you with our patients' lives. Help your docs know that you are a medical authority and to be respected.

But what about your loss of personal freedom? Sandy believes that the benefits to the profession will outweigh the costs. Sandy explains that some costumes have become ennobled and convey personal qualities, attributes and virtues. Nurses have "given up their camaraderie, given up their credibility, their 'bonding by means of cloth.' Why do you believe that your personal freedom outweighs the right of the patient to have trust in you? And you've chosen to look silly in the doctor's eyes. You're the only thing between their patients and death, and you're covered in cartoons."

I debated this very subject over dinner recently with a group of nurses attending a Nursing Recruitment and Retention seminar in New Orleans. One of the nurses shared a story. She recounted having taken her shoebox of receipts to her tax preparer, and was surprises to find her orderly, starched gentleman out for the day. She was offered a replacement. "This guy was rumpled and disordered; and I packed up my receipts and scooted away", she ruefully acknowledged. "My patients don't have that option." They had been aware of the functionality of their attire at the hospital, but not the impact of the image. We all wear uniforms, from the Accountant to the Orkin Man to the Admiral.

So how can you commandeer the power of uniform for your profession? Start out locally. If your hospital won't do it, develop your own uniform of power for your unit. Select identical solid well-tailored scrubs in a bold, strong color, a starched white lab coat, and display nursing pins and honors. Insist on a name bade with your last name and degrees; refuse the belittling but friendly 'Suzie RN' badge. Patients are not your friends, they are your duty.

Move the initiative nationally, as it grows from unit to unit, from hospital to hospital. Post it on online nursing bulletins, discuss it at regional and national conventions. Work with uniform manufacturers to design a powerful classy new image to reflect the nurses of today. Nurses give up their power and authority as a profession when not dressed uniformly.

Chuck the cartoon jackets unless you're in Pediatrics. If you wish doctors to treat you as a colleague in healthcare; society to acknowledge you as authorities; and to be paid as your profession deserves, insist upon the image of a professional.

~*~ Toothpaste World ~*~

Michigan dentist Val Kolpakov has created an online museum for all things minty and nice. "History of Toothpaste", "Choosing the Right Toothpaste" and more await you at http://www.toothpasteworld.com

~*~ The Medical Symphony ~*~

Read Dr. Raymond's latest published article in the May 2004 issue of RealLife Healthcare, "Making Beautiful Music: The Medical Symphony"
at http://www.reallifehealthcare.com/rlh/news/story/9118196p-10043821c.html.

~*~ And the Winner is.... ~*~

Yes, there IS a winner to last month's story contest, Denise King, an RN/Unit Leader in Endoscopy from Wichita, Kansas. Thanks, Denise, for your cheeky entry. A personally autographed copy of the cult classic, "Colonoscopy: It'll Crack U Up" will be on its way to you. Didn't win? Don't whine. Like they say about the Lottery, if ya' don't play, ya can't win! Enter our next Contest, details soon!
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Dr. Raymond does House Calls?! It's true and new!! Norfolk NPR affiliate station WHRV 89.5FM has announced the premiere of "House Calls", a new 60-minute call in talk show featuring our very own Patricia Raymond MD. Fridays in the 12 noon timeslot, you can actually catch the streaming audio for yourself, and listen to interviews with leading physicians and healthcare professionals, as well as listeners' call in questions. Go to the radio website at
http://www.whro.org/radio/895/live-stream.shtml and catch a live dose of the good doctor!