Where have all the nursing caps gone?

[cougarnurse]

I thought this was an interesting story: stjoenews.net | Where have all the nursing caps gone?

Elaine Greer remembers how one of her classmates in nursing school got secretly married.

“If they found out, she would have been kicked out of school,” Mrs. Greer says. “Nurses couldn’t be married.”

That’s because it was during the 1960s at the former Missouri Methodist Hospital and Medical Center in St. Joseph, when things were much stricter. Schools thought women should be completely devoted to nursing, she says.

Nursing students went to school for three years with no summers off and had to be in their dorms by 9 p.m. at night. And they were also required to learn how to make up their own nursing caps from a white piece of cotton fabric.

“You had to learn to fold it up, back and around,” she explains. “We would starch it with really thick liquid starch. Then you would have to lay it out on a flat surface, so we would put it on the refrigerator and dry it overnight.”

The resulting cap was very stiff, almost like cardboard and was secured with paper clips, then attached to the hair with white bobby pins. They had to be white, of course, to match the white uniforms, white nylon hoes and white shoes.

At Women’s Health and Well Being, where Elaine Greer is a nurse practitioner, 30-year-old nursing assistant Holly Wells doesn’t remember ever seeing a nurse wearing a cap. But when Mrs. Greer graduated in 1965, they were a source of pride and distinction. Much like the military, the stripes on your cap let patients know your level of education.

“You got a powder blue stripe as a freshman, so patients knew you weren’t very experienced,” Mrs. Greer says. “Your second year you got two stripes across the corner of your hat. As a third-year student, you got three, then you got a black stripe when you graduated.”

Every school of nursing had its own unique style of cap, says Dr. Carolyn Brose, assistant professor of the school of nursing at Missouri Western State University. And if students successfully completed their training, they went through a ceremony called capping.

“It was your first sign you were on your journey to be a nurse,” she says.

Around the mid-1970s, the world of professional nursing evolved, she says.

Most nursing training became university-based, four-year programs and the caps were no more, partly because they got in the way and became a liability. Nurses now wear colorful scrubs with a badge identifying their qualifications. And for Mrs. Greer and Dr. Brose, the caps have become just a former symbol of a noble profession.

“I still have mine,” Dr. Brose says, “but it’s been in storage for a very long, long time.”

[SoldierNurse]

I can appreciate history, especially nursing history. However, I wonder if males coming into nursing programs was the demise of the nursing cap?

[Ricu]

I wonder, although there seemed to be an evolution in nursing uniform underweigh regardless. More practical attire made sense although I wonder why there is still so much white being worn.

[cougarnurse]

The almighty bleach bottle! Works wonders at times.

[Ricu]

don't forget peroxide...

[Marie_LPN]

There's a website that sells a variety of caps, i bought one in 2004. It sits on the entertainment center.

I don't consider myself an advocate for the white uniforms and caps, however, and maybe it's something related to maturity or different generations, but i'm finding myself highly annoyed with the direction some people choice of work attire and hairstyles are going. As in, light colored pants with dark obviously-i-wear-thongs-and-want-the-world-to-know-it underwear (although wearing underwear is optional nowadays), buying flare legged pants that are deliberately several inches below the ankle, dragging the cuff on the floor, which looks filthy and nasty, and there's NOTHING on a hospital floor that i want to drag home, y'all. And last but not least, this trend for long bangs. I realize some people like long bangs, i'm not knocking that, however, when they reach your nose, no one can see your eyes (quite important IMO in this line of work) and in the process resembling Cousin Itt, and you're constantly jerking your head to one side so you don't run into a wall, it just looks highly unprofessional, male or female. When i see these things, i do see why some people long for the days of a stricter dress code.

[Grandma-RN]

I know this thread is a few months old, but, I am tempted to wear my hat at times. I wear ironed whites to work and I missed the days where most of my co-workers did not mind taking the time to iron their uniforms, too. It has really gotten too relaxed in many places. Where I am now, white must be worn by all nurses.

[cougarnurse]

Who cares if a post is a bit old? Sometimes a good thread needs bumping up.

By all means, wear your cap if you want.

I like the pants with elastic in the cuffs. I loathe hemming.

[badphish]

As a Murse, I'm looking to buy a nice white cap for display on my "love-me" wall. And as a retired Army Medic I understand tradition. And I'm all for certain colored scrubs for certain jobs, but white has to go. I wear a white polyester shirt at my current EMS job as a Paramedic (tradition) and that thing gets dirty quick, and when i wore hospoital whites they were nasty by end of the day, and after 3 yrs they were see-thru from all the bleach. in short, Im NOT a fan of white.